Peak PCS Season is Here

  • Published
  • By Revillano Sarao
  • 51st Logistics Readiness Squadron
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Peak permanent change of station season is upon us. Much like last season, the entire Department of Defense will experience difficulty obtaining Transportation Service Providers to pack and pick up personal property shipments. The DOD attributes this to several factors to include limited carrier capacity, an increase in private sector moves, an overall commercial driver shortage and the normal large volume of requests for property movement from May 1 to July 31.

To offset the impact to families, Osan's Transportation Management Office has established a Defense Personal Property Cyber Café for members to use. DPS is an online system that all members (with the exception or retires and separated personnel) are required to use when arranging a move. TMO is providing the tools and experts under one roof to manage shipment volume and move property in accordance with customers' requested pickup dates. To establish a DPS account, visit the following link: https://eta.sddc.army.mil/dpsRegister/dodCustomer.aspx

If members perform "Self-Counseling" in DPS and electronically submit their application to ship and or store personal property to the responsible TMO for review, you must either e-mail, facsimile, mail, or hand-carry your orders and authorization to include amendments and endorsement to the responsible TMO for review and approval. Failure to do so may result in personal property not getting packed on the dates requested.

Be as flexible as possible when selecting HHG pack and pickup dates. The preferred dates may not be available during some timeframes. Avoid scheduling lease termination or house sale closing on the same date your HHG are to be packed, picked up, or delivered. Leave some time for unforeseen events. A designated representative must be available between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on pack, pickup, and delivery dates.

Here is a list of websites to assist in preparing for a move, and TMO experts are always standing by to help. For more information the Osan Air Base TMO office is open Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. located in Bldg. 635, or contact 784-6019.

PCS WEB SITES TO VISIT:

1. State Wine Laws: http://www.wineinstitute.org

2. Personal Importation of Alcoholic Beverages: http://www.ttb.gov/importers/personal_importation.shtml\

3. Alcohol Beverage Control Boards for the United States: http://www.ttb.gov/wine/state-ABC.shtml

4. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) regulations: http://www.atf.gov/

5. The Air Force Personal Property & Passenger Travel web site has a multitude of relocation information available for all Service members at: http://www.move.mil/home.htm

6. Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS): https://icss.eta.sddc.army.mil/Survey/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fSurvey%2fDefault.aspx

7. Defense Travel Management Office: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/

8. GSA ―FedRooms‖ program offers specially negotiated federal government hotel rates with FEMA certified hotels, simplifying hotel selections for government travelers. Website address is http://www.fedrooms.com

9. Homeowner's Assistance Program is a special relief program designed to provide financial assistance to eligible military and federal employee homeowners. When the real estate market is so adversely affected by a military installation's partial or complete closure, a reduction in scope of operations, or a realignment that the personnel are unable to dispose of their dwellings under reasonable terms and conditions. http://www.spk.usace.army.mil/organizations/cespk-re/hap/index.html

10. Internal Revenue Service Form 3903 and Publication 521, Moving Expenses: Websites are http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p521.pdf (*), http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3903.pdf

11. Internal Revenue Service Form 4684 and Publication 4684; Casualties and Thefts: Websites are http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i4684.pdf (*) and http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4684.pdf

12. Moving Your Mobile Home: http://www.transcom.mil/j5/pt/dtrpart4/dtr_part_iv_app_k_5.pdf.
13. DOD Household Goods Portal: http://www.move.mil

14. Navy members can contact the Navy's HHG Helpline at 800-444-7789 for assistance. To determine if you qualify as a Smart Web Move customer, visit: www.smartwebmove.navsup.navy.mil

15. Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee maintains and implements new statutory changes to the Joint Federal Travel Regulations. Within the regulations are per diem, travel and transportation allowances, relocation allowances, and certain other allowances of uniformed service members (including regular and reserve components) based on law. Website is: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/

16. POV Locator: https://www.whereismypov.com/

17. Shipping a POV: http://www.transcom.mil/j5/pt/dtrpart4/dtr_part_iv_app_k_3.pdf

18. Storing a POV: http://www.transcom.mil/j5/pt/dtrpart4/dtr_part_iv_app_k_4.pdf.

19. Military Surface Deployment And Distribution Command: http://sddcbiz.sddc.army.mil/public/home/

20. Weight Estimator Form is at: http://www.move.mil/dod.htm#beforeBegin_dodWeightAllow