While much of navigating your military Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move is up to you, some factors are just a matter of rules and regulations. But navigating that information can be confusing and riddled with rumor and misinformation based on one individual’s experience.
On this episode of the PCS with Military.com podcast, Matt Butler, a Defense Department civilian employee at Transcom whose 22-year Air Force career focused on helping service members move their personal belongings, gives us insight and information on those rules and regulations.
His special focus on details just for the 2021 moving season will help you make your military move the best it can be.
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Connect with this episode:
- Get military PCS advice in your inbox
- Visit the DoD’s moving website, Move.mil
- Learn who you can contact for help during your move
- Read a claims fact sheet
- Read a short personal property reference guide
-
The 3 Biggest PCS Mistakes, According to a Military Move Expert
- This episode is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union
The following is an edited transcript of this episode of PCS with Military.com.
Amy Bushatz 0:00
Moving well and happily with the military is a skill set with two parts. There are things that take practice over time, like home organization, keeping that military moving paperwork and binder together and figuring out the most effective way to find new housing that you can love. And then there are the things that just take straight up knowledge, things like understanding, working through your finances around your move. And the big project of dealing with the PCS, rules and regulations from the Department of Defense. Those rules and regulations can seem like a foreign language, especially if you feel like you've been left alone to figure them out. Even the best transportation office briefing in the world may leave you feeling like there are many, many things you don't know, but should. And for that, today we have Matt Butler. Matt retired from the Air Force in 2019, after 22 years in uniform, a lot of which he spent working with the military and DoD and civilian personal property, and the various offices that help military members and their moves. Since then, he's moved to Transcom, first as a contractor, and now as a DoD civilian employee. In short, this guy knows what he's talking about. And I am so glad he's here with us today. Matt, welcome to PCS with Military.com.
Matt Butler 1:22
Thank you very much.
Amy Bushatz 1:24
Thanks for coming on with us. So start by telling us you I mean, you were in the Air Force a long time, how many times have you moved with or even without the military?
Matt Butler 1:33
Okay, with the military has been about 10 times, which includes PCS, is a permanent change of stations and also local moves where you're moving off base to on base. So that what those moves moving overseas to England or to Germany, and stateside assignments, such as Georgia, and Massachusetts, and also Illinois, and some other locations.
Amy Bushatz 1:58
Yeah, so you really you got around, you know how to move? Yes. Yeah. All right. So you and, you know, the beauty of that is like, you are working in the property office, personal property office, helping military members and DoD civilians, aka customers, deal with their military moves, but you also are experiencing it, too.
Matt Butler 2:20
Yes, ma'am. Definitely. And, you know, that that kind of feeds into like, how, you know, if I see some issues, then definitely the customers are seeing it as well. So we're going to briefing customers, and we're definitely want to, you know, detail, you know, things that they may see in the future, and how to handle those situations as well.
Amy Bushatz 2:41
Oh, yeah. 100% that's really exactly how I approached my job at Military.com, too, because I'm a military spouse. And I'm a system user. And I think, well, you know, like, if I'm experiencing this, someone else must be too. So that's, that's such a important insight for people to know that, you know, they're not alone in the wilderness. Someone out there is, is dealing with this, and they've been through it.
Matt Butler 3:05
Exactly.
Amy Bushatz 3:06
Yep. All right. Okay. So I want to just like dive in here, no beating around the bush, what are two or three of the biggest mistakes you've seen military members or customers make in their move?
Matt Butler 3:20
Okay, well, one of them is definitely not being prepared, such as once the military member or civilian or the customer, gets their orders taken over to the transportation office to start them off, that is very, very important. And in my time I've seen a lot of customers that will come in maybe a week or two with their orders and try to make a move. Now while that may be possible, that is not the process, you want to get your orders into the transportation office so they can start your move, get the carrier situated, you know, have you give the customer information about their move, and have it you know, flow properly. When you wait to the last minute, especially in the summertime, more than likely, you're not going to get the dates that you want to have. Because in the summertime, you know, 40 to 60% of all household shipments are happening within that time. So regardless if it's the summertime, or you know, which is called the peak season, because a lot of shipments are happening then, or the non peak season, you want to make sure as soon as you get those orders, you go into your transportation office, so that they can process your shipment, is very important.
Amy Bushatz 4:33
So and there's a big difference between I have orders that I got today and they say I'm supposed to move in two weeks and I got my orders and then I waited a super long time to come and talk to you all and get the setup.
Matt Butler 4:45
Exactly, definitely because a lot of people may not know the process, a lot of you know, back in the day, your personal a lot of personal property offices used to be able to book the shipments right then in there. Now you're dealing in and currently The counseling office that's called a PPPO, which is a personal property processing office, they process your shipment dealing with the paperwork, so they're dealing with the customer, but then they have to send that paperwork over to a JPPSO. So, which is a joint personal property shipping office, that's your booking office, and they have a large area of responsibility. So it's not going to get booked as fast. And also, you know, your, your capacity for carriers can be a lot lower too. So the sooner that you get that information over to your counseling office, the faster they can get it to the JPPSO office, and then the faster they can be booked so that you can, you know, make arrangements to, you know, maybe plan to move out your house or make your other plans that you need to do for your move as well. So it's very, very important as soon as you get those orders to go see or go go to your, your counseling office.
Amy Bushatz 5:54
Get that get that ball rolling. Okay, what are what are some other things?
Matt Butler 5:58
Another thing is, um, okay, once you're okay, your shipment is already booked. Now the you know, when the movers come over to your house, it's very important that you have things that you do not want move separated from the things that you do want moved. So, you know, that's a big thing. If you have things that needed to be safeguarded, like your passport, any kind of jury, any important documents, such as family, medical records, or dental records, or even photo albums, things that you know, you just want to take with yourself, because you hate if it got lost or damaged, it's very important that you have that separated from the things that you do want to get moved. Because you know, it's a big hassle, if you are in, and it can cost money as well, if you're trying to get that taken out of a shipment. So it is very important just to have that separated. Other things are like your professional books, paper and equipment that's called your pro gear. So things that you use for your profession, you want to make sure to that that's separated as well. And the reason for that being separated, that's free weight, that's weight that doesn't count against your joint travel regulation wait entitlement. So you want to make sure that that's separated and annotated on your inventory as being pro gear. So that's very important.
Amy Bushatz 7:13
Yeah. I like to separate my coffeemaker. Yeah.
Matt Butler 7:18
That's not weird. That's something that you're gonna need is your next place. So it was definitely you know, you won't have that separated, right? So you can bring it.
Amy Bushatz 7:23
My next place?
Matt Butler 7:24
Very important.
Amy Bushatz 7:25
Right now. Forget that. Forget the next spot. This is like a today problem right. And also your, your cat, separate the cat, do not let the cat be in the boxspring. Because I cannot tell you how many times I've heard this story is not have a good ending.
Matt Butler 7:42
Exactly, right. And then one last thing I would say is just, um, preparing your home as well. So you know, making sure that you don't have you know, trash or additional things, not necessarily things that you want to take with you, but definitely things that you don't want to have packed. So just making sure that you know it's clean, that is organized, so the movers can get in there, do what they need to do, pack it up, and get out of there without you, you know, because if you have things that you don't want to have shipped, that weight will count against you, if you exceed your joing travel regulation weight entitlement, then you will have to owe the government for that. So definitely have things that you want to have moved, that's very important thing to have noticed that customers sometimes make mistakes with.
Amy Bushatz 8:34
I mean, we've all I think unpacked something that we were like, well, how did that get in there? You know. And I mean, I've even more often than somebody accidentally having their cat packed is the horror story of unpacking some very old and not very good smelling trash. And it happens, you know, and the only way to make sure it's not going to happen is to go through your house and take out all your trash. Yeah, because let's not assume that our packing team is looking in every bin before you know, it's just like, it's not reasonable. You know, so there you go.
Matt Butler 9:12
Another thing, if you're moving overseas, you know, it can take two, two and a half months for your shipment to get to the destination. If you have trash in there. It's gonna be a bad situation when you receive it.
Amy Bushatz 9:23
Yeah, that's the that's where the bad the cat thing comes in?
Matt Butler 9:26
Exactly.
Amy Bushatz 9:28
I gotta I gotta fill people in about this because I keep mentioning it. Now there are I mean, people have lost their pets this way over the rainbow bridge, shall we say, because the cat goes missing on moving day and the cat is still missing and the cat is still missing. And then you find it when you unpack and nobody wants that to happen to anybody else. Ever. And cats get spooked. They hide in your mattress, boxspring whatever. So secure your kid. Secure your pets. Secure your trash.
Matt Butler 10:02
Very important, very important.
Amy Bushatz 10:06
All right, so I, you know, I see consistent questions in these military move Facebook groups, I know people are just itching to have answered. So I'm hoping you can just address them for us. Well, fire drill style, if you will.
Matt Butler 10:20
Okay.
Amy Bushatz 10:20
What do you think?
Matt Butler 10:21
Let's do it.
Amy Bushatz 10:21
All right. Okay, so the first is and, and I confess, y'all, this is partially my fault, because I'm the one who reported this and started the, I'm not gonna call it a rumor because it was actually told to me, but then it was untold, and that didn't get out. So in 2018, Transcom officials told me that military members would have the option to have their household goods sealed in crates at their home for all moves. And then that didn't happen. Is that something that could happen eventually?
Matt Butler 10:51
Yes, definitely. Code Twos, which is a crated shippment. So this is still an option, but there's definitely criteria that needs to be met. And I can go through basically a list of what they are. What you need to know is for a Code 2, the criteria to have to meet is that you do not have a delivery address, you require storage in transit. So basically, storage, you know, once it gets to the destination. You shipment is traveling more than 800 miles. Your shipment does not contain extra large items that will not fit into a container. And those items such as motorcycles, or oversize mattresses. If you move between one October and 14 May, your shipment cannot exceed 3,000 pounds. And if your move is between 15 May and 30 September, your shipment cannot exceed 10,000 pounds. And, but the thing is, if your shipment does not meet the criteria that just went over, you may still request a container. But you may have to pay excess costs for it. But your local transport transportation office can definitely assist you with this.
Amy Bushatz 12:09
Cool, so it's it is an option, but within very specific parameters.
Matt Butler 12:14
Yes, ma'am.
Amy Bushatz 12:16
Yeah, okay, cool. Thank you for listing those out for us. I think that will help people understand what they are, you know, what's available and what's not. Okay. People are confused about whether they can pack, pre-pack, rather, their items before the movers get there. Because for a while, it was like, oh, if you pack them, then they don't have to take them and they can unpack them. And now that sort of maybe changed? I don't know, fill us in? What's the rule?
Okay, in regards to that, customers can pre pack. But it's, you should definitely should definitely keep the lid open. Because at the end of the day, the packers, they will need to inspect the items to determine the condition and repack just for liability reasons as required. So they can pack it, but just keep it open. So the movers can you know inspect items and you know, maybe it's not a good box and they need to repack it. So that's the rule on that.
Yeah, so it's a it's a combo. It's not, you can't do it, and they won't accept it if you do that. And it's also not, you can do it and they'll just take it away and have a nice day. It's somewhere in between.
Matt Butler 13:26
Yes. Because you know, the movers they're, they're required to pack everything. So I know, I do it myself when I'm about to move, I'll pack inside of a box, you know, just so it's easier for me. I know where things are, but definitely keep that lid open because like I say it's a liability thing if you say that you pack something in a closed box and it gets to the destination and now you can't find it. So liability thing so it's definitely important to just keep that box open, but you can have your stuff in the box.
Amy Bushatz 13:59
Yeah, I we have a podcast episode with a home organizational expert Christa Curtis, who likes to pre pack in clear plastic totes. And you know, she leaves the they're easily opened and then of course they're either put in a box or wrapped in paper something. They do a lot of OCONUS moves. She's this season doing actually an OCONUS to OCONUS move and so, you know she has home organizational ninjaed this process to allow her to unpack more easily just like you said. So. Alright, this is a big one because it's a source of recent controversy -- I'm not gonna say controversy. Speculation, a change what's going on? Should families tip their movers or feed them lunch? What? And fill us in on what happened with the recent. I'm not even gonna say it's a rule change because it was a FAQ change. I don't know what's going on. Tell us about it.
Matt Butler 15:03
Okay To answer this question, no, supplying meals or refreshments is never required. And moreover, providing monetary tips is discouraged. And if your TSP requests either, please let your local transportation office know. Remember, you have a quality assurance person that works at that transportation office or counseling office that you can always reach out to if you see something that's wrong, or if you even if you have any kind of questions, just reach out to that person, that person is there to make sure that you have a quality move. So but to answer your question, no, it's not required.
Amy Bushatz 15:36
So why is monetary, monetary tips discouraged?
Matt Butler 15:43
It's discouraged because it's, it turns into, okay, I got a tip, maybe. Now, I'm just speaking this off in my mind, I got a tip of my last move, you know, speaking from maybe the movers mind, and it turns int an expectation but it is definitely not a requirement at all.
Amy Bushatz 16:01
Yeah, yeah. I personally love to eat lunch. So I figure other people also love to eat lunch. And I also know that, and I've heard other military family members say this, that there's a concern that if I do not feed my movers, or maybe even tip them, that they're going to break my stuff on purpose. And I can see how people get there. But what can you address that? Like, should people be afraid of that?
Matt Butler 16:33
No. If they have any concerns, again, that's when you get to go speak to your quality assurance person, but you should not have the fear of your things being broken or stolen, because you don't feed your movers, that is not a requirement, the transportation service providers, they have the same rules that we're speaking about. So it's not an expectation, but like I said, it's never required for that. You should not feel that I have to do this at all.
Amy Bushatz 17:03
Mm hmm. Okay, cool. Thank you. Thank you for putting us putting us to ease on that.
What recent rule or regulation changes should people know about as they navigate this 2021 moving season? What's what's new, what's different? Tell us what we need to know.
Matt Butler 18:03
Okay, I'll go over a few of them for you. So one is, so the seven day spread window is a new rule, which provides more certainty for customers, when scheduling their move. The spread date refers to the window, which is a seven was a seven calendar days within your moving, within which your moving company must pick up your shipment. So that is definitely a good thing. Because it gives the customer more clarity of when their shipment will be picked up. So that's a real good move that has changed this year for the customer.
Amy Bushatz 18:37
So how was it before? I mean, what is that? What is that a change from what were people experiencing before?
Matt Butler 18:44
Well, especially in the summer times, um, a lot of locations will have their preferred days and sometimes it will have to do a secondary preferred day. But having a seven day window gives more flexibility for when the shipment is actually being booked by the booking office and also for the transportation service provider or the movers when booking this shipment. So they are required to have your pickup date within those seven days. So that is a very important way of doing it now. So before we may be they will have to go back and forth with days because maybe they didn't have the movers didn't have any availability to pick it up. So with this way, the transportation service providers, the counseling office, the booking office, and the customer are all involved in this and basically they've agreed to make it happen during this time. So it works out best.
Amy Bushatz 19:43
Awesome. Awesome. Okay, what else? What else has changed? What do people need to know?
Matt Butler 19:47
Another thing is a claims enhancement. So there's additional guardrails to ensure families are made whole faster, so customers choice to receive replacement if offered by the moving company or full replacement. Previously, before that it was just a TSP, that the transportation service provider, or the moving companies choice on how the customer would be reimbursed or how they're, item would be replaced. So this way, there's, there's an option, there's a choice for the customer. So that's really good. Also, under the claims enhancement, there's a seven day response limit for the moving company, to, to customer counter offers during the claims process. So now that you have that time standard, where you're going to hear something back within seven days, so that's really good. Also salvage deadlines to moving companies at 45 days from the inspection. Previously, it was 30 days after settlement. So that's customer as well. And repair firm deadline. So moving companies must hire at 20 days and complete at 45 days from the claim. So that's, that's a really good one as well.
Amy Bushatz 21:01
Yeah. So what I hear you saying is a lot of changes to let people have more specific expectations about how they will be interacting with and hearing from their transportation provider, after specifically after the move for most of these. So your stuff is broken, or your deliveries that or whatever, maybe you have a little bit of damage, maybe it's a lot, maybe, you know, hopefully it's none. But if you do, the process is very specific, and designed to get you the answers that you need and really settle. I mean, we use the word settlement, you know, for monetary, but really settle your life down as quickly as possible.
Matt Butler 21:50
Right, exactly. The main thing is just to improve that customer experience and make sure to have a quality experience for this. So a lot of these moves are definitely to to make that better for the customer.
Amy Bushatz 22:04
Yeah, yeah. So Transcom, speaking of customers, Transcom uses the term customer responsibility, which means things that the military members and or their families need to know and know, for working with the movers. One customer responsibility we already talked about is getting those orders to the office as quickly as possible. Can you give us some examples of other customer responsibilities with the move?
Matt Butler 22:27
Sure, definitely. So one customer responsibility that's very important is ensuring that they're at their residence at the time of delivery, or pickup between 0800 and 1700, it's very important to ensure that they are there for when the movers get there to deliver or, or pick up there or start packing their things. So that's very important. And another thing if you're not, if the customer is not there during those times, and the movers try to deliver or, or start packing their things and have to leave, the customer can can be charged for that attempted delivery or attempted. That's very important. Another thing is, if you have any pro-gear, like I said earlier, ensuring that you know is separated from your regular personal property, and also listed and make sure making sure it is listed on your inventory. It's kind of as little tought to go after the fact to try to prove that is pro-gear. But if you're doing it at the beginning, then you won't have to worry about it at the end. So that's very important. Um, another thing if someone is acting on your behalf, and when I say that, I mean, if you're not going to be at your residence to release your personal property or to receive your personal property, it's very important at the time of counseling that you identify who you're releasing or receiving agent will be. And you know, putting that in DPS and maybe if something changes after your counseling, you can either go back into your counseling office and try to update that or you can do a power of attorney to identify who will be releasing or receiving your personal property on your behalf. So that's an important thing. Ensure that you know any personal property that you have in attics or crawl spaces are removed prior to the packers are prior to the packers arriving. So it's important prior to just making sure that you go up into your attic and go to your crawl space and taking those things down so that the movers can pack those for you. Additionally, removing all wall-mounted items from the walls prior to them movers arriving is not the movers responsibility to remove anything from was also they are not responsible for disconnecting your your TVs if you have components connected to it or your washing machines and dryers. So making sure that you're disconnecting or removing all those items prior to the movers arriving is very important. And also let me see here if we have again ensuring that you go through the house to ensure to everything that you want it that you want to have moved has been packed. So just walking around your house prior to the movers leaving just to make sure that they packed up everything that you want to you know, you don't want the movers to leave and you walk inside your, you know, a closet you see, you know, this didnt get packed up. So that's very important.
Amy Bushatz 25:17
Yeah, yeah, I've definitely had that happen, whereas open a cabinet and ta-da, there's all my stuff.
Matt Butler 25:24
Exactly, you know. So that's, that's very important. And then just, you know, document any notice damages to the moving company, as item, you know, when you receive your items, and just making sure that you when they come into your house and you notice any damages, or you notice something's missing, identify that with your, your movers at the time. If you notice it after the fact you still can, can move can, you know, identify any loss or damages afterwards, but this is just to alleviate some of the stress and may have happened. So definitely, these are some good customer responsibilities. Yeah, to take care of.
Amy Bushatz 26:00
Yeah. And you can note that damage, if you see something gets if you see something, say something, if you see something get damaged on its way out of your house, you can note that at the time, right? And have them I mean, make sure it's written down on that inventory sheet right there. When we moved from Fort Campbell, Kentucky to Alaska several years ago, I watched the mover, you know, not on purpose, obviously, but damage my boxspring like they ripped the bottom of it or something. Right. And I was able to say to the to the manager on site, you know, who is also packing and moving stuff. Hey, like, I noticed this, I'm sorry to tell you this, can you write it down? And he was very cool about it and made sure it was noted. But you know, I'm not sure three months later, I would have or whatever it was right, it was a long time because we were coming to Alaska, that I would have noticed that it had been wrecked. Yeah, if I hadn't been watching him.
Matt Butler 27:00
Right. And that's very important because even with the inventory, a lot of customers think that they have to automatically sign a document if they don't agree with it or, but even if, because, you know, when the movers are packing your things, they're gonna write down the condition of your items as well. The thing is, if you don't agree with the condition that they stated that your items are in, there is a block on the inventory where you can say, for item, you know, 13 I do not agree with the condition that they put my my property in for you know, specific items or whatever, just so that's noted and then you can sign it, you sign it saying okay, you know, my couch, this couch is totally damaged or whatever you can you can contest that basically.
Amy Bushatz 27:49
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so is there a top responsibility you find people are surprised by that they just didn't know they're supposed to do and maybe until it's too late.
Matt Butler 27:58
Right. So before you start to move, before you start moving into the house, customers should ask the movers to accompany them on a survey of the residence this way they can point out and agree upon any pre existing damage if there's any, this includes stained carpets, damaged walls and more. And once the once this has been noted, the movers can start unpacking the truck, the movers should also put down mats, plastic to protect the flooring near high traffic areas. In addition, movers are required to reassemble any furniture that was disassembled and to start up the move and unpack any or all boxes that you request. And this is often called a full unpack, most members decide not to ask the movers for a full on pack as if they you know if they prefer to put the items away on their own. And additionally, they will place items at a spot you designate only one time so they're not going to be moving your personal property more than once. So you cannot tell the movers to put your bed on the third floor then change your mind a few hours later. And request to be put in a basement so that's very important.
Amy Bushatz 29:04
Yeah, so I want to I want to note with that because I think there's a lot of fear for the unpack that and because you know we've heard horror stories whether it's rumors or actually happened or happened to one person and then became just bigger than life thing, right that's totally a thing, about the movers, unpacking quote, unquote, unpacking your stuff and placing it on one surface called the floor and not on one surface called the countertop or the cabinet you pointed to right? And so it it makes it so that I don't want all of my stuff on the floor. Therefore, I will not be asking for this. But I could you know if I'd known the rule or my responsibility to figure out where I wanted stuff, or the movers responsibility and what that looked like I could have saved everybody some trouble and had the unpack done or at least partially done before the movers ever left and now you know, I have glasses in a cabinet not on the floor, because that's not where anyone wants them, and all is well. But for me, I find that actually to make that possible, I'm walking through and using like, painters tape on cabinets, not necessarily for the movers, but for myself to decide where I want things. And so all things are possible when you know where you're belongings, they're gonna belong.
Matt Butler 30:26
Exactly
Amy Bushatz 30:29
And then I love what you noted about the walking through the home and noting any damage, because man, I had not thought of that, first of all, and second of all, my goodness, you know, if you, I imagine new to the home, right, you just moved there. You may not even notice that damage beforehand, because you just got there. And then the movers come in all the stuff is in they leave and you're looking at, you know, some banged up wall wondering is was that there before? Did that get there today? I don't even know.
Matt Butler 31:01
Exactly.
Amy Bushatz 31:04
Yeah, that's a that's a thing. Okay. Let's speaking of damage, can you give listeners two or three insights into filing a claim? When you've experienced a lot of goods damage, you know, they're small claims, there's big claims, some are easier, some are harder, walk us through?
Matt Butler 31:21
Okay, well, the first thing is definitely getting noticed of loss or damage within the 180 days from the delivery date to your TSP, which is your transportation service provider. So that's very important just to initiate that piece of it. So you have the notice right there, the second piece is actually filing the claim. So you have nine months from the delivery date to file your claim with your tsp. And a key part with that the TSP must confirm receipt of your claim within 15 days. So that is very important. Another piece is you know, you're going to be working with your TSP to assess your claim. So, you know, the TSP has 30 days to make an offer, or deny liability for the claim for anything that's under $1,000. And then they have 60 days on a claim for anything that's over $1,000. And they must respond within seven days. So that's really good. Um, you know, if they're going to be repairing the item, the TSP must hire a repair company within 20 days and have that company inspect the items within 45 days. And the final settlement, so the final settlement, or you can transfer to the military claims office. So you may settle the claim by accepting or rejecting in full or per item. So you must make the TSP providers are required to make the payment within 30 days, and pick up any salvage items within 30 within 30 days after being deemed beyond repair. Another thing you should never feel pressured, so only accept an offer that you feel completely satisfied. And if you're not satisfied that other option I was talking about the military claims office, you can consider contacting the military claims office if you're unhappy with the final offer. Or if the TSP has not communicated with you within 30 days, I just want to add one last piece. So an alternate filing option, which is called a quick claim settlement. So if offered on delivery day, you may file paperwork in person with the transportation service provider to promptly resolve minor loss or damages. And those items that does not exceed $1,000. And as the payment is made within five days of claim submissions, you may still file other claims for loss or damages discovered after delivery, excluding the item filed under the quick claim. So that's just another option for the customers just to you know, try to make sure that they're reimbursed for their items for any loss or damages.
Amy Bushatz 33:52
Yeah, that's a that's a good one to use. If you watch something come off the truck, you immediately see that it's damaged. And maybe it's something you wish you could use right now. Right? I'm trying to think of a well my coffeemaker. Oh, boy. Okay, so that sucker comes off, and we can see shes broken. Why did I let you pack this? Why didn't I bring this important thing with me. Who can say, but here it is, I you know, I have noticed its damaged. I have reported it. I've done this quick claim process. And now I'm getting reimbursed essentially, or at least to the you know, determined value for that item. And now I can go and replace it and peace in our time because I have had my morning coffee.
Matt Butler 34:41
Yes, yes. That's correct. And that's always if the transportation service provider, if they offer you that option. So that's definitely a good option for many customers.
Amy Bushatz 34:52
So you've moved, you've worked in this field a really long time. You know what you're doing based on have easy years of experience in the field. Can you give us three or so best tips for military members and their families getting ready for a move? Tie it all in a bow for us.
Matt Butler 35:11
Definitely. Okay, well, the first one and I said this earlier, it is very important that customers arrange their moves as soon as they get orders. And if possible, try to avoid moving during the summer peak season. During the summer peak season, about 40 to 60% of the yearly shipments occurred during that time. Additionally, the Fourth of July is a very, very busy time. So definitely avoid the Fourth of July moving during that time. For my second one, if you don't agree with the conditions that the packer stated your property is in, ensure that you annotate it on your inventory. never argue with your Packers. And if you have any issues, make sure that you call Did you contact your local quality assurance inspector to ins to assist. And if anything changes with your move, you know, maybe your assignment has changed or anything that's going to affect your move, ensure that you contact your transportation office immediately. They are there to assist
Amy Bushatz 36:06
There to assist. Thank you so much for this insight and this fun conversation today. Matt, it's been a pleasure to have you on PCS With Military.com. Thank you so much for joining us.
Matt Butler 36:18
Thank you very much for having me.
