John Chipman Jr, former chairman of the CMSA (California Moving and Storage Association), wrote an opinion piece for the Association’s December 2024 newsletter, The Communicator.
The article asked whether the US government’s Global Household Contract (GHC) will put local movers out of business. The CMSA has given The Mover permission to reproduce the article in full.
For decades, moving companies have been helping service members and their families relocate. From 29 Palms, CA to Norfolk, VA, Movers - many generationally rooted in their local communities - have played an indispensable role in helping TransCom get military personnel moved in a professional, timely manner. With the advent of the GHC in November 2021, the method for moving service members is changing. The military is transitioning from the DP3 program, which is made up of hundreds of local moving servicing providers, to a single contractor, KBR’s HomeSafe Alliance (HSA). TransCom expects the new program to improve quality, efficiency, and accountability.
The transition from DP3 is not progressing in the way that many in the moving industry expected. This year HSA has confronted several local movers with a non-negotiable vendor service agreement and a blunt message: ‘Join us’ or we’ll take your military business away and give it to our vendors.
AAction Movers (AAction) has been moving airmen and officers at Minot AFB, ND for the last 40 years – “at least since 1976”, according to AAction’s president, Scott Herman. At a face-to-face meeting with HSA on July 20, 2024, Herman tried to negotiate with HSA about the terms and conditions of HSA’s agreement. According to Herman, HSA’s representative said the agreement was “non-negotiable” and that HSA was “fully prepared to send trucks into our market, buy or build warehouses, and out-source the crews necessary to service the [military] work”. Scott thought HSA’s threat was crazy and unreasonable until he learned that HSA representatives were “reaching out to our contractors as well as positioning JB Hunt trailers in the region”. Reports indicate HSA has created a new vendor and is doing moves at Minot AFB.
Why would HSA want to strong-arm a local mover into working directly for them? ...
Photo: John Chipman Jr.
Click here to read the full story in The Mover magazine.