The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has announced that it has denied protests from several bidders against the award of the Global Household Goods Contract (GHC).

This allows for US Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and HomeSafe Alliance LLC to begin contract performance and a planned nine-month transition period. 

The contract, awarded on 4 November, 2021 provides complete door-to-door global household goods relocation transportation and warehouse services for Department of Defense (DOD) personnel, US Coast Guard members, and other federal employees. 

The transition period will include HomeSafe Alliance LLC developing and testing interfaces with the government’s information technology (IT) system, establishing customer service support capabilities, and providing necessary training on the contractor’s IT system. The current schedule calls for the transition period to run to December 2022.

“We’re excited to begin implementing the contract to improve the household goods shipment process for service members, civilians and their families,” said Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, USTRANSCOM commander. “The stability, capacity management, and accountability delivered through GHC will benefit our people and the moving industry.”

The GHC is expected to deliver quality, on-time packing, shipping, and delivery of customers’ household goods, along with modern digital tools to improve communication between the move manager and the customer through new, improved centralised management of the DOD’s approximately 325,000 annual household goods shipments. 

“Moving is an adventure but also an inherently stressful process. We expect the GHC to be a major step in DOD’s efforts to improve the relocation experience for our service members and families,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Joel Safranek, Director of USTRANSCOM’s Defense Personal Property Management Office. “We are focussed wholly on delivering an improved relocation experience for DOD employees, service members, and their families.”