How are we supposed to ship our few belongings to our PCS?

Question

We are leaving the 14th, and have to report to Fort Lewis, WA on the 19th. We are driving there and have a few boxes of household goods that need to be shipped. Can we do this via UPS or something? I wish we had more time to figure this stuff out, but what the heck are we going to do?! We don't have time or money to pay for a mover, and we can't rent a truck or anything. Who should we call, what should we do?! My husband is the one serving in the army.

MustangSally, you are right! We are army and have been left in the dark. They did not even get my husband his orders until a week 1/2 before he graduated AIT!!! And they never really told him anything. After they graduated, the Drill Sgt. booted them out on their butts!! So we know nothing, and are not sure if he has the correct papers to tell us these things. I don't care if we don't get reimbursed for UPS shipment, because it is not very much stuff at all. I just want it to get there and want to know if this is something we can do? We cannot rent a U-haul, either.

Answer 1

I'm sure your husband got his orders well in advance. He was supposed to go to an appointment with TMO to set a date for movers to come pack your belongings and move them. Since YOU didn't do this, it will be impossible for the govt to set you movers in such little time. You will have to rent a Uhaul, move your belonging and wait to be reimbursed by the Govt. DO NOT SHIP YOUR BELONGING UPS. The military will NOT cover this kind of shipment as they are NOT an approved carrier. YOU NEED TO CONTACT TMO IMMEDIATELY. How did you go so long without do this? This must be your first move EVER or you would have known what to do! Iam very sure that the military told your husband what to do. We have been in for years and years and have never been left in the dark. But we are AF, sounds lke you must be Army

If you really don't have that much stuff and the boxes are of a size that can be shipped by UPS, go ahead and do it! The military won't reimburse you for it but if these are things you have to have, do it! The Army can't stop you from shipping your things in the way you choose but they do prefer you do things in a certain just so they can cover thier bases. My husband received his order in Tech School but he had a month before he had to report. Once he received his order, I went to TMO and set up the appointment to have our goods shipped (I had a power of attorney). Since your husband is Active, you will be the one coordinating and doing alot of these things from now on You need to familiarize yourself with EVERYTHING military and make sure you have a power of attorney at all times. It will make things a lot easier for you all. It seems like the Army doesn't take care of thier people like the AF does. Everytime we move, it's almost like they hold our hands and make sure everything gets done.

Answer 2

Your hubby not listening to directions has put you in quite a bind now. I promise you, he was told how to handle the PCS move. They're given a briefing. If you think this is rough, we were newly married and he got orders to Germany after completing AIT. Since we were newly married, I didn't have command sponsorship, so couldn't go with him. I had to wait....it took 6 months.

Anyways, on to your issue. HE needs to contact TMO immediately. He can tell them it's an emergency. He'd also be better off to admit to them that the didn't pay attention and that the situation is urgent. It doesn't matter how small or large, the military will pay to move your goods. They should arrive at Ft. Lewis shortly after you do. You can also go on post to the ACS office or whatever they have and get info about Ft. Lewis. Make sure once you get there, that HE puts your name on the housing list immediately. That is, if you want to live on post. Call ahead and get a room in Billeting or the Guest House. That's like an on post hotel. If they're full, like they sometimes are, you'll need a waiver from them stating that so that you get reimbersed for hotel expense in town. Without that waiver, you'll pay out of your pocket. By the way, in case you don't know, driving and if you have to get a hotel will come out of pocket. They reimberse UNLESS he asked for an advance. Right now, I can't think of the name of it (SORRY). I want to say it's TLA. It's money we've gotten everytime to help pay our expenses. You don't pay it back but you have to state that you recieved it when you file travle voucher and such. You don't need to worry much about that....that's all his responsibility.

Get his butt in gear and instill into him now that he needs to pay better attention. Often, the soldier forgets how much stress PCSing causes for us. We can't do anything if they don't follow proper procedures. I hope I was of some help. It's been awhile since we made a PCS move and things change often. Good luck to you!!

Answer 3

I am a military spouse n do ya'll have a person who is like someone you call when u get 2 ur next base or nething? If so n u have the # i'd call them if not i'd go 2 a military site 4 ur next base or just a military site n that may help u find out the answer or direct u where 2 go

Answer 4

Your husband should go to the transportation office on base and present his orders. Actually, he should have done that as soon as he got his orders!

If you can't get this settled before the move, see if you can get reimbursed after the move. Hang on to all receipts, and be prepared to explain why you didn't just go to the transportation office in the first place.

Answer 5

Call the enlisted in processing # listed on the site listed below. They should guide you to the correct people to speak to if you calmly explain your situation. They are on PST to give you an idea when to call it should be open by 9am. You or your husband should call explaining your situation and ask for advice. It would be best for you to contact your transportation office from his last duty assignment. (AIT) My best advice i can give you is memorize your husbands SSN and keep a copy of his orders with you too. Hopefully you are registered with DEERS and have your ID card already too. If not be sure that the two of you have your marriage license and certificate with you so that you can get on post/registered with deers to get id card/tricare (healthcare)/and last but not least allowed on post! I dont recommend shipping boxes via ups either. Since you are driving across country save ALL your reciepts for food, lodging, and gas. good idea to keep track of your mileage, just in case. Also...just remembered, read your husbands orders word for word, i know, mind numbing but it NEEDS to have on his orders that it includes his family (you) on it to be reimbursed if it dosnt then before you go i highly recommend that your husband marches his butt with your marriage paperwork so that he can quickly have his orders ammended. That is their responsibility to take care of him and he will not be reprimanded if he brings it to their attention. He needs to have some mention of family members and household goods transportation authorization.
Take care and good luck, each move gets easier. Pay attention what happens this time, and you will learn what to do later to prepare yourself for this sort of thing.

Answer 6

Sounds like he did not listen very well to his outprocessing briefings, nor go in person to the various out-processing points -- otherwise, he would already have done the necessary paperwork to have the items prepped, boxed, and ready to be picked up and transported to the next duty station.

Sounds like your husband is on his first assignment.

Answer 7

They didn't provide you with the paperwork? Depending on what you call " a few belongings" they will pay. You might have to put stuff in storage until you figure it out.

This is not the place to ask. There should have been paperwork when he got orders, twixt, etc.

Answer 8

GOV PAYS FOR PCS MOVES.