Relocating? You have options Published March 21, 2014 By Jeff Brzezinskii 28th Logistics Readiness Squadron ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. -- Individuals relocating during a permanent change of station, separation or retirement have three options available to them once they receive orders. Those options are a household goods move, a personally procured move, or a non-temporary storage. Airmen may elect one or any combination of the aforementioned options for their move. What is a HHG move? An HHG is when a government contracted transportation service provider performs full packing, loading, transporting, unloading, placement, and debris removal of belongings. The shipment is covered by Full Valuation Insurance. A claim will be required to repair or replace damaged or lost items. It's important to submit claims as early in the relocating process as possible. During peak season - May through September - many TSPs are saturated with a high volume of requests, resulting in delay of pickup and/or delivery of goods. What is a PPM? The personally procured method allows members to personally procure HHG transportation when they have an entitlement to ship or store HHG. A member can use any privately owned vehicle, direct hire or rental of a conveyance - with or without operator - to move household goods. Reimbursement of actual costs or monetary allowance is limited to what it would cost the government to move the actual weight shipped and/or stored and must not exceed the member's maximum authorized weight allowance. Members are reimbursed 95 percent of what the government would have paid if a contracted TSP was utilized or actual cost incurred up to the government constructed cost. Receipts are required for authorized expenses as they are tax deductions and calculated into the final payment. Members have several options to transport property including a rental truck, personally owned vehicle, contracted TSP, freight service, or any combination thereof. Freight services such as portable shipping containers are not available in Rapid City or Ellsworth, however, members may utilize similar services offered by non-traditional means. It's not the intention of the 28th Logistics Readiness Squadron to endorse any particular company or service, but as an example of freight services offered in the local area, we will highlight ABF Freight Services. ABF's U-Pack will deliver a trailer to a client's residence, allow them to pack and load it yourself and pick-up and deliver it to the customer's destination to be unloaded. Customers are allowed three business days from origin to destination to load and unload the trailer. Transit times average between two and five business days. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages when utilizing non-traditional shipping methods so it's important for Airmen to educate themselves prior to choosing a shipping company. What is NTS? NTS is long-term storage of household goods in lieu of transportation. This type of move includes necessary packing, crating, unpacking, uncrating and transportation to and from the place of storage. Property will be stored in a warehouse in Rapid City until delivery is requested. Length of storage is determined by an Airman's orders. Members who PCS to another duty station will have a longer timeline for storage. If they elect to do a NTS, they will not be able to request delivery until they have a permanent address. This option is most suitable for members who are separating or retiring and have not decided on a location, are having a home built, or will not be ready to receive their property within 90 days of arriving at their destination. For more information on how to prepare for an upcoming PCS, call the 28th LRS Traffic Management Office at (605) 385-6597.