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What You Need to Know About a PPM PCS

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Here is what you need to know about a Personally Procured Move (PPM)

When you get those PCS orders, if you are moving CONUS to CONUS, you will be able to decide between doing a full military PCS or a full or partial PPM PCS. 

With a full military move, you set up a time for the military to come to your home and pack up your belongings and deliver them to your new home. This is a great option for some military families, where you don’t have to worry about all the details of the move. This is really the only option for most OCONUS moves.

Some military families don’t want to do a full military move and want to do what is called a PPM move, which used to be called a DITY move. This is a do-it-yourself move with PCS orders but you would be the one to pack and unpack, transport your belongings, or be in charge of hiring your own moving company. 

Why do a PPM?

Most families like to do a PPM PCS for a couple of reasons. Doing the move this way gives you more control over your belongings. This is especially important if you have a lot of family heirlooms or irreplaceable items. A PPM also gives you the control you might not have with a full military move. 

Another reason that people want to do a PPM is that there is the potential to make money from doing so. 

For a PPM you can rent portable moving and storage containers, such as PODS. You can rent a truck or a trailer. You can also use your own vehicle. You can hire a commercial moving company and ship things through places like USPS, FedEx, and UPS.

How can you make money from a PPM?

The reason you can make money from a PPM is because of the way they handle reimbursing you for the move. With a Member Elected PPM, which means you have the option of military movers but choose to do a PPM, you are authorized to receive 100% of what the government would estimate they would pay if they had moved you. 

You would receive a one-time payment and can keep any extra money. If you can stay under the amount they are going to give you, you can make money. 

They base this amount on your actual household goods weight and you can’t exceed your authorized weight entitlement. The 100% will be based on the government’s constructed “best value” cost for the move. 

What is an Actual Cost Reimbursement PPM?

This type of PPM is for when government transportation is not available and you get approved for a PPM. You would then get reimbursed for the actual cost of your move.

What is the PPM process?

The first thing you would need to do is get approval from your local Travel Office (TO). The paperwork that is required is listed on the dfas.mil website. After that, you would need to sort out the equipment and/or find your moving company if you are going with one.

You will then need to obtain empty and full-weight tickets from a certified weigh station for each and every part of your move. Your local TO can help you find certified scales to do this. You should also purchase insurance in case of any losses or damages. The military will not pay for those.

The last step would be to submit all of your paperwork for the final settlement. You need to do this within 45 days from the start of your move. Keep each and every receipt as you will need them for this part. Once everything has been processed you will then receive your payment.

What is a partial PPM?

This is when you transport a portion of your household goods yourself, and allow the military to move the rest. This is a good idea for when you have certain items you want to take with you and move yourself but you don’t want to do the full move on your own.

What if I have more questions?

Your best bet is to contact your local TO. They will know more of the details and have more exact information for you. Military OneSource also has many resources on PCSing and planning your move.

 

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