Lost weight tickets. A moving company that doesn’t show up. A vehicle shipment that isn’t authorized before an overseas flight.
These are some of the biggest PCS headaches the Pay and Personnel Center’s PCS Assist Team has been dealing with this year. Through Aug. 9, the six-person team has handled more than 600 requests for help from members.
Fortunately, many of these problems can be avoided, or fixed more quickly, if members know what to look for.
Here are some of the most common trouble spots the team is seeing this PCS season.
Lost weight tickets
If you’re doing a Personally Procured Move, or PPM, getting and keeping your certified empty and full weight tickets is critical. Having these tickets ensures your claim is resolved quickly so you can get reimbursed without delay.
While the Joint Travel Regulations allow the Coast Guard to use a constructed weight to calculate reimbursement if tickets are lost, destroyed, or not obtained through circumstances beyond a member’s control, relying on this fallback will significantly delay your payout. Resolving a constructed weight claim is a much longer, more burdensome administrative process.
The PCS Assist team saw just how widespread this delay can become. In one week, it worked with seven commands and their administrators on missing weight-ticket cases, helping move an estimated $60,000 in delayed PPM incentive payments toward resolution.
The constructed-weight process is time-consuming. It uses the rental vehicle’s cargo capacity (or the dimensions of a shipping container used by a moving company) and a standard density factor of 7 pounds per cubic foot. Furthermore, members are forced to provide extensive additional documentation, including a formal statement explaining what happened to the tickets, the rental agreement showing the vehicle’s cargo capacity, receipts (commercial contracts), and all required forms.
The fix: Take a photo of every weight ticket as soon as you get it and save it somewhere you can access later. For instructions and the documentation needed to request a constructed weight, see the constructed weight secretarial process templates on the PPC Travel PCS Assist Team SharePoint page or below.
Commercial Services Constructed Weight Template
Rental Vehicle U-Haul Constructed Weight Template
PPM movers
Unfortunately, some members are still hiring unvetted commercial moving companies they find online to conduct their PPM. This has resulted in unexpected fees, delivery delays and problems getting the documentation they need for reimbursement. In some cases, the moving company has failed to provide required weight tickets or other services included in the agreement.
The problem can be particularly difficult when a commercial mover is subcontracted and isn't familiar with government moving requirements.
The fix: If you hire a commercial mover for your PPM, check who you’re hiring, read the contract carefully, and understand exactly what services are included. Never sign a blank inventory sheet. And if all else fails, refer to the Commercial Services Constructed Weight template referenced above.
And remember: PPM counseling and authorization must be completed before you start your move.
Travel authorizations
System problems – particularly in mLINQs – are another recurring source of frustration. The PCS Assist Team has dealt with problems involving privately owned vehicle shipments and overseas flight authorizations. When those issues aren't caught until the week of a move, there may be very little time to fix them.
In one case this year, an after-hours vehicle-shipment authorization problem threatened to cause a member to miss a flight. The PCS Assist Team coordinated with the appropriate offices to get the issue resolved.
The fix: As soon as you receive your orders, check with your command administrator to make sure your required travel and shipment authorizations are moving forward exactly as directed in mLINQs PCS authorization guides. Overseas PCS flights and vehicle shipments must receive the correct authorization in mLINQS, otherwise flights cannot be ticketed and vehicles cannot be shipped. Don't wait until the week of your PCS to discover something is missing.
Stalled shipments
Delayed or canceled household goods pickups and deliveries continue to generate calls to the PCS Assist Team.
In a recent case, the team helped get action on a household goods shipment that had remained in counseling status for more than a month. In another, the team worked with a portable-storage company after the company initially said it couldn't deliver to the member's new location, helping the member preserve the existing delivery agreement.
The fix: If your pickup or delivery is canceled, delayed or otherwise appears to be stalled, contact your command administrator or transportation office promptly. Keep copies of your communications with the moving company and transportation officials.
Don't wait for a delay to become an emergency.
Other issues
The PCS Assist Team also has handled questions this year involving remote and overseas moves, Temporary Lodging Expense, Temporary Lodging Allowance, dependent travel, shipment entitlements, and other unusual cases.
The team is intended to help when normal channels aren't enough. Members should continue to work with their command administrators, local transportation offices and assigned transportation service providers first.
But when a case stalls or a problem requires coordination among several organizations, the PCS Assist Team may be able to help.
The team also uses what it sees during PCS season to identify recurring problems and share lessons with Coast Guard policy and program offices.
Start early
The Team’s biggest piece of advice: don't wait until something becomes an emergency.
If you’re preparing for a PCS, that means starting early, keeping copies of orders and moving documents, saving written communications with transportation offices and moving companies, and making sure required counseling and authorizations are completed before beginning a PPM.
And take pictures of those weight tickets.
Looking ahead
The PCS Assist Team will continue helping members through Sept. 18. Members who need assistance can reach the team at (206) 815-7858 or email: PCSAssist@uscg.mil.
Normal operating hours are Monday-Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. CST, with additional 24/7 emergency watch-stander capabilities
In the meantime, the PPC is already preparing for the 2027 PCS season, looking at staffing, training, technology and lessons learned from this year.
The Travel Division is also exploring options for permanent PCS Assist Team positions that would preserve the expertise developed during each transfer season and give members and administrators a consistent place to turn for difficult PCS problems. Those plans remain in development and do not represent a final staffing decision, so stay tuned.
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