U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) is advancing a controversial plan to contract a single moving company to ship household goods for permanent change-of-station (PCS) moves, Military.com reported.
The plan would replace more than 900 vendors who now ship goods with one contractor managing multiple subcontractors by 2021, according to the report.
“There are a number of wickets to get through first,” TRANSCOM chief Army Gen. Stephen Lyons told defense reporters last week.
However, Lyons said the plan is workable despite opposition from firms in the business, admitting criticism of the plan inside and outside DOD, the report said.
Lyons also said TRANSCOM has published requests for proposals (RFPs) for the potentially $2 billion contract and has received responses.
“There were some that thought that no company could take a contract like this and really make it work.  There have been a number of industry reps that have come to the table, I’m talking about pretty credible folks who have formed alliances that have come in and said, ‘We think we can do this,'” he said, according to the report.
However, TRANSCOM’s plan will face a Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit and congressional cost analysis before awarding a contract, the report said.
The goal is accountability Lyons said.
“Moving season after moving season, it’s the same predictable pattern. You go through a peak in the summer, and the quality of service goes down. The current systems do not hold the industry accountable in a meaningful kind of way,” he added.