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The 2027 draft Business Rules are out, and we’ve done a thorough review. Really appreciate our MFA Ambassadors and the movers who have shared your thoughts with us so far!

After a line-by-line review, one thing is clear. The PPA told industry its biggest concerns were capacity, transparency, and accountability. Respectfully, the draft rules miss the mark.

We’ve seen what happens when industry collaboration takes a back seat. Industry warned that the GHC wasn’t built for the realities of military moving. Those warnings were waved off, military families paid the price, and taxpayers were out $100 million before the plug was pulled.

The PPA didn’t create that mess, but it has a big say in where the program goes from here, and we want to help get it right.

MFA will submit formal comments by the Oct. 26 deadline. The PPA expects to publish final rules around Nov. 23. In the meantime, let’s dive into some initial concerns:

Where the Draft Rules Fall Short

Inconvenience claims that punish the wrong things. When a shipment is late, and a family is living without essentials or paying out of pocket, they should absolutely be made whole. No question. But under the current rules, one missing item can trigger per diem for the entire household, whether that item is a crib or a riding lawnmower headed to New York in December. Movers have seen a delay claim exceed the total cost of the entire shipment, and others have been on the hook for customs delays. The draft rules still don’t define “essential items,” cap claim days, account for partial deliveries, or look at the GSA approach of reimbursing families for their actual out-of-pocket costs.

Further Base access restrictions. Crews show up ready to work and get turned away by rules that change from one installation to the next, sometimes overnight. While industry understands the need for bases to have tight security, PPA has proposed not allowing service members to escort or sponsor crews to get on base. Some bases require escorts for delivery crews, and service members can’t sponsor the crew themselves. And weekend deliveries scheduled around a family’s availability have earned letters of warning months later, because the rules require base approval with no clear way to get it. We’d love to work with the PPA to minimize delays for military families.

A scoring system that rewards sitting on the sidelines. The draft rules add claims percentages to Best Value Scores, using a nine-month data window. If a mover has no data in a category, the system automatically gives them a perfect 100% score. No moves = no claims. That means the companies doing the most work during peak season are measured against companies that may not have participated. That’s not a quality measure.

Transparency that only runs one direction. Movers will now be expected to report delivery ETAs within two days of pickup, before any honest carrier could give families an accurate timeframe. Meanwhile, the PPA still hasn’t defined what success looks like or how it determines what is considered a fair price from industry. And when the DPS system recently canceled awarded shipments without notice, there was no advisory explaining why or what’s being done to fix it.

What Needs Fixing

Movers have been recommending practical fixes like these for months:

1. Score movers on actual performance. No automatic perfect scores for missing data, and a data window that covers a full year of moves, peak season included.
2. Define “essential items” and set reasonable claim limits. One standard, applied consistently, so families are made whole and no claim costs more than the shipment itself.
3. Work with us. Help us find solutions for base access instead of implementing even more restrictions on how companies can get on base.
4. Transparency. Establish clear KPIs, align the scoring methodology, and communicate with industry.

Let’s Get This Right

Everyone at this table wants the same thing: military families moved on time, with care, by professionals who can afford to keep showing up. Let’s work together and get it right.

MFA will submit formal comments by the Oct. 26 deadline. The PPA expects to publish final rules around Nov. 23.

SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK: Send your insights, examples, and questions to MFA Executive Director Katie McMichael at [email protected].

MEETING WITH YOUR LAWMAKERS? Reach out to Katie to help coordinate.

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