It’s official – well, almost official: Oversight of personal property transportation will move from TRANSCOM to another new or existing non-combatant office within the Department of Defense within one year of enactment. That’s the word from the PCS language contained in the draft National Defense Authorization (NDAA) bill, which could be finalized as early as this week.

TRANSCOM will go back to focusing on its primary mission of global mobility and logistics, which we understand its leadership supports. We’re hopeful the household goods program will find a home that makes more sense – one that will work with the industry to provide an exemplary level of service for our service members and their families. 

The draft NDAA language also requires an engagement plan with commercial providers and other industry partners. That’s encouraging – it allows the PCS Task Force to build on its track record of working with industry to uncover solutions. But for now, we don’t know what this partnership or the future program looks like – will it be GHC 2.0? A revised DP3 program? Or something else? Time will tell, so stay tuned – either way, big changes are coming. Here is the full text of the PCS language:

2636b. Responsibilities for oversight of personal property transportation ‘‘(a) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Subject to subsection (b), not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Defense shall assign to a single office or other organizational element within the Department of Defense the following responsibilities:

‘‘(1) Overseeing the activities and personnel of, and any other matter relating to, the following: ‘‘(A) Any office or other organizational element of a military department responsible for shipping baggage or household effects, scheduling or processing orders for such shipments, providing storage services for such baggage or household effects, or providing privately owned vehicle transportation services in connection with a permanent change of station, on behalf of members of the armed forces, including any personal property shipping office, joint or consolidated personal property shipping office, or personal property processing office of such military department. ‘‘(B) The Defense Personal Property Management Office, or any such successor office. ‘‘(2) Overseeing the adjudication of any claim filed with respect to the defense personal property program (including the adjudication of such claims under section 2636(a) of this title or section 3721 of title 31) and any other matter relating to such program. 

‘‘(b) EXCLUSION.—The responsibilities under subsection (a) may not be assigned to any combatant command or component thereof. ‘‘(c) DEFENSE PERSONAL PROPERTY PROGRAM DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘defense personal property program’ means the program of the Department of Defense for managing the shipment of the baggage and household effects for members of the armed forces or civilian employees of the Department, or any such successor program.’’. 

(b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate a briefing on the plan and timeline for the implementation of section 2636b of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection 2 (a). Such briefing shall include— (1) an identification of the office or other organizational element within the Department of Defense to which the Secretary plans to assign the responsibilities specified in such section 2636b; (2) details relating to any changes to requirements, authorities, or processes necessary to implement such section 2636b; (3)an estimate of the resources required to implement such section 2636b; (4) a plan to improve the business systems supporting the office or other organizational element identified pursuant to paragraph (1) with respect to the conduct of the responsibilities specified in such section 2636b; 

(5) a plan to provide the necessary staffing and resourcing for such office or other organizational element with respect to the conduct of such responsibilities; and (6) a plan for partnership with commercial service household goods providers. (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the date on which the briefing is provided under subsection 25 (b), the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to implement section 2636b of title 10, United States  Code, as added by subsection (a). 

NEW Business Rules Finalized

The 2026 Business Rules are now live, with a few changes from the Proposed Rules we saw a couple of weeks ago. Notably, the Task Force expanded the competitive range for rate filings after taking a look at rising costs and hearing industry input. Unfortunately, the fuel surcharge will remain at the reduced rate for the time being. (Full business rules below)

Our voices are being heard. Please reach out to MFA Executive Director Katie McMichael with any questions, concerns, or if you’d like help connecting with our elected officials. Her email is [email protected]. 

2026 Business Rules are below: 

 

NEXT SHORT FUSE

How do the new business rules align with the realities of the industry? On the next Short Fuse episode, we’re sitting down with two long-time industry professionals to walk through the details.

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