DPS & Household Goods

The Defense Personal Property System is the booking and tracking platform the military uses to arrange household goods shipments. Once you have orders, you enter them into the system, complete counseling, and the government assigns a transportation service provider to pack, load, and deliver your household goods.

Everything in your move — pickup dates, weight tickets, storage, and damage claims — flows through that single record. If something is not documented there, it effectively did not happen.

• Receive orders and confirm your report date and authorized entitlements.
• Submit your application with a copy of your orders as soon as the orders are cut — pickup windows fill fastest in May through August.
• Complete counseling, where you confirm your weight allowance, pickup address, and delivery address or storage.
• Get assigned a moving company and confirm a pack date and a load date. They are usually not the same day.
• Do a pre-move survey, in person or virtual, so the estimated weight is realistic.
• Take delivery, inspect everything before the crew leaves, and note damage on the paperwork immediately.

A government-arranged household goods move means the movers pack and haul everything, and you are along for the ride on their timeline. A personally procured move — a PPM, still called a DITY move by most people — means you move yourself and get reimbursed based on the weight you actually move.

The PPM reimbursement is calculated against what it would have cost the government. If you move efficiently, you keep the difference. If you underestimate the work, you have just paid for a truck, fuel, lodging, and a weekend of manual labor to break even.

• Choose HHG when your household is large, you are moving overseas, or your report date is tight.
• Choose PPM when you own less than your allowance, you are moving a short distance, or you want control over the delivery date.
• A partial PPM is legitimate and underused — let the movers take the heavy furniture and move the fragile, essential, and high-value items yourself.

Your allowance is set by rank and dependent status. Go over it and you pay the overage out of pocket, at commercial rates, for every pound.

Pro-gear — professional books, papers, and equipment required for your duties — is weighed separately and does not count against your allowance, but only if it is boxed and labeled as pro-gear at pack-out. Spouse pro-gear also has an allowance. Most families never claim it.

• Photograph every room, every serial number, and the back of every screen and appliance.
• Keep orders, passports, medical records, school records, and titles with you — never on the truck.
• Read the inventory sheet before signing. Movers write condition codes like 'scratched' and 'dented' on items that are neither, which kills your claim later.
• Record the weight tickets. Empty weight and full weight, both dated.
• Note damage at delivery on the paperwork, then file the loss and damage claim within the required window.

The government handles the boxes. It does not help you decide whether to buy or rent at the next duty station, find a lender who understands a VA loan with a not-yet-started job, or line up an inspector before you close on a house you have only seen on video.

That is the part we built. Our PCS Planner tracks the move timeline and stores your documents, and our verified professional network connects you to people who work military moves every week.