What is a personally procured move?

A PPM is a self-managed move, full or partial, that the transportation office approves before you spend the money. For 2026 the payback is 100 percent of the Government Constructed Cost, from the Military OneSource fact sheet dated March 2026. The 130 percent rate was a temporary 2025 measure. DPS generates the DD2278, and you still need empty and full weight tickets from a certified scale or the claim does not pay. An actual-cost PPM, paid on receipts rather than on the constructed cost, needs written pre-approval. The office decides whether you are authorized. A mover does not.

Can I hire my own mover on a PCS?

On a government shipment, DPS or MilMove tenders the job and you do not pick the crew. On a PPM, you do. The office approves the method, you hire a licensed household-goods carrier, you pay them, and you claim the constructed cost when the DD2278 and the weight tickets are in order. Check authority before price. FMCSA listed 9,119 active household-goods holders as of 22 Sept 2026, and 900 are brokers or a broker and a carrier. A broker can sell a PPM and never touch the truck, which leaves you with a scale ticket and an inventory that do not match.

What do the reviews of military moves show?

The military slice is 68 reviews since 2024 across 57 movers, current as of 21 Sept 2026. Mean rating 2.01. 75% are one or two stars and 25% are five stars. 47.1% mention damage and 30.9% mention a delay. The priced median is $5,000 across 68 reviews, and that dollar figure is the whole move the reviewer described. 0% mention an over-quote. Most of the angry file is 2025, the year the HomeSafe Alliance contract ended after missed pickups and delays. Treat that as history. It is not a score for the carrier on your orders today.

Why is the weight allowance not listed here?

The allowance sits in JTR Table 5-37, effective 1 January 2026, and the transportation office applies it from your grade and dependents during counseling. Printing the pounds again would not tell you how to get paid. Empty and full tickets from a certified scale do that, on a government shipment and on a PPM. September 2026 rate cards on other sites reprint the table. We link the JTR and leave the figures there. If you want a cube estimate before counseling, measure the shipment yourself. The grade chart will not do that work for you.

Which papers should I keep for the claim?

Keep the orders, the counseling notes, the DD2278 from DPS, both weight tickets, the signed inventory, and photos of the scale and of each room before the crew loads. On a government move the claims door belongs to the program, and the transportation office sets the deadline and the form. On a PPM you hired, the claims door is the valuation you bought from the mover, so get it in writing before load day. Actual-cost claims also need receipts, including storage or a container when the office approved those costs. Scan each page the day you receive it.

Do fuel prices or civilian medians price a PCS?

Diesel at $5.60 for the week of 31 Aug 2026 is a fuel note if you burn your own tank on a PPM. It is not quote math. Interstate medians of $4,500 for 2025 and $4,530 for 2026 to date, and same-state medians of $1,500 and $1,870, come from civilian priced reviews. Military reviewers show a median of $5,000 for the whole move they described. Over-quote language appears in 4.8% of priced reviews since 2025, at a median of $4,965, and in 0% of the military slice. The documents that govern your cost are the orders, the counseling, and the PPM approval.

Late-model Kenworth T680-class sleeper pulling an unbranded dry van across a US plains interstate

Military moves, US

Military movers: the government move, the personally procured move, and what a service member can control

On a government PCS the member does not pick the mover, and the 68 reviews that describe a military or PCS move are the worst service signal we can filter, with a mean rating of 2.01 and 75% at one or two stars. The personally procured move is how you take the choice back, and the empty and full weight tickets are how you still get paid.

Anthony BaleMoving industry professional, author and writerReviewed 22 September 2026

What a PCS costs the member

The transportation office already knows your grade and your dependents.

Linehaul on a government move is the government's bill. Orders go to the transportation office, the shipment is tendered through DPS or MilMove, and a carrier the member did not choose gets paid by the program. What still hits a personal account is the gap around that shipment: a second car you drive, lodging past the days the office authorizes, storage you book yourself, and pounds above the allowance. Other sites spend the page on a weight table by grade. The transportation office already knows your grade and your dependents. That table is the least useful thing on a PCS page, and September 2026 rate cards that reprint it are not our figures.

The median these reviewers typed is $5,000. It sits on 68 priced reviews dated as of 21 Sept 2026, from people who wrote a price into the review. Those prices are self-reported, skewed toward long-distance jobs and toward people with something to say, and the dollar figure is the whole move the review describes, not a military service line by itself. Read it beside the interstate median of $4,500 for 2025 and $4,530 for 2026 to date, and the same-state medians of $1,500 and $1,870, on the moving cost page. Across priced reviews since 2025, over-quote language shows up in 4.8% of them at a median of $4,965. Inside this military slice that share is 0%.

A 2026 PPM pays 100 percent of the Government Constructed Cost. That rate is from the Military OneSource fact sheet dated March 2026. The 130 percent incentive was a temporary 2025 measure. A full PPM means you move the household goods and claim that constructed cost when the file is complete. A partial PPM means the government shipment takes some weight and you take the rest, which is where a container sometimes shows up in the reviews. Fuel on the part you haul is cash until the claim pays: diesel was $5.60 the week of 31 Aug 2026. Use that figure as a fuel note. We are not a carrier.

Research planning bands, US, as of September 2026. Planning range, not a bid. Research fallback. Not a first-party median. Compiled in September 2026 from published industry tables and public quote examples. A phone survey still wins.

Home size	Local / under 50 miles	50–400 miles	400–1,000 miles	1,000–2,000 miles	2,000+ miles
Studio	$450–$950	$1,400–$2,600	$1,800–$3,400	$2,200–$4,000	$2,800–$5,000
1 bedroom	$700–$1,400	$1,800–$3,400	$2,400–$4,300	$3,000–$5,200	$3,600–$6,400
2 bedroom	$1,100–$2,200	$2,400–$4,300	$3,200–$5,600	$4,000–$7,200	$4,800–$8,600
3 bedroom	$1,700–$3,200	$3,200–$5,800	$4,300–$7,600	$5,400–$9,400	$6,400–$11,200
4+ bedroom	$2,400–$4,500	$4,200–$7,600	$5,600–$9,800	$7,000–$12,000	$8,200–$14,500

Source: Haulest research bands, September 2026 (not a first-party median).

How the government move works

DPS and MilMove are the booking systems, not a choice of mover.

Orders start the clock, and the transportation office runs it. You take the orders in, sit the counseling, and the office explains what the government will ship, what counts as pro-gear, and which weight allowance applies. The allowance itself lives in JTR Table 5-37, effective 1 January 2026. We do not reprint the pounds. Pro-gear is the professional equipment that can sit outside the allowance when the office agrees it qualifies, and it is a counseling topic, not a guess you make on move day. If the counseling is rushed, write your questions down and ask them before the pickup window is set. The office, not a blog, decides the entitlement.

DPS and MilMove are the booking systems, not a choice of mover. The Defense Personal Property Program uses those systems to tender the shipment to a carrier. You can state preferences. You do not hire the crew the way a civilian customer hires a mover off a quote. The office is the one that decides entitlements, dates, and whether a storage-in-transit segment belongs on the government bill. Commercial storage you add later is a different product. When the shipment is interstate, the failure modes look like any other long haul: a missed pickup, a warehouse week, a delivery that slips. Your report date does not slip with it.

The weight ticket still matters on a government shipment. The carrier weighs the truck, and that weight is what the program pays the carrier and what can push you into excess weight you owe. Empty and full tickets, from a certified scale, are the record. Our weigh the truck guide is the civilian version of the same habit: be there, read the ticket, keep a copy. The 110 percent rule is a different civilian protection about estimates, and it is not the JTR allowance, so do not mix the two when the office is explaining your overage. Cube loose items first with the units calculator if you are arguing about what fits.

Late-model Freightliner Cascadia-class sleeper pulling an unbranded dry van on a US interstate at dusk — A PCS shipment on the road. The weight ticket at both ends is how a personally procured move gets paid.

What the reviews say goes wrong

Most of the bad ones are 2025.

These are the angriest reviews we read all week. Since 2024 the slice is 68 reviews across 57 movers, with a mean rating of 2.01. Most of the bad ones are 2025. Crews that never came, shipments that sat for weeks, claims that went nowhere. The Global Household Goods Contract with HomeSafe Alliance ended in mid-2025 after missed pickups and delays. That is context for the year, not a current fact about any company still on the road. A member cannot shop the tender the way a private shipper shops a long-distance quote, which is why a no-show hurts more here than it does in the rest of the file.

The pattern is absence, then silence. A member with orders cannot slip the date the way a private customer can slip a Saturday. When the truck does not come, the report date does not move with it. Reviewers describe weight they could not verify, inventories written by the crew, and a claims desk that answered with a form letter. 0% of these reviews mention an over-quote, so the fight is rarely the price on a government move. You can read the wider file in US reviews. A polite reading of the 25% five-star share is that somebody, somewhere, had a dull and successful week.

Damage and delay are the whole complaint. 47.1% mention damage and 30.9% mention a delay, and 75% land at one or two stars, the worst pair of signals on any service filter we run. Valuation on a government move is a program rule the transportation office explains, and it is not the same conversation as released value versus full value on a civilian bill of lading. If the shipment is already late, the practical page is how to complain: who you write, in what order, and what to attach. The PPM exists because 2025 taught a lot of members they could not wait on a tender they did not control.

What these reviews mention: US reviews dated since January 2024 whose text describes this service (n 68, 57 movers). Corpus as of 21 Sept 2026. Self-reported.

Signal	Share or value
Mean rating	2.01
Rated five stars	25%
Rated one or two stars	75%
Mentions damage	47.1%
Mentions a delay or no-show	30.9%
Mentions a bill that grew	0%
Median reported price (whole move)	$5,000, 68 priced

Source: Haulest licensed review file (MoveAdvisor), 21 Sept 2026 (text signals, self-reported).

Running a personally procured move

No tickets, no pay, is the rule the fact sheet states in plainer words.

A PPM is a self-managed move the transportation office approves. It can be full or partial. You get the method authorized before you spend money, and DPS generates the DD2278 that the claim rides on. Reimbursement for 2026 is 100 percent of the Government Constructed Cost, per the March 2026 Military OneSource fact sheet, not the temporary 130 percent rate from 2025. An actual-cost PPM, where you want expenses paid as expenses rather than as the constructed cost, needs written pre-approval. Skip that approval and you are funding a private move that may not come back to you. Partial means the government still ships some of the weight.

Hire a licensed mover and you can still be on a PPM. The office is approving your method, not assigning you a carrier. You pick the company, you pay it, and you claim the constructed cost if the weight tickets and the form are right. That is the part ranking pages skip while they paste the allowance table. The member who wants the choice back is the member who runs the PPM. The member who wants the government to pick the crew stays on the tender, and after 2025 that is a knowing choice. Nobody on those pages prints the hire, the scale, and the form as one job.

Both ends of the scale are the claim. You need an empty weight and a full weight from a certified scale, on a government shipment and on a PPM. No tickets, no pay, is the rule the fact sheet states in plainer words. Weigh with the same truck configuration you will defend later, and keep photos of the scale display next to the ticket. The walkthrough is in weigh the truck. If you are estimating whether the shipment fits a truck or a container before counseling, the inventory calculator is the honest start. Guessing the pounds in the driveway is how partial PPMs go over.

From the review file

Movers whose reviews describe a PCS

How this list was made. Every mover here has an active FMCSA household-goods record that matches the USDOT on its profile, at least 10 reviews on record, at least two held reviews that describe a military or PCS move. Fewer than three movers met the full bar for this service, so the bar is looser here and says so. Sorted by how many matching reviews each mover has, not by rating. Corpus as of 21 Sept 2026. Not a ranking and not a recommendation.

Mover	Based	Record	Matching reviews	All reviews	Median reported, matching reviews	Last
Suddath	Jacksonville, FL	Broker and carrierUSDOT 29609	5	271.4 mean, dated	$3,500	8 Sept 2023
Joe Moholland Moving	Woodbridge, VA	CarrierUSDOT 486221	4	174.0 mean, dated	$2,000	22 Feb 2021
Guardian Moving and Storage	Baltimore, MD	CarrierUSDOT 65301	4	121.3 mean, dated	$6,500	5 Sept 2019
Real Movers Moving And Storage	Miami, FL	CarrierUSDOT 2861433	3	753.9 mean, dated	$3,100	2 Apr 2018
National Van Lines Inc	Broadview, IL	Broker and carrierUSDOT 76628	2	1644.0 mean, dated	$67,000	18 Feb 2025
Noble Moving And Storage	Fairfield, NJ	CarrierUSDOT 4340834	2	1264.7 mean, dated	$4,531	22 Sept 2025
Solomon and Sons Relocation Service	Dania Beach, FL	CarrierUSDOT 2512576	2	1243.8 mean, dated	$5,420	6 Feb 2026
Sega Transportation	Bronx, NY	CarrierUSDOT 2270049	2	211.1 mean, dated	$3,714	10 Aug 2017
USA Family Moving	Atlanta, GA	CarrierUSDOT 3447326	2	203.8 mean, dated	$2,300	25 Jul 2022
Alliance Moving Services Inc	Coeur D Alene, ID	CarrierUSDOT 1127257	2	151.7 mean, dated	$4,659	17 Dec 2013

Sources: Haulest licensed review file (MoveAdvisor), 21 Sept 2026; FMCSA Licensing and Insurance, household-goods authority (record column).

Recent reviews

Three recent military reviews

5 of 5 · 5 Sept 2026 · reported $3,225
“They were so diligent with all my things and made moving a thousand times smoother than I could ever imagine. They quoted me at a very reasonable price and provided a veteran discount as well. When unloading my items they hired extra local help here in prescott, and made the unloading process quick…”
X Van Lines LLC
1 of 5 · 23 Aug 2026 · reported $3,400
“Initial communication was great, with very reasonable price even though required deposit was high. Company explicitly stated that "they were the mover" when asked who would be moving in the shipment. Couple days prior to scheduled move, pictures were sent of items and was informed that the estimate…”
Next Stop Relocation
1 of 5 · 12 Aug 2026 · reported $1,068
“I would absolutely not recommend Good Greek Moving & Storage based on our experience. We had a very specific moving window at our office building from 5:00–7:00 PM. At 5:00 PM, when the movers were supposed to have already arrived, we received a call informing us that they were going to be another…”
Good Greek Moving and Storage

The paper that protects you

Members lose claims over a ticket that stayed in a glove box through two duty stations.

Orders, the DD2278, and the weight tickets are the file. Orders prove you were directed to move. The DD2278, produced in DPS, is the PPM record the claim is checked against. Empty and full tickets from a certified scale prove the weight you are asking the government to recognize. An inventory, signed, is what you compare at delivery. On a civilian move that inventory lives with the bill of lading. On a government move the carrier's inventory is the program's document, and you should leave with a copy the same day. If a line on that inventory is wrong, fix it before the truck leaves the curb.

Valuation is how a broken dresser becomes a number. On a government shipment the claims door is the program's, and the transportation office is who tells you the deadline and the form. Do not wait for the delivery crew to explain it in the driveway. On a PPM you hired yourself, the claims door is the mover's tariff plus whatever valuation you bought, which is the civilian choice in released value versus full value. Get that choice in writing before load day. A photo set of each room, taken before the crew arrives, is the attachment that makes a claim boring and therefore faster to pay.

Keep a paper folder even if the portal has the upload. Members lose claims over a ticket that stayed in a glove box through two duty stations. Scan the orders, the counseling checklist, both weight tickets, the inventory, and the DD2278 into one file the day you get each page. If a container bill or a storage invoice is part of a partial PPM, those receipts go in the same file, because actual-cost claims die on missing paper. The office can ask for them months later. That is a long time to rely on a truck stop printer and a memory of which scale you used.

How to pick a PPM mover

The PPM only returns the choice if you use it.

Check authority before you check the price. FMCSA lists 9,119 active household-goods authority holders as of 22 Sept 2026, and 900 of them are brokers or a broker and a carrier. A broker can sell the job and not haul it. For a PPM you want the company that will show up with the truck, because your weight tickets and your inventory have to match one operation. Look the company up in the license lookup and read the USDOT and MC notes until the operating authority says household goods. 57 movers appear in the military reviews. That is a record. We do not hand out best badges.

Then run the other four checks on the estimate. The scope should say full or partial PPM in plain language, and an actual-cost approach should wait on written approval from the office. Ask who weighs the truck and whether you may be there for the empty ticket and the full ticket. Ask for a signed inventory and a bill of lading you can read before you sign. Ask which valuation is included, using released value versus full value so the phone words match the form. The 110 percent rule still matters when the estimate is a civilian quote you will pay yourself before reimbursement.

On the call, make them say the plan back. Who loads, who drives, who delivers, and whether any leg is handed to another carrier. What day the empty weigh happens and what day the full weigh happens. Where the signed inventory will be at delivery. How a damage claim is opened if you are already at the next installation. Write the answers into the estimate and do not book on a verbal discount. If the company will not walk those points, call the next name on your list. The PPM only returns the choice if you use it. A friendly dispatcher is not one of the five checks.

Before you hire

Four checks before a deposit

Written estimate after a look
Interstate movers must give the booklet and a written estimate after a survey or a full description. A $499 ad is not an estimate.
FMCSA Protect Your Move
Legal name matches SAFER
USDOT on the paper, the truck doors, and the census. A different name is the walk.
USDOT / Companies House lookup
Walk from cash and blank paper
FTC: unregistered interstate, huge deposit, cash only, or a blank contract. Photograph and leave.
FTC: hiring a mover
110% on a COD non-binding job
Pay up to 110% plus agreed extras and they must hand over the load. Not a cap on extras you signed.
US interstate rules

Reviewed by Anthony Bale, 22 September 2026. Corpus as of 21 Sept 2026; FMCSA authority as of 22 Sept 2026; planning bands as of September 2026. Drafted with Grok 4.7 (Cursor agent CLI) on 2026-09-22, then edited.

Sources

Links go to the publisher. Haulest does not add findings. Checked September 2026; if the live page moved, believe the agency.

Ask out loud

Questions people ask

What is a personally procured move?: A PPM is a self-managed move, full or partial, that the transportation office approves before you spend the money. For 2026 the payback is 100 percent of the Government Constructed Cost, from the Military OneSource fact sheet dated March 2026. The 130 percent rate was a temporary 2025 measure. DPS generates the DD2278, and you still need empty and full weight tickets from a certified scale or the claim does not pay. An actual-cost PPM, paid on receipts rather than on the constructed cost, needs written pre-approval. The office decides whether you are authorized. A mover does not.
Can I hire my own mover on a PCS?: On a government shipment, DPS or MilMove tenders the job and you do not pick the crew. On a PPM, you do. The office approves the method, you hire a licensed household-goods carrier, you pay them, and you claim the constructed cost when the DD2278 and the weight tickets are in order. Check authority before price. FMCSA listed 9,119 active household-goods holders as of 22 Sept 2026, and 900 are brokers or a broker and a carrier. A broker can sell a PPM and never touch the truck, which leaves you with a scale ticket and an inventory that do not match.
What do the reviews of military moves show?: The military slice is 68 reviews since 2024 across 57 movers, current as of 21 Sept 2026. Mean rating 2.01. 75% are one or two stars and 25% are five stars. 47.1% mention damage and 30.9% mention a delay. The priced median is $5,000 across 68 reviews, and that dollar figure is the whole move the reviewer described. 0% mention an over-quote. Most of the angry file is 2025, the year the HomeSafe Alliance contract ended after missed pickups and delays. Treat that as history. It is not a score for the carrier on your orders today.
Why is the weight allowance not listed here?: The allowance sits in JTR Table 5-37, effective 1 January 2026, and the transportation office applies it from your grade and dependents during counseling. Printing the pounds again would not tell you how to get paid. Empty and full tickets from a certified scale do that, on a government shipment and on a PPM. September 2026 rate cards on other sites reprint the table. We link the JTR and leave the figures there. If you want a cube estimate before counseling, measure the shipment yourself. The grade chart will not do that work for you.
Which papers should I keep for the claim?: Keep the orders, the counseling notes, the DD2278 from DPS, both weight tickets, the signed inventory, and photos of the scale and of each room before the crew loads. On a government move the claims door belongs to the program, and the transportation office sets the deadline and the form. On a PPM you hired, the claims door is the valuation you bought from the mover, so get it in writing before load day. Actual-cost claims also need receipts, including storage or a container when the office approved those costs. Scan each page the day you receive it.
Do fuel prices or civilian medians price a PCS?: Diesel at $5.60 for the week of 31 Aug 2026 is a fuel note if you burn your own tank on a PPM. It is not quote math. Interstate medians of $4,500 for 2025 and $4,530 for 2026 to date, and same-state medians of $1,500 and $1,870, come from civilian priced reviews. Military reviewers show a median of $5,000 for the whole move they described. Over-quote language appears in 4.8% of priced reviews since 2025, at a median of $4,965, and in 0% of the military slice. The documents that govern your cost are the orders, the counseling, and the PPM approval.

About Anthony Bale

A moving industry professional, author and writer. Anthony has been at different positions in the industry for the last 10 years, gaining significant knowledge on the relocation process. He himself has moved 6 times already, which helped him explore the other side of the moving process.

At Haulest he writes the US cost, hiring, and rights pages, reading the licensed review file every week so the numbers on the page are the numbers people reported.

All 14 pages by Anthony

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