The four-star chief of U.S. Transportation Command has personally told contractor International Auto Logistics that he expects better performance in shipping troops' vehicles to and from overseas locations.
"I've personally communicated to the leadership of the company the expectation that they improve their performance with the timely and reliable delivery of vehicles and communication with customers," Air Force Gen. Paul Selva said in a Sept. 17 interview with Military Times.
With TRANSCOM's involvement and the company's voluntary corrective action plan, there have been improvements, Selva said, noting that IAL is delivering twice as many cars per week to service members as it was a month ago.
"So far, we believe they're putting the right kinds of things in place to correct deficiencies," Selva said.
Troops have complained for more than two months about their vehicles being delivered late during their permanent change-of-station moves, and about IAL being unresponsive to emails and phone calls inquiring about the status of their vehicles.
As of Sept. 18, over 34,000 privately owned vehicles had been turned in to IAL for shipment since the company took over the contract May 1. Of those, 17,800 had been delivered, and another 2,100 were awaiting pickup from their owners, according to IAL spokeswoman Amanda Nunez.
Selva said he elevated the management of the contract for moving privately owned vehicles to the TRANSCOM level in early August. That included creating a special team, the POV Fusion Cell, which has been conducting site visits to validate data about the locations of troops' vehicles. Selva said he wanted to ensure he has reliable data to make decisions about the contract.
He declined to comment about what his potential next moves might be.
Selva took command of TRANSCOM on May 5, a few days after IAL took over from the previous contractor, American Auto Logistics, which had been shipping troops' privately owned vehicles since 1998. IAL started the contract later than had been anticipated — early in peak PCS season — because of protests by the previous contractor.
Selva said he does not think awarding the contract to IAL was a mistake, noting that the contract is "substantially different" from previous years in that it introduces competition to the process for moving troops' cars as well as increases benefits and protections for service members.
For example, under the previous contract, the amounts that troops could be compensated for loss or damage was limited. Under this contract, if a vehicle is lost or destroyed, the service member will be compensated based on the vehicle's National Automobile Dealers Association listing.
If there is damage to a vehicle, IAL can offer reimbursement at the time the vehicle is picked up, based on a matrix of costs for auto repair and parts. If IAL and the service member can't agree at that time, there's a process for an independent estimate and an appeal to the company. If the claim is not addressed satisfactorily, the service member can appeal to the military claims office, Selva said.
"My responsibility is to make sure the company is ready to handle any one or all of those claims," Selva said, noting it is IAL's responsibility to train its managers at vehicle processing centers to deal with claims.
"I've gotten pretty wide feedback that managers have significant freedom to manage those" claims, he said.
TRANSCOM is working to ensure service members know their rights, and are getting those rights. That includes spreading the word about potential reimbursement for rental cars and other expenses related to the inconvenience of late delivery.
IAL has not yet met its self-imposed deadline of getting back to service members within 48 hours with information about their cars.
If IAL doesn't resolve a problem, service members should contact TRANSCOM's Inspector General POV Customer Support Team by email at usarmy.scott.sddc.mbx.pov-ig-response@mail.mil.
Selva said TRANSCOM and Surface Deployment Distribution Command have been able to resolve a number of service members' issues.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
