The problem-plagued contractor for shipping troops' personal vehicles to and from overseas assignments has convinced the U.S.Transportation Command that it has a plan to avoid a repeat of last summer's debacle.
International Auto Logistics will continue to ship troops' personal vehicles TRANSCOM officials accepted the company's plans to deal with the upcoming summer moving surge.
"Based on IAL's 2015 surge plan, coupled with significantly better contract performance, USTRANSCOM believes IAL has made the necessary process improvements to adequately manage the 2015 permanent change-of-station peak moving season," command officials said in an announcement.
Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, TRANSCOM commander, and other senior leaders met Feb. 12 with IAL executives for a briefing on their plans to deal with this year's moving season. Command officials required the briefing in advance of this year's peak season, which begins in May and ends in September.
"IAL has demonstrated significant performance improvement since October 2014," officials said. "IAL fully understands the current operational picture and what must be accomplished moving forward."
The company was plagued with problems virtually from the day it took over the Defense Department contract last May 1, with troops complaining about late deliveries and difficulties tracking their vehicles online.
The contract was awarded in October 2013 but protests from the previous contractor delayed IAL's takeover until May, the start of peak moving season for troops heading to new assignments, and the company could never get out in front of the surge. In August, Selva convened a team of experts to address the problems and closely monitor progress toward fixing them.
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.
