According to an article in Military Times, US troops wont be getting a new household goods contractor until at least the back end of 2022. USTRANSCOM has delayed awarding the contract to a single company, a prospect that was headline news throughout 2020. By the time the contracted is finally awarded it will be close on four years since the idea was first announced.
The contract was awarded back in April 2020 but was then subsequently rescinded and the contract process resumed. When finally awarded, the contract will be for a potential $20 billion over nine years. A spokesman for USTRANSCOM said that the intention had been to award the contract in June 2022 but, as that would have fallen during the busiest part of the season, it has been dropped back until later in the year.
Dan Bradley, Director of Government and Military Relations for the International Association of Movers (IAM) is reported to have approved of the delay. “It would, I think, be very tough to implement such a huge contract at the beginning of a peak season, making sure everything was ready to go. If it kicks off in the fall instead of the spring or summer, it gives the contractors time to meet that summer surge of the next year, by getting their processes in place and their networks set up.”
The new contract will outsource the day-to-day management of the world’s largest moving contract with the intention of improving the quality of service to relocating military families. USTRANSCOM will still oversee the household goods move process.
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