If you don’t have an account yet, take a moment to register. Your service member can also login with their Common Access Card (CAC).
You need your hard orders to set up the move (web orders don’t count). There are a set of numbers at the top of your service member’s paper orders that you will input into the system. When you are asked if you have those “hard orders”, the system will prompt you to input that number. You will also be prompted to state what days you would like to have your household goods packed and loaded. When the system asks you for an address at your next duty station, DO NOT WORRY if you don’t know where you’ll be living yet! You’ll be able to simply list the location of your next duty station and can update the information in the system when you figure out exactly where “home” will be.
Once you’re all set up in DPS, your move will be assigned to a Transportation Service Provider (TSP). This is the company that coordinates all the logistical pieces of your move. This company will assign you a move coordinator who will become your single point of contact through your PCS process. When they call you, be sure to get their name, number, and email to keep handy for when you need it (trust me, you’ll want to keep that information close by). If at any point you have a question or any issues, this should be the first person you call.
SIDE-NOTE: Sometimes it can get confusing when trying to figure out what company is tasked with each part of your move. Our household good shipments are contracted out to companies using a Standard Carrier Alpha Code, or SCA…(because we really needed more acronyms in our life, right?). These codes are often sold to other companies and there is a chance you’ll be assigned to one company, when another owns the code number. I’m telling you this side-note into how the sausage is made because I don’t want you to be alarmed when you receive a call from one company when you thought you were going to be dealing with another one.