SDDC gets ready to expand PowerTrack payments to all carriers.

The Surface Deployment and Distribution Command is moving ahead to implement the use of PowerTrack automated payments for all its commercial vendors.

Since the fall of 2000, PowerTrack has been required for truck, rail, barge, pipeline, air and maritime vendors.

Now, it is in the process of being extended to SDDC's household goods carriers. With 500,000 moves a year, the command is the biggest personal property mover in the United States.

To start the process, volunteer groups of household good movers have been invited to SDDC Headquarters, Alexandria, Va., to participate in the evaluation phase.

"We are delighted with the industry response," said Tom Hicks, chief, personal property division. "We have very good carriers volunteering to be part of the evaluation phase."

Hicks headed the implementation of PowerTrack for the command's other commercial vendors four years ago.

"It is a program that benefits everyone," said Hicks. "We have a standardized financial process that offers reasonable assurances that payments will be correct and free from fraud and error.

"In addition, an installation transportation office representative will be able to view all charges before approving a payment."

Based on the contract size, vendors pay a 1 percent fee to USBank. In return, the carriers receive payment for their services within three-to-five days--after approval by the personal property shipping office.

At a March 1 meeting, some 30 carriers gathered to hear about the payments system from David Ryan, an implementation specialist, with US Bank, of Minneapolis, Minn.

"I'm impressed with the caliber of the volunteers in the evaluation phase," said Ryan.

Personal property carriers came to the meeting with enthusiasm--and suggestions to the command.

"This assures us of an easy transition," said Sue Fuchtman, president, The Day Companies, Norfolk, Neb.

"We have been involved from the beginning," said Fuchtman, whose firm handles invoices for numerous personal property carriers around the country.

"It is very important right now to be able to see what we're going to be working with," she said.

Charles White III, of Executive Moving Systems, of Woodbridge, Va., shared Fuchtman's enthusiasm for the electronic payments.

"We always believe we need to get in on the cutting edge," said White, director of marketing operations.

"If you have the information, you are one leg up," said White.

White said his firm was introduced to PowerTrack through its work as a contractor for the Department of Defense's Full Service Moving Project pilot in 2000-2001.

"We thought it was an effective tool," said White. "We did not think it was managed well."

"The positive is how quickly we are paid."

White said his firm is currently paid on an average of 30 days through a manual system involving sending paper vouchers to Defense Finance and Accounting Services.

"We are forward looking but our concern is that installation transportation offices can keep up with the workload," said Stephen Hollingsworth, assistant vice president of government business, Atlas World Group, Inc., Evansville, Ind.

Hollingsworth said his firm's experience with PowerTrack in the Full Service Moving Project showed installation clerks could not keep up with the workload.

"The military has to set up the installation transportation offices to support the program," said Hollingsworth. "This is our concern."

Fort Belvoir has 21,000 outbound shipments a year," said Hollingsworth, to emphasize the magnitude of the military's personal property shipments.

Ryan, the PowerTrack instructor, said the system would work better because transportation offices will now only approve the electronic payments. They will not be required to enter data.

"This will assure a timely operation," said Ryan.

The use of PowerTrack for personal property moves is one of five key points of SDDC's Families First program to revamp the way service members' move.

Earlier this year, Congress approved a key part of the program by authorizing full-replacement value of lost or damaged property from a household goods move. The full-replacement value provisions will be rolled out with the implementation of the Families First in October 2005.

Other Families First initiatives include:

* Customer satisfaction surveys.

* Direct claims settlement between the service member and mover.

* Increased emphasis on direct deliveries, which will reduce temporary storage.

* Best value distribution of Department of Defense personal property business.