Relocation Timeline
This page is still being built, and will be completed shortly. Please check below to see if the phase you're interested in is completed. For information on phases of your move that have incomplete information below, please contact us with any questions you have. We want to help!
Phase I - The Pre-Move

Some time after you either counsel yourself in DPS, or visit a Transportation Office to be counselled in person, the government will assign your shipment to a TSP (that's us). Note: the amount of time between counselling and booking the shipment with a TSP varies, and is not something that we as a TSP are privvy to.
Once we receive your shipment booking, you should hear from us within 1 business day. This e-mail (and all other e-mails described on this page) will come from "Central Van Lines Move Management" ([email protected]). We will simply be introducing ourselves to you, advising you which of your shipments we are in charge of, and asking for some basic information.
We will also assign an Origin Agent to your move immediately upon receipt of your shipment booking. This is a local moving company that will handle the packing and loading for us. They will reach out to you some time between booking and within a week or so of your first requested pack date to schedule a pre-move survey. The pre-move survey is either a phone call or in-home visit to understand what you are moving, so the agent can properly plan for packing material needs and any special handling or crating that will be required. The Origin Agent must perform this pre-move survey no later than 3 business days before the planned pickup date of your shipment.
A week before your first scheduled pack date, if you have not heard from our Origin Agent to schedule your pre-move survey, please reach out to us so we can get that straightened out for you.
Once we receive your shipment booking, you should hear from us within 1 business day. This e-mail (and all other e-mails described on this page) will come from "Central Van Lines Move Management" ([email protected]). We will simply be introducing ourselves to you, advising you which of your shipments we are in charge of, and asking for some basic information.
We will also assign an Origin Agent to your move immediately upon receipt of your shipment booking. This is a local moving company that will handle the packing and loading for us. They will reach out to you some time between booking and within a week or so of your first requested pack date to schedule a pre-move survey. The pre-move survey is either a phone call or in-home visit to understand what you are moving, so the agent can properly plan for packing material needs and any special handling or crating that will be required. The Origin Agent must perform this pre-move survey no later than 3 business days before the planned pickup date of your shipment.
A week before your first scheduled pack date, if you have not heard from our Origin Agent to schedule your pre-move survey, please reach out to us so we can get that straightened out for you.

Sometime after our "Initial Introduction" E-Mail is sent, we will follow up with another e-mail with much greater detail about your move. The highlights of this communication will be:
- Establishing your Planned Delivery Date. It is likely that an international shipment will take longer to reach your destination than you might think. This is our opportunity to establish more realistic expectations with you so you are able to plan your life accordingly.
- Advising you who the local moving company is that we've appointed to perform your pre-move survey, packing, and loading. This is the "Origin Agent".
- Providing you a "Consignment Guide" for the country you are moving to, if it isn't the USA.
- Reminding you about items that may not be shipped, and items which, if you do plan to ship, we must be advised of immediately.
- If we already know that you plan on shipping a motorcycle, firearms, or alcohol, this email will also have attached instructions and forms that will need to be handled by you before shipping.
![]() Once the pre-move survey has been completed by our Origin Agent, and that survey has been sent to our office, we will update the DPS system with that information, and print the Government Bill of Lading (GBL). We will then send you an e-mail with the GBL attached.
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![]() Depending on how frequently we've been communicating with you up to this point, you may receive one or more e-mails from us before packing begins to remind you of the pack date(s), and to provide a checklist of things to be aware of and have in order beforehand.
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You should now be the most well-informed and prepared PCS-er on your block! Let's move on...
Phase II - Packing & Loading
The Origin Agent will send a packing crew out to your home on the first day of packing any time between 0800 and 1700. It is unlikely that they will show up in the afternoon, unless you have a very small Household Goods move, or an Unaccompanied Baggage move. On the final day of packing and/or loading, they may show up later in the day of only a limited amount of work remains. It is possible that a more narrow window for arrival was pre-advised by our agent ahead of time, but do be aware that military personal property move regulations require you to be available between 0800-1700.
Our Origin Agent may determine that if they stay past 1700 on the first day, then they can be out of your way completely and not need to return for a second day of packing/loading. It is up to you as our customer whether you agree to having them stay late or not, therefore your approval is necessary before they stay past 1700. We ask that if you arrange a schedule with our agent directly which deviates from the planned pack-load date spread, that you communicate that to us. You can call us at 877-916-5519, or email us at [email protected].
Packing will feel stressful to you...there's no way around that. Please be confident that the Origin Agent is a professional organization that is experienced not only in the moving business in general, but specifically in the military personal property program. Nonetheless, your natural instinct will be to oversee their work, and that's OK...you should feel comfortable doing so. Establish a relationship with the crew leader first, and then the individual packers/loaders. The more personally connected you become with the team of workers that are in your home, the more comfortable you feel that they are treating you, your family, and your possessions with the respect they deserve.
If anything goes wrong during packing or loading, follow this outline for satisfactory resolution:
The above process may be diverted if there is already a representative from your local military installation's Transportation Office QA section at your home for some or all of your packing and/or loading. It is at their discretion which personnel's homes they visit. They will be doing a few standard checks to ensure we and our agent are following the regulations. They are also there to remind you of your rights and responsibilities, and to aide if anything goes wrong. If something has gone wrong, and you've followed the outline above, they can help.
Our Origin Agent may determine that if they stay past 1700 on the first day, then they can be out of your way completely and not need to return for a second day of packing/loading. It is up to you as our customer whether you agree to having them stay late or not, therefore your approval is necessary before they stay past 1700. We ask that if you arrange a schedule with our agent directly which deviates from the planned pack-load date spread, that you communicate that to us. You can call us at 877-916-5519, or email us at [email protected].
Packing will feel stressful to you...there's no way around that. Please be confident that the Origin Agent is a professional organization that is experienced not only in the moving business in general, but specifically in the military personal property program. Nonetheless, your natural instinct will be to oversee their work, and that's OK...you should feel comfortable doing so. Establish a relationship with the crew leader first, and then the individual packers/loaders. The more personally connected you become with the team of workers that are in your home, the more comfortable you feel that they are treating you, your family, and your possessions with the respect they deserve.
If anything goes wrong during packing or loading, follow this outline for satisfactory resolution:
- Your first contact should be with the crew leader. Explain your issue, and see if there is a way to resolve it to your satisfaction.
- If that does not resolve your issue, or if the crew leader isn't present, then call the agent's main office. You will have been provided that phone number by us in the "Detailed Intro" e-mail described in the Pre-Move section above. Ask for their Military Coordinator, Operations Manager, or General Manager. Explain that you are military personnel with one of their crews at your home, something is not going as you'd like, you've tried to resolve the problem with the crew leader (or the crew leader isn't present), and that you would like their assistance for a quick local resolution. This doesn't need to be presented to them in a threatening manner or tone. If approached reasonably, the agent's main office should either be able to resolve your issue, or provide you a satisfactory reason why your request cannot be accommodated.
- If you find that the agent does not provide you the resolution you initially desired, and they didn't provide you a satisfactory explanation as to why they could not accommodate your request, then you will need to contact your Transportation Office QA section. You should also then call us toll-free at 877-916-5519 to let us know.
The above process may be diverted if there is already a representative from your local military installation's Transportation Office QA section at your home for some or all of your packing and/or loading. It is at their discretion which personnel's homes they visit. They will be doing a few standard checks to ensure we and our agent are following the regulations. They are also there to remind you of your rights and responsibilities, and to aide if anything goes wrong. If something has gone wrong, and you've followed the outline above, they can help.
Phase III - In-Transit
Whether you are moving interstate or overseas, and whether we are managing your Household Goods (HHG) or Unaccompanied Baggage (UB) move, what happens while your property is in-transit will vary.
While your shipment is in-transit, you may arrive at your new destination. It is imperative that you update your phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and/or new home address in DPS. If you don't do it in DPS, then you must e-mail us directly with the updated information and we will enter it into DPS for you.
- For an interstate move, things will go pretty quickly, and you likely won't hear from us or the driver until delivery is imminent.
- For International HHG, we will provide advance routing instructions to all of our transportation partners who will touch your shipment. They will know exactly what to do with your shipment as soon as they receive it, and where to send it to next. During the peak of the summer PCS season, Central Van Lines will be managing upwards of 2,000 international moves at any given time. Please understand that it would be impossible for us to provide real-time high-precision high-frequency shipment status updates to all of our valued customers. It is reasonable however to expect that we will contact you if something has arisen that will amount to a delay in the delivery of your shipment beyond the Required Delivery Date. You are also invited to make a request to us at any time for an accurate status of your shipment. Please visit our Shipment Tracking page for more details.
- For International UB, similar to International HHG, we will provide advance routing instructions to all of our transportation partners who will touch your shipment. A big difference with UB is that most of it travels under the "Code J" mode of service, which puts a big piece of the transit into the government's hands, during which time we lose visibility and responsibility of your shipment until the government gives it back to us. This can be as little as a couple of days, or as much as many weeks. Like HHG, we will reach out to you if any delay caused by us or the government starts looking like it will cause the Required Delivery Date to be missed. And, like HHG, you are invited to make a request to us at any time for a status update of your shipment. Please visit our Shipment Tracking page for more details.
While your shipment is in-transit, you may arrive at your new destination. It is imperative that you update your phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and/or new home address in DPS. If you don't do it in DPS, then you must e-mail us directly with the updated information and we will enter it into DPS for you.
Phase IV - Arrival and Delivery Offer
Under construction
Phase V (Optional) - Temporary Storage
Under construction
Phase VI - Delivery & Followup
Under construction
Phase VII - Customer Satisfaction Survey
Under construction