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July 21, 1999 10:18 AM, EDT

Don’t expect the Defense Department to choose a new way of shipping the household goods of service members any time soon.

That’s the word from the General Accounting Office, which conducted two studies on the issue.

“DOD has not yet determined how many approaches will ultimately be tested,” GAO, the independent watchdog agency of Congress, wrote in a report. It noted that the department does not have a schedule for completing four pilot projects under way or planned.

The agency also questioned the way the Pentagon is evaluating two ongoing pilot projects.

DOD is the moving and storage industry’s largest customer, representing 18% of its business. It spreads more than $1.2 billion in contracts among 1,200 companies to complete 650,000 moves of military household goods a year.

Since 1994, the department has been working to improve the way it moves the property of military personnel. Congress directed GAO in 1996 to evaluate the military’s pilot programs before a final decision was made.

For the full story, see the July 19 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.