title: Stage 8 — Schedule the Move. The One Fork: Government Move or PPM. description: The single decision that shapes your whole move — let the government move you (HHG/DPS) or do it yourself for an incentive payment (PPM/DITY). How each path works, who each fits, and how to start it in DPS. stage: 8 week: "10-12"
Stage 8 — Schedule the Move
This is the one place the roadmap genuinely splits. Everything up to now applied to everyone; from here you pick how your household goods physically move, and the two paths run differently until you rejoin at delivery (Stage 9–10).
Both start in the same place — the Defense Personal Property System (DPS) at move.mil — and both get scheduled through your transportation/personal-property office. What differs is who does the work and who keeps the money.
Don't slow-walk this. Pickup slots — especially May through August — book out fast, and a late booking can blow your whole timeline against your Report Date. Start in week 10–12.
Path A — The government moves you (HHG / DPS)
The military arranges a contracted moving company to pack, load, haul, and deliver your household goods. You set it up in DPS, get counseled, and a carrier is assigned.
It fits you if: you'd rather not touch a box, you have a lot of stuff or heavy/awkward items, your timeline is tight, or you simply don't want the logistics and liability of moving yourself.
The trade: you give up the PPM incentive payment, and you're on the carrier's schedule. Quality varies, so your job becomes documentation — a high-value/high-risk inventory, photos, and reading the paperwork — so a damage claim later actually sticks (Stage 10).
We built HHG / DPS Move Prep for exactly this path: everything to gather before you log into DPS, the step-by-step (account → counseling → the 7-day pickup spread → carrier assignment), and the forms DPS generates for you (DD 1299, DD 1797).
Path B — You move yourself (PPM / DITY)
A Personally Procured Move (formerly "DITY") means you do the move — rent the truck, do the labor (or hire it), and the government pays you an incentive based on what it would have cost them to move your weight. Done well, a PPM can put real money in your pocket for work you partly control.
It fits you if: you have a lighter household, you're willing to do the labor or manage hired help, and the money matters more than the convenience. This is the classic "spend some, get paid more" play — but only if you run the numbers and keep the paperwork.
The trade: it's work, you front the costs (truck, fuel, labor, materials) and get reimbursed later, and the payment lives or dies on documentation — a signed DD 2278, certified empty and full weight tickets, and your expense receipts. No weight tickets, no profit.
Before you commit, run it: PPM (DITY) Profit + Tracker estimates your net profit using the JTR weight allowances and your DPS-quoted government cost, then tracks the claim package (the documents, weight tickets, receipts) so nothing falls through during the move. And confirm the application/counseling with your transportation office — DD 2278 is the form that authorizes it.
How to choose
- Run the PPM math first (the tool). If the incentive is small and you hate the idea of moving yourself, Path A is an easy call. If the incentive is meaningful and you're willing to work for it, Path B pays.
- A partial PPM is allowed too — let the government move the bulk and PPM a trailer of the valuable/essential stuff (or vice versa). Ask your counselor.
- Whichever you pick, book the date now and anchor it to your Timeline so pickup, travel, and your Report Date line up.
What to do this stage
- Log into DPS and start counseling — both paths run through it.
- Decide the path with the PPM profit tool; consider a partial PPM.
- Path A: work HHG / DPS prep and lock a pickup window.
- Path B: get your DD 2278 counseled/signed and set up the PPM tracker for weight tickets + receipts.
- Book early — summer slots vanish.
Both paths rejoin at Stage 9: Pack + move out — the part where boxes actually get filled.