Different Types of PCS Shipments
There are 4 different types of shipments when it comes to PCSing. Move.mil (the Official DoD Customer Moving Portal) has a great breakdown. Visit their site today for more information!
1) A Household Goods "HHG" move is a move completed by a government-furnished moving company, also called a Transportation Service Provider (TSP). During a HHG move, your transporter is responsible for packing all of your belongings and transporting them to your new location. If anything becomes lost or broken during your move, you can work with your transporter or the Military Claims Office to receive financial compensation for your items.
2) Personally procured move (PPM) is a "Do-It-Yourself" move within the military. You will be responsible, for either packing/unpacking and transporting your belongings to your new location yourself or hiring your own commercial moving company. You can use a pod, U-Haul, or any other method of your choosing to conduct a PPM.
As an incentive to move yourself, the government will pay you 100% of their cost to hire a moving company on your behalf or perform your own move.
3) Unaccompanied baggage (UB) is an option for shipments where a small subset of your total weight allowance is expedited to your new location, typically while you wait for the rest of your belongings to arrive at a later date.
4) In general, if you are traveling overseas (OCONUS), the government will pay to ship one POV to your new location, but you will need to arrange for it to be dropped off at the designated drop-off center before departing. (Note: There may be some overseas bases, such as in Japan, where it is not possible to have a car. In these cases, the government will pay to store your POV stateside for the length of your tour.)