Jacksonville’s Suddath sees brighter future in military moving after controversial contract cancellation (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Following the cancellation of a contentious military contract for the movement of military goods, one of Jacksonville’s most prominent companies in transportation sees a better environment to stay in the industry.
Suddath praised Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth and federal officials for launching the Personal Property Activity in January to oversee the operations of the Defense Personal Property Program, in other words, the program for assigning contractors such as Suddath to move the personal possessions and household goods of service members.
The high praise marks a stark change from a year and a half ago.
Suddath was on the brink of leaving the business of relocating military families entirely during the gradual implementation of the controversial Global Household Goods contract with HomeSafe Alliance contract through parts of 2024 and 2025.
Threatened by lower proposed rates under the GHC, Suddath President Mike Brannigan told the Business Journal he was considering cutting military moves a year and a half ago.
But by June 2025, the Department of War (then the Department of Defense) heeded concerns of the GHC and canceled the contract with HomeSafe Alliance.
A year later, Suddath leaders are confident in the company’s future in moving military household goods. Scott Kelly, Suddath’s President of SGS Move Management, said the Department of War is taking a more collaborative approach to addressing issues in military relocation
“They’ve done some things to stabilize the current program, or what we call the legacy program, and that’s beneficial to the industry, because we now have some certainty about what the future might look like for the next couple of years, and so that allows people to continue to do the work and invest in doing the work,” Kelly told the Business Journal.
The broader military moving industry has also recognized improvement.
Times were bleak for the industry during the GHC’s implementation, said Katie McMichael, the Executive Director of Movers For America, a coalition of moving professionals specializing in military family relocations.
“That (GHC) cancellation was such a huge turning point, and there was definitely some unease in the industry after that, because we didn’t know what was coming next,” McMichael said. “But the PPA has just been such a breath of fresh air and just a reset. I think morale going into this year’s peak season for industry providers is very positive.”
But challenges still lie on the road ahead. Like many transportation companies, Suddath faces a slew of inflationary headwinds.
“The cost of doing business has skyrocketed,” Kelly said.
That includes the rising costs of insurance and liability, along with increased costs for materials such as cardboard, paper, pads and cloth.
Kelly said labor costs have tripled and equipment costs have surged. He estimated a trailer used to be $20,000-$30,000 around COVID, and now one probably costs six figures.
The Suddath executive said he’s not aware of any specific actions to address these issues. But he added that the PPA program has allotted a little more money for marginal peak season rate increases and has adjusted the fuel surcharge.
Though the program is less than a year old, Kelly and McMichael expressed more optimism with the PPA seeing the direction it’s taking.
The new program is contracting with a firm to conduct data-driven analysis of the military moving industry, something that has not happened within the last 20 years, Kelly said.
“I think sometimes in working with TRANSCOM, it felt like we would bring issues to the table, and it would go into a black hole,” McMichael said. “…there’d be no resolution.”
But now the leader of Movers for America said she sees a more proactive organization ready to look at the issues and improve the state of the military moving industry for Jacksonville and beyond.