The contractor obtains the estimate for repairs or replacement instead of the customer having to do it. That makes it easier for members to file a claim. Linda Schlesinger boasts that the Navy's Service Member Arranged Move program, or SAM, incorporates the best attributes of the Military Traffic Management Command and Army programs and more. She said SAM's goal is to offer sailors moving choices to fit their specific needs, give them more control over their move, provide a better quality move, and reduce damages and claims. They negotiate the pickup and delivery schedule, settle claims directly with the carrier and have 100 percent loss or damage protection.
Sailors also have the option of being issued a pager for their move.
She said SAM is entirely voluntary and offered only to active duty Navy people at this time. Carriers like the Navy's program, she said, because, instead of waiting for payment from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, they're paid almost immediately with a government credit card. She said this is the first time the government card has been used this way. They're under contract, so if they don't perform, we simply don't use them anymore. Under the current system, traffic is distributed equally.