Military Weight Tickets

Make sure you get reimbursed for your military move

If you’re choosing the Personally Procured Move (PPM) option for your military move, several important things are required for reimbursement. The government will provide you with the necessary forms, but you’re responsible for two essential items: receipts and weight tickets. You’re probably used to saving receipts for your taxes, but getting weight tickets may not be as familiar. Find out what weight tickets are, when and where you would get them, and how the moving company can handle them so you don’t have to.

FAQs about weight tickets

Over the last 25 years, U-Pack® has helped military members and their families move across the country, and our moving consultants have worked with each branch to ensure service members get what they need to be reimbursed. To help you get started on the weight ticket process, our military moving specialists answered the most common weight ticket questions.

Note: since the requirements can change at any time, we suggest you talk to your local transportation office (TO) to ensure you have the most current information for your branch.

What is a certified weight ticket?

A weight ticket is an official certificate stating the weight of a vehicle and its contents. During a PPM, the government pays you 100% of what they would have paid military movers, based on the weight of your items. Weight tickets are like receipts showing the size of your shipment, so you must turn in tickets, both empty and full, from every trip.

The required certified weight tickets must include the following information (make sure it’s all clearly legible on the printout):

• The name and location of the scale
• Vehicle identification (may include make/model/license depending on the scale)
• Date
• Your name and any branch required information (rank, SSN, etc.)
• Weight
• The Weigh Master’s signature

Who is responsible for getting weight tickets?

It depends on how you move. If you move with a rental truck, you’re responsible for obtaining all weight tickets. However, many service members utilize a moving company, like U-Pack, for do-it-yourself (DITY) moves. The moving company can get the tickets for you if you request them ahead of time.

Do I get weight tickets before or after my move?

There are several times when you could weigh the moving equipment:

• empty before loading
• full before leaving origin
• full when arriving at destination
• empty after unloading

Some branches don’t care when you weigh the truck, as long as you get both full and empty tickets, but some require specific timing. Before your move, talk with the local TO so you weigh the truck at the right time. One benefit of moving with U-Pack is that our military moving specialists will coordinate the details and timing for you.

How do I find a certified weigh station?

There are more than 600 certified scales across the United States. Find the one nearest your location by using the certified scale locator at move.mil. First, click on the “Quick Links” then “Find Public Scale Locator.” You can also use CAT Scale’s website or app “Weigh My Truck” if you can’t access move.mil.

How much are weight tickets?

Weight tickets usually cost around $10 each if you get them at a certified weigh station, but a moving company may charge more since it’s an additional service. Be sure to keep the receipt since you can turn it in for reimbursement.

Do I weigh everything?

Don’t weigh the driver, passengers, hazardous or unauthorized items (this differs by branch but may include things like building supplies, open liquids, cleaning supplies, flammables and gases). To get an accurate weight, be sure the fuel tank is at the same level when weighing empty and full.

If you’re moving a vehicle, RV, boat, motorcycle or trailer, talk with your TO to see if those items can be counted with household goods (HHG). Trailers and vehicles may be allowed but could require separate weight tickets depending on your branch, rank, and other details.

When do I turn in my weight tickets?

Hold on to the weight tickets until after moving and submit them with the rest of the PPM paperwork. Keep a copy for yourself as well.

What if I lost or forgot to get weight tickets?

Talk with your TO as soon as possible. Check with the moving company to make sure they don’t have any weights listed in their records. If not (or if you moved in a rental truck), you may have to load everything up again to get weight tickets because the government won’t reimburse without them.

Get certified weight tickets with U-Pack

U-Pack is a popular option for PPMs because we do all the driving and charge based on space, not weight. Even though the weight of your HHG doesn’t impact our pricing, we can provide certified weight tickets as long as you let us know they’re needed before the move. Request them when reserving online or over the phone.

We have military specialists who will ensure everything is set up for the driver to properly weigh the equipment based on your branch. Then after the move, they will email you the DITY move weight tickets so you can submit them for reimbursement.

Have questions about weight tickets?

For more information or additional copies of your tickets post-move, contact us at 844-362-5303844-594-3077.