One of the most common points of confusion in a PCS to Germany isn't housing or schools — it's figuring out which of your belongings go in which shipment. Get this wrong and you can spend your first six weeks without a coffee maker, or pay to store furniture you actually needed right away. Here's the decision framework.
The Five Shipments
| Shipment | Think of it as |
|---|---|
| Checked luggage | Surviving the flight |
| UAB (Unaccompanied Baggage) | Surviving your first few weeks |
| HHG (Household Goods) | Your actual household |
| NTS (Non-Temporary Storage) | What you're not taking overseas |
| POV (Privately Owned Vehicle) | Your vehicle, if you're shipping one |
Talk to your transportation office about your specific weight and type entitlements before you start packing — they differ by rank, family size, and orders, and they're what actually decides how much you can put in each category. This guide explains what each shipment is for; your transportation office tells you how much of it you're authorized.
Checked Luggage
What you and your family can physically carry through the airport. Passports, medications for the trip, a change of clothes, anything you absolutely cannot be separated from even for a day. Airline baggage limits apply here, not your PCS entitlements.
UAB — Unaccompanied Baggage
Your priority shipment. It typically arrives well before your HHG — often within a few weeks rather than months — and it's meant to get you through the gap before your main shipment shows up. Pack UAB like you're setting up a small studio apartment for a month or two:
- Medications (enough for the gap, not just the flight)
- A few days of clothing per person, but really pack for several weeks
- Basic cookware — a pot, a pan, basic utensils
- Sheets and towels
- Chargers and adapters (see our Germany 101 guide for why "adapter" and "voltage converter" are not the same thing)
- Children's comfort items — this matters more than it sounds like it should for a stressful move
- Any documents you can't risk losing in a slower shipment
- A basic tool kit — you'll want it before HHG arrives more often than you'd expect
HHG — Household Goods
Your main shipment — furniture, the bulk of your clothing, kitchen equipment, books, everything that makes a house feel like your house. This is also typically your slowest shipment, often taking 6–10 weeks or more depending on origin, season, and shipping lane congestion. Plan your UAB and your first few weeks assuming HHG will take longer than the best-case estimate you're given.
Common items people forget to think through when packing HHG:
- Large furniture and mattresses — measure doorways and stairwells at your gaining address if you know them, German buildings can have tighter access than American ones
- Major appliances — many German rentals come without a kitchen at all (see our renting guide), so whether you need to ship kitchen appliances depends entirely on where you end up living
- Lamps and light fixtures — some German rentals exclude these too
- Bicycles and lawn/garden equipment
- Power tools
- Seasonal clothing — German winters run colder and longer than a lot of stateside postings; pack for it rather than planning to buy everything once you arrive
- Anything voltage-specific — see the 230V note above before packing small appliances you assume will "just work" with an adapter
NTS — Non-Temporary Storage
For things you're not taking overseas at all — stored stateside for the length of your tour. Common candidates: a second vehicle you're not authorized to ship, seasonal items that don't make sense to move twice, or anything you genuinely won't need for the next few years. This is a one-way decision for the length of your tour, so it's worth being deliberate about what goes here versus what goes in HHG.
POV — Your Vehicle
If you're authorized to ship a vehicle, it moves separately from everything else, on its own timeline, and often arrives later than you expect. Whether shipping is the right call for you — versus buying once you arrive — is its own decision with real trade-offs. See our full car-buying guide for that comparison.
The One Rule That Matters Most
Whatever you're unsure about, ask your transportation office before you pack it, not after it's already loaded. Weight allowances, what counts against HHG versus UAB, and pro-gear exceptions are all specific to your orders — a general guide like this one can tell you the shape of the decision, not your actual numbers.
For the full PCS timeline — orders through settling in — see our PCS Guide to Germany.