Costs of Shipping Household Goods

An Army officer requested further consideration of his claim for reimbursement for amounts charged him for an excess weight shipment of household goods incident to a permanent change of station assignment. The Claims Division disallowed the claim on the ground that while the Government will ship all of a member's goods presented for shipment, its maximum obligation under the law is the cost of that shipment which is not in excess of the member's prescribed weight allowance. The officer contended that Army regulations provide that the transportation officer, if he knows a member's shipment is overweight, has the obligation to attempt to notify the member of the overweight prior to shipment so that the member can decide whether to ship the excess goods or store them. The protester questioned the transportation officer's authority to obligate him to the overwieght charges. GAO did not consider that argument a basis for reimbursing the officer the costs of the excess weight of his shipment. As a matter of law, the Government is only responsible for the cost of shipping the goods within the authorized weight allowance, and all costs of shipment in excess of the weight authorized is to be borne by the member. The law does not state that an exemption from imposition of charges may be granted a member because a transportation officer may not have notified the member of possible excess weight. It was determined that the officer had the responsibility to reimburse the Government the cost of the excess weight. Accordingly, the action of the Claims Division disallowing the claim was sustained.