Determination of Net Weight of Household Goods

An advance decision was requested concerning the proper method of determining the net weight of an employee's household goods which were shipped in connection with a permanent change of official station. The Government arranged for transportation of the employee's household goods from the Panama Canal Zone to Texas. The employee was authorized shipment of a maximum net weight of 11,000 pounds. The employee's voucher was paid on the net weight shown on the Government bills of lading (GBL), which was 11,060 pounds. Therefore, the cost of the excess weight was assessed. The employee contended that the household goods should have been considered a crated shipment and that the net weight should have been determined by applying the formula contained in regulations, which is 60 percent of the gross weight. The regulation applicable to containerized shipments provides for computing the weight of a shipment when the tare weight, the weight of the container and the packing materials, is not known at 85 percent of the gross weight less the weight of the container. The weight of the containers and the tare weight were not shown on the GBL. The two pertinent factual questions were: (1) whether the shipment was crated or containerized, and (2) whether the tare weight includes the weight of packing materials. The record indicated that the shipment was an international door-to-door containerized shipment managed by the Direct Procurement Method. Under this method, the weight of the containers is known, but the weights of the household goods and packing materials are not known at the origin residence; therefore, the combined weight is determined after loading. Applying the formula, 85 percent of the gross weight, minus the weight of the containers, resulted in the conclusion that the employee's shipment was 9,004 pounds, which did not exceed his authorized limit of 11,000 pounds. It was held that it would be improper to assess the employee for costs of excess weight.