Request for Advance Decision Concerning Claim for Transportation Costs

GAO was asked to determine whether a claim filed by a firm seeking payment for the transportation of a Government-furnished experimental refrigerated trailer should be paid. Under a Memorandum of Understanding, the Department of Agriculture supplied the trailer to the claimant as part of a trailer-testing program. The program sought data regarding the usefulness of certain trailers in transporting refrigerated goods. Test shipments were arranged with cooperating third-party shippers. The claimant was asked to send the experimental trailer. Upon arrival, its driver was told that the third-party shipper had canceled the load. The driver returned to his point of origin without waiting for a substitute load. The agency contended that the driver was told that another shipment would be available the following day. The claimant contended that its driver returned after being told that the Government did not know when another load would be available. The agency was billed for transporting the trailer. The claim had not been paid because the Memorandum of Understanding did not specifically provide for the payment of any costs. Normally, the shipper pays transportation charges. The parties agreed that the Government was under no obligation to make payment where a revenue-producing load was available. GAO held that, where the Government agency acted in good faith to arrange an experimental load under a Memorandum of Understanding that provided for a loan of a Government-owned experimental trailer, the carrier was not entitled to be reimbursed for transportation to and from a designated pick-up point, since the Government did not assume the risk that the expected load might be canceled by a third-party shipper. Accordingly, the claim was denied.