[Liability for Excess Weight Charges for Household Goods Shipment]

A question was raised pertaining to whether a transferred Army officer may be relieved of liability for excess weight charges on his household goods shipment. Documents indicated that the net weight exceeded the officer's authorized weight allowance by 1,790 pounds. The officer contended that: (1) the carrier's use of excessive packing materials accounted for the excess weight; (2) the weight of previous and subsequent shipments, which were within his authorized weight allowance at the time, demonstrated that the shipment in controversy should have been within his allowance; (3) an investigation would have verified the validity of his overpack allegation; and (4) the government should absorb the excess weight charges since it failed to act on his notice of the possible overpack. GAO found that: (1) the total accessorial charges were less than the Army's maximum packing charge standard; (2) the officer's opinion based on previous moves was insufficient evidence to rebut the agency's determination of reasonable packing performance; and (3) a transportation officer's failure to inspect an individual shipment provides no basis for GAO to overturn an agency's determination of excess weight charges. Accordingly, the Claims Group's disallowance of the claim was sustained.