Request for Reimbursement for Shipment of Household Goods

An advance decision was requested on the payment of a voucher for a shipment of household goods. An employee of the Army with a permanent duty station in Korea received orders for renewal agreement travel for himself and five dependents and shipment of his household goods from Korea to Rochester, New York, and return. In 1976, the employee made the shipment to Rochester. His dependents did not return to Korea with him but remained in Rochester. In 1978, the employee was ordered transferred from Korea to Virginia. Those orders authorized the travel of his dependents from Rochester to Virginia and the shipment of household goods not in excess of 11,000 pounds from Korea and Rochester to Virginia. He shipped the household goods from Rochester to Virginia at personal expense and submitted a claim for reimbursement for shipping 10,860 pounds of household goods. The 1976 shipment of household goods was authorized to the maximum weight of 11,000 pounds, and there was no indication that the shipments exceeded the allowable weight. The transportation of both dependents and household goods to the United States was authorized even though the employee did not return himself. The return of the dependents and household goods in 1976 was not in addition to but in lieu of transportation which would otherwise be authorized upon the employee's transfer. Before returning to the United States, he had shipped 350 pounds from Korea to Virginia. He then would be authorized to ship the remainder of the allowable 11,000 pounds of household goods from Rochester to Virginia. However, the total cost of transporting the shipments could not exceed the cost of shipping the goods in one lot by the most economical route from Korea to Virginia, less the amount previously paid for the prior return shipment from Korea to Rochester. The voucher was returned for payment in accordance with the decision.