Appeal of Claim for Reimbursement of Weight Charges

An Air Force officer appealed a Claims Division settlement which denied his claim for the reimbursement of excess weight charges collected from him by the Air Force because a shipment of his household goods exceeded his authorized weight limitation. Although the weight tickets and a weight certificate submitted by the mover in support of the mover's charges initially established the excess weight, and the corresponding excess charges were collected from the officer by the Air Force, the mover later admitted that the weight tickets were incorrect. The mover established a lower constructive weight than was initially established by the weight tickets and refunded that part of the charges initially collected on the higher weight to the Air Force, which remitted it to the officer. The officer later claimed that the part of the charges which represented the difference between the charges for his authorized weight and the charges for the higher constructive weight established by the mover. Since the record did not establish that the shipment's weight was in fact the authorized weight, and since the evidence of record supported the Air Force's determination to accept the mover's constructive weight as reasonable, there was no basis for allowing the claim. Accordingly, an amended claim was denied.