Request for Review of Disallowance of Claim

A firm requested a review of the disallowance by the General Services Administration (GSA) of its claim for additional freight charges for the transportation of a less than truckload (LTL) shipment on a Government bill of lading. The bill of lading indicated that the Government tendered one container with radio transmitting and receiving sets and one box of electrical instruments. The bill of lading showed that numbered seals were applied instructing the carrier not to break the seals. The firm billed and was paid charges originally on the basis of LTL rates. The carrier's supplemental bill contained charges for exclusive use of vehicle service, which the carrier alleged was requested and performed. GSA disallowed the claim on the basis that the Government did not request the service. The exclusive use rule offers a shipper the exclusive use of a carrier's vehicle where a shipment requires segregation from the freight of other shippers. The firm conceded that the shipper did not indicate on the bill of lading in technical language a request for exclusive use; however, it contended that, in light of Government regulations, the application of seals and the annotation not to break them constituted a request for exclusive use of vehicle service. The regulations relied on by the firm pertain to the sealing of closed-type equipment and apply to situations where seals are applied to its equipment, thereby depriving it access for consolidation. In this case, the regulations were not pertinent because the trailer was not a closed-type trailer, and the exclusive use rule was not applicable because the seals were not applied to the carrier's equipment. In absence of proof that the sealing denied the carrier access to its equipment for consolidation of shipments, the GSA settlement action was sustained.