[Claim for Reimbursement of Transportation Expenses]

A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employee was transferred, and his household goods were shipped to his new duty station under a Government bill of lading (GBL) which included charges for more than 4,000 pounds of excess weight. The carrier admitted that the weight certificates for the shipment were invalid, because they included a maximum of 200 pounds which were unrelated to the employee's shipment. HHS paid the invoice in full and notified the employee of his obligation to reimburse the Government for the excess weight; and the carrier subsequently reimbursed HHS for the amount of the erroneous excess weight that had been on the invalid weight certificates. The employee disputed the weight charged by the carrier and submitted a statement to the effect that the truck on which the household goods were shipped contained material which did not belong to him. The employee did not present any substantive evidence beyond his allegation of an improper weight that refuted the carrier's explanation of unintended error nor any evidence to show that the actual weight of his household goods was any other figure than the revised weight determination established by the carrier when it reimbursed HHS. GAO held that the invalidation of the weight certificates did not mean that the agency may not claim excess weight costs in the move. GAO also held that, since the employee had failed to meet the burden of proving his claim as to the actual weight of his shipment, he was liable for the revised excess weight charges.