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B-123174, SEP 12, 1958

B-123174 Sep 12, 1958
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USAF: REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER OF AUGUST 4. ONE LOT OF YOUR EFFECTS WAS SHIPPED FROM OKINAWA TO BALTIMORE. SINCE THE TOTAL WEIGHT SHIPPED EXCEEDED YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE YOU WERE REQUIRED TO PAY THE EXCESS COST INCURRED. THAT THE SAME EFFECTS WHEN SHIPPED ON PRIOR AND SUBSEQUENT MOVES WERE NOT IN EXCESS OF YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE. THAT YOU PERSONALLY WEIGHED AND CHECKED EVERY ITEM OF YOUR INVENTORY AND MADE CERTAIN IT WAS WITHIN SUCH ALLOWANCE. YOU CONTEND YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REQUIRED TO PAY EXCESS COST WHEN. AUTHORIZED FOR SHIPMENT ARE SET FORTH FOR VARIOUS RANKS AND GRADES. THE PROVISION FOR PERCENTAGE INCREASE IS TO ALLOW FOR THE PACKING AND CRATING. NOT TO EXCEED AN OVER-ALL WEIGHT ALLOWANCE OF WHICH THE NET WEIGHT OF THE HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS IS BUT ONE COMPONENT PART.

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B-123174, SEP 12, 1958

PRECIS-UNAVAILABLE

MAJOR JOHN O. MCELVEY, USAF:

REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER OF AUGUST 4, 1958, REQUESTING REVIEW OF THE SETTLEMENT OF JULY 31, 1958, WHICH DISALLOWED YOUR CLAIM FOR REFUND OF THE AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM YOU AS THE EXCESS COST OF SHIPPING YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES SHOWN BELOW.

BASED ON ORDERS TRANSFERRING YOU FROM OKINAWA TO BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, YOU REQUESTED SHIPMENT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS AND AGREED TO PAY ANY EXCESS COST INVOLVED. ONE LOT OF YOUR EFFECTS WAS SHIPPED FROM OKINAWA TO BALTIMORE, ANOTHER FROM SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, TO BALTIMORE, AND A THIRD FROM WINTER HAVEN, FLORIDA, TO SEVERNA PARK, MARYLAND. SINCE THE TOTAL WEIGHT SHIPPED EXCEEDED YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE YOU WERE REQUIRED TO PAY THE EXCESS COST INCURRED. IN YOUR PRESENT LETTER, YOU APPARENTLY ADMIT THAT THE EFFECTS, AS SHIPPED, EXCEEDED YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE. YOU STATE, HOWEVER, THAT THE SAME EFFECTS WHEN SHIPPED ON PRIOR AND SUBSEQUENT MOVES WERE NOT IN EXCESS OF YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE, AND THAT YOU PERSONALLY WEIGHED AND CHECKED EVERY ITEM OF YOUR INVENTORY AND MADE CERTAIN IT WAS WITHIN SUCH ALLOWANCE. YOU CONTEND YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REQUIRED TO PAY EXCESS COST WHEN, IN FACT, NO EXCESS EXISTED.

PARAGRAPH 303(C) OF THE CAREER COMPENSATION ACT OF 1949, AS AMENDED, 37 U.S.C. 263, PROVIDES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION (INCLUDING PACKING AND CRATING) OF HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS TO AND FROM SUCH LOCATIONS AND WITHIN SUCH WEIGHT ALLOWANCES AS MAY BE PRESCRIBED BY THE SECRETARIES. JOINT TRAVEL REGULATIONS IN EFFECT AT THE TIME HERE INVOLVED, PROVIDE (PARAGRAPH 8001) FOR PERCENTAGE INCREASED TO COVER THE WEIGHT OF MATERIALS USED IN PACKING FOR VARIOUS MODES OF TRANSPORTATION. THE REGULATIONS FURTHER PROVIDE (SAME PARAGRAPH) THAT, WITH ORDINARY PACKING AND CRATING METHODS, HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS OF SERVICE PERSONNEL NOT IN EXCESS OF THE WEIGHT LIMITS PRESCRIBED MAY BE SHIPPED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE. WEIGHT ALLOWANCES, DESIGNATED AS ACTUAL NET WEIGHTS, AUTHORIZED FOR SHIPMENT ARE SET FORTH FOR VARIOUS RANKS AND GRADES, AND THE PROVISION FOR PERCENTAGE INCREASE IS TO ALLOW FOR THE PACKING AND CRATING. THE REGULATIONS CONTEMPLATE THE SHIPMENT AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS, AS PACKED FOR SHIPMENT, NOT TO EXCEED AN OVER-ALL WEIGHT ALLOWANCE OF WHICH THE NET WEIGHT OF THE HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS IS BUT ONE COMPONENT PART. THE PERCENTAGE INCREASE ALLOWED FOR PACKING AND CRATING IS NOT INTENDED TO MATCH, POUND FOR POUND, THE ACTUAL NET WEIGHT OF THE MATERIALS USED IN PACKING AND CRATING. THAT INCREASE IS GENERALLY ADEQUATE, BUT, AT LEAST TO SOME EXTENT, THE INCREASE IN WEIGHT CAUSED BY PACKING AND CRATING DEPENDS UPON THE CHARACTER OF THE EFFECTS SHIPPED. THE GOVERNMENT IS OBLIGATED TO PAY THE CARRIER FOR THE TOTAL WEIGHT SHIPPED, AND WEIGHTS IN EXCESS OF THE MAXIMUM OVER-ALL WEIGHT FIXED BY THE REGULATIONS PROPERLY ARE CHARGEABLE TO THE SHIPPER. THE WEIGHT OF THE EFFECTS AS PACKED, CRATED AND MOVED ON A PARTICULAR SHIPMENT, WHETHER IN ONE LOT OR THREE, CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED BY THE WEIGHT OF PRIOR OR SUBSEQUENT SHIPMENTS, NOR BY SEPARATELY WEIGHING THE ITEMS UNPACKED AFTER SHIPMENT.

SINCE THE WEIGHT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS AS SHIPPED EXCEEDED YOUR WEIGHT ALLOWANCE PLUS THE ALLOWANCE FOR PACKING AND CRATING, YOU WERE PROPERLY CHARGED WITH THE EXCESS COST INCURRED, AND THERE IS NO AUTHORITY FOR THE PAYMENT OF YOUR CLAIM.

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