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B-141454, FEB. 18, 1960

B-141454 Feb 18, 1960
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USAF: REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR CLAIM FOR REFUND OF AMOUNTS COLLECTED FROM YOU AS THE EXCESS COST OF PACKING. YOU WERE TRANSFERRED TO DUTY OVERSEAS. YOUR EFFECTS WERE PACKED. WAS SHIPPED TO YOU BY ANOTHER FIRM. IT WAS ADMINISTRATIVELY DETERMINED THAT YOU WERE LIABLE FOR EXCESS COST OF $621.18 FOR PACKING AND DRAYING. THE BASIS OF YOUR CLAIM IS THAT EXCESS PACKING WAS USED BY WIGINGTON BROTHERS TRANSFER AND STORAGE COMPANY. THAT IT WAS DETERMINED YOUR PROPERTY WEIGHED 3. THE EFFECTS IN STORAGE WERE SHIPPED TO KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE. WHERE THEY WERE UNPACKED AND FOUND TO WEIGH 2. YOU CONTEND THAT THE CORRECT WEIGHT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS WAS 6. DESIGNATED AS ACTUAL NET WEIGHTS AUTHORIZED FOR SHIPMENT ARE SET FORTH FOR VARIOUS RANKS AND GRADES.

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B-141454, FEB. 18, 1960

TO MAJOR ALBERT V. WORKS, JR., USAF:

REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR CLAIM FOR REFUND OF AMOUNTS COLLECTED FROM YOU AS THE EXCESS COST OF PACKING, DRAYING AND SHIPPING YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS.

BY PARAGRAPH 7, SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 70, DATED NOVEMBER 28, 1955, YOU WERE TRANSFERRED TO DUTY OVERSEAS. ON JUNE 6, 1956, FOLLOWING THE ISSUANCE OF TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION NO. 5-130, DATED MAY 24, 1956, YOUR WIFE REQUESTED THE TRANSPORTATION OFFICER, SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, TO SHIP A QUANTITY OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS FROM VERNON, TEXAS, TO NONTEMPORARY STORAGE IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, AND TO SHIP THE BULK OF YOUR EFFECTS IN TWO SHIPMENTS FROM THE SAME PLACE TO OAKLAND ARMY TERMINAL, FORT MASON, CALIFORNIA, FOR FURTHER SHIPMENT TO YOUR OVERSEAS STATION IN OKINAWA. IN EXECUTING THE APPLICATIONS, YOUR WIFE, ACTING IN YOUR BEHALF, AGREED THAT YOU WOULD PAY ANY EXCESS COST INVOLVED BY REASON OF SHIPPING HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS IN EXCESS OF YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE. YOUR EFFECTS WERE PACKED, DRAYED AND SHIPPED IN JUNE 1956 BY WIGINGTON BROTHERS TRANSFER AND STORAGE COMPANY PURSUANT TO CONTRACT WITH SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE. ON FEBRUARY 13, 1957, AT YOUR REQUEST, AN ADDITIONAL QUANTITY OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS, DESIGNATED AS HOLD BAGGAGE, WAS SHIPPED TO YOU BY ANOTHER FIRM. SINCE THE HOLD AND THE SHIPMENT TO STORAGE 6,471 POUNDS, OR A TOTAL OF 15,005 POUNDS, BAGGAGE WEIGHED 391 POUNDS; THE OTHER SHIPMENTS TO KOREA 8,143 POUNDS, IT WAS ADMINISTRATIVELY DETERMINED THAT YOU WERE LIABLE FOR EXCESS COST OF $621.18 FOR PACKING AND DRAYING, AND $206.18 FOR SHIPPING 4,254 POUNDS OF HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS IN EXCESS OF YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE AS CAPTAIN. THE RECORD SHOWS THAT $473 HAS BEEN COLLECTED FROM YOU, AND THAT COLLECTION OF THE BALANCE HAS BEEN SUSPENDED BY THE AIR FORCE PENDING FINAL ACTION ON YOUR CLAIM.

THE BASIS OF YOUR CLAIM IS THAT EXCESS PACKING WAS USED BY WIGINGTON BROTHERS TRANSFER AND STORAGE COMPANY. YOU STATE THAT IN MAY 1957, AFTER YOU HAD BEEN INFORMED OF EXCESS COST, YOU HAD ALL THE HOUSEHOLD GOODS IN YOUR POSSESSION IN KOREA WEIGHED, AND THAT IT WAS DETERMINED YOUR PROPERTY WEIGHED 3,568 POUNDS. IN JULY 1958, FOLLOWING YOUR RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES, THE EFFECTS IN STORAGE WERE SHIPPED TO KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISSISSIPPI, WHERE THEY WERE UNPACKED AND FOUND TO WEIGH 2,720 POUNDS. THEREFORE, INCLUDING HOLD BAGGAGE OF 391 POUNDS (PACKED WEIGHT), YOU CONTEND THAT THE CORRECT WEIGHT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS WAS 6,679 POUNDS, OR WELL WITHIN YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE.

PARAGRAPH 303 (C) OF THE CAREER COMPENSATION ACT OF 1949, AS AMENDED, 37 U.S.C. 253, 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 INCREASES TO COVER THE WEIGHT OF THE MATERIALS USED IN PACKING FOR THE VARIOUS MODES OF TRANSPORTATION. THE REGULATIONS PROVIDE ALSO 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. HOWEVER, THE REGULATIONS (SAME PARAGRAPH) FURTHER PROVIDE THAT "IN INSTANCES WHERE, THROUGH NO FAULT OF THE OWNER, THE TARE WEIGHT OF A SHIPMENT IS IN EXCESS OF THE ALLOWANCES PRESCRIBED ABOVE, THE CASE MAY BE REFERRED TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY OF THE SERVICE CONCERNED FOR AUTHORITY TO DEVIATE FROM THESE ALLOWANCES.'

THUS, 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 ACTUAL 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 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 MEMBER. THE PROPER WEIGHT OF EFFECTS AS PACKED, CRATED AND SHIPPED CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED BY WEIGHING THE ITEMS UNPACKED AFTER SHIPMENT. EVEN WHEN THE RECORD INDICATES THE PACKING MAY HAVE BEEN EXCESSIVE, THIS OFFICE IS WITHOUT AUTHORITY UNDER THE CONTROLLING REGULATIONS TO ADJUST THE WEIGHTS TO ALLOW FOR SUCH EXCESSIVE PACKING.

IT IS NOTED, HOWEVER, THAT IN PRESENTING YOUR CLAIM TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE, AND IN REQUESTING THAT FURTHER PAYMENT OF EXCESS COST ARISING FROM EXCESSIVE PACKING BE WAIVED, YOU SPECIFICALLY REFERRED TO THE ABOVE-QUOTED PROVISION OF PARAGRAPH 8001 OF THE JOINT TRAVEL REGULATIONS REGARDING EXCESSIVE TARE WEIGHT. THE RECORD DOES NOT SHOW, HOWEVER, THAT ANY ADJUSTMENT WAS MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE TARE WEIGHTS APPLICABLE TO THE SHIPMENTS HERE INVOLVED.

SINCE THE WEIGHT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS AS SHIPPED IN FACT EXCEEDED YOUR WEIGHT ALLOWANCE PLUS THE NORMAL ALLOWANCE FOR PACKING AND CRATING, THERE IS NO AUTHORITY FOR THE PAYMENT OF YOUR CLAIM ON THE PRESENT RECORD.

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