B-147003, MAR. 6, 1962

B-147003, MAR. 6, 1962

TO SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, TEXAS AND LOUISIANA LINES:

WE REFER AGAIN TO YOUR LETTERS OF AUGUST 15 AND NOVEMBER 30, 1961, FILE WW-16422-7-A-MB, REQUESTING REVIEW OF OUR SETTLEMENT CERTIFICATE OF JULY 31, 1961, OUR CLAIM TK-713232, WHICH DISALLOWED YOUR CLAIM FOR $85.86 ADDITIONAL TO THE CHARGES PAID ON A SHIPMENT STORED IN TRANSIT AT PRAIRIE, MISSISSIPPI.

BILL OF LADING NO. AF-T-108498, DATED JULY 15, 1959, COVERED THE TRANSPORTATION OF FOUR FREIGHT TRAILERS, N.O.I.B.N., WEIGHING 10,600 POUNDS, FROM PRAIRIE, TO SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS. THE BILL OF LADING SHOWS THE INBOUND BILLING REFERENCE AS BILL OF LADING NO. AF-9048810, DATED DECEMBER 11, 1958, THE ORIGIN STATION AS MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, THE APPLIED WEIGHT AS 10,600 POUNDS FROM A SHIPMENT WEIGHING 14,850 POUNDS, AND THE TRANSIT AUTHORITY AS SOUTHERN FREIGHT ASSOCIATION SECTION 22 QUOTATION NO. A-1755, ITEM 15 (G). IN YOUR COMPUTATION OF CHARGES FOR THE OUTBOUND BILLING, YOU ALLOWED CREDIT FOR INBOUND CHARGES PAID ON THE CARLOAD MINIMUM WEIGHT OF 24,400 POUNDS IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITEM 15 (G), WHICH PROVIDED THAT WHEN THE ACTUAL TRANSIT WEIGHT OF BOTH THE INBOUND AND THE OUTBOUND SHIPMENTS IS LESS THAN THE MINIMUM WEIGHT GOVERNING THE THROUGH RATE, AND ACTUAL TRANSIT WEIGHT OF THE OUTBOUND SHIPMENT IS THE SAME AS OR LESS THAN THE ACTUAL TRANSIT WEIGHT OF THE INBOUND SHIPMENT, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ACTUAL WEIGHT AND THE MINIMUM WEIGHT, INBOUND AND OUTBOUND, WILL BE CONSIDERED TRANSIT TONNAGE, AND NO TRANSIT TONNAGE CREDIT WILL BE ALLOWED FOR ANY INBOUND WEIGHT NO INCLUDED IN THE OUTBOUND SHIPMENT.

YOUR SUPPLEMENTAL BILL WW-16422-7-A, HOWEVER, WAS PREDICATED ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT INBOUND CHARGES HAD BEEN PAID ONLY ON THE ACTUAL WEIGHT OF THE TRAILERS, 14,850 POUNDS, RATHER THAN ON THE CARLOAD MINIMUM WEIGHT OF 24,400 POUNDS, SINCE YOU HAD BEEN SO INFORMED BY THE AUDITOR OF RECEIPTS FOR THE TRANSIT CARRIER, THE GULF, MOBILE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY. YOUR REQUEST FOR REVIEW, YOU OBJECTED ONLY TO THE APPLICATION OF THE CREDIT FOR INBOUND CHARGES PAID AT THE CARLOAD MINIMUM WEIGHT, AND, IF THE CHARGES WERE IN FACT SO PAID, YOU REQUESTED REFERENCE TO THE VOUCHER PAYMENT RECORD.

THE INBOUND BILL OF LADING, NO. AF-9048810, DATED DECEMBER 11, 1958, COVERED A SHIPMENT IN A 42-FOOT GONDOLA CAR OF FREIGHT TRAILERS WEIGHING 14,850 POUNDS AND PULLEY BLOCK CHAIN HOISTS WEIGHING 3,515 POUNDS. THE GULF, MOBILE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY BILLED AND WAS PAID CHARGES TOTALING $274.65, COMPUTED AS FOLLOWS: 14,850 POUNDS OF FREIGHT TRAILERS AT A CLASS 50 RATE OF 95 CENTS PER 100 POUNDS, OR $141.08; 3,515 POUNDS OF HOISTS AT A CLASS 45 RATE OF 85 CENTS PER 100 POUNDS, OR $29.88; 10,915 POUNDS TO MAKE THE MINIMUM (9,550 POUNDS TO MAKE THE CARLOAD MINIMUM WEIGHT OF 24,450 POUNDS APPLICABLE TO THE FREIGHT TRAILERS, PLUS AN ADDITIONAL 1,365 POUNDS TO MAKE THE MINIMUM OF 29,280 POUNDS APPLICABLE TO THE HOISTS) AT THE CLASS 50 RATE OF 95 CENTS PER 100 POUNDS APPLICABLE TO THE FREIGHT TRAILERS, OR $103.69. THE TOTAL CHARGES OF $274.65 WERE PAID AS BILLED TO THE GULF, MOBILE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY ON ITS BILL W- 664620, IN THE FEBRUARY 1959 ACCOUNTS OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL GEORGE M. SECKINGER ON HIS VOUCHER NO. 302791. WE ENCLOSE A PHOTOSTAT COPY OF THE INBOUND BILL OF LADING AND THE PAYMENT VOUCHER FOR YOUR REFERENCE. THE TRANSIT CERTIFICATE PREPARED AT THE STORAGE POINT, PRAIRIE VEHICLE STORAGE STATION BUREAU NO. 9019, SHOWS THAT THE HOISTS WERE NOT RECORDED FOR STORAGE IN TRANSIT AND THAT NO BALANCE OF WEIGHT REMAINED AVAILABLE AFTER THE OUTBOUND APPLICATION OF 10,600 POUNDS, BEING A PART OF THE 14,850 POUNDS OF THE INBOUND SHIPMENT OF FREIGHT TRAILERS.

IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE CHARGES ON THE OUTBOUND BILLING WERE PROPERLY COMPUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE OUTBOUND APPLICATION OF TONNAGE AND THE PROVISION OF THE TRANSIT QUOTATION. THE SETTLEMENT CERTIFICATE DISALLOWING YOUR CLAIM FOR $95.86 WAS CORRECT AND IT IS SUSTAINED.