Household Goods Movement

An employee, who was reimbursed on a commuted rate basis for the movement of his household goods incident to a change of duty station, claimed the additional expense of the trailer he rented to transport the goods. The employee claimed that the Federal Travel Regulations restricting reimbursement for transportation expenses refer only to the mere movement of the goods and not to the rental expenses. It was held that the cost of renting a trailer constitutes an accessorial charge which the Regulations include in the commuted rate of reimbursement for transportation. Accordingly, the reimbursement based on the commuted rate was correct and the claim for the cost of renting the trailer was not allowed.