B-237562, Apr 8, 1991, 91-1 CPD ***

B-237562, Apr 8, 1991, 91-1 CPD ***

PROCUREMENT - Payment/Discharge - Shipment - Tenders - Applicability DIGEST: A letter issued by the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) stated that uncanceled carrier tenders not filed in a new format by a specified date involving shipments of munitions or materials requiring Protective Security Service (PSS) will be removed from MTMC's files and placed into a nonuse status. This letter constituted a rejection of these uncanceled tenders to the extent that they apply to shipments involving munitions or materials requiring PSS, and accordingly, neither GSA in its transportation audit capacity, nor any DOD activity, could apply them to such shipments.

John B. Barriage

Attorney At Law:

This letter acknowledges receipt of your letter dated October 21, 1989, on behalf of your client Pyreduct, Inc., requesting relief from overcharge claims in the amount of $32,919.29 that were asserted by the General Services Administration (GSA).

This Office considers requests for review of GSA's transportation audit settlements in accordance with 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3726, and our internal regulations at 4 C.F.R. Part 53 (copy enclosed). You state that your client agreed, without prejudice, to a "judgment" in the amount of $32,919.29, but you did not include copies of the documentation involving that judgment. Also, you did not indicate what amounts, if any, your client paid under that arrangement. This information appears essential to resolve the substantive legal issues, as well as to confirm that GSA has taken dispositive action against your client in accordance with 4 C.F.R. Sec. 53.1 (b). Please provide this information at your earliest convenience.

While you believe that GSA improperly rated the Government Bill of Lading (GBL) shipments listed in Appendix A under Pyreduct Tender 11 you did not state which authority (e.g., a tariff or another tender) applied to each of the shipments. Please explain how you would rate each of the shipments listed in comparison to how GSA rated each one, and supply us with complete copies of the tariff or tender authorities that you used. If it is helpful, you can utilize copies of the notices of overcharge supplied by GSA as worksheets for contrasting its calculations with those of your client, since this would focus attention on the differences in rating on each transaction and supply essential factual information not provided in Appendix A. A complete copy of Tender 11 would also be useful.

We are requesting reports from both GSA and the Military Traffic Management Command in this matter, and we will process your request for review for a Comptroller General decision as soon as you provide the additional support requested herein and the two agencies provide their reports to us.

If you have any question about the additional support needed for this Office to consider your client's claim, please call Michael Hipple of our staff at (202) 275-5881.