[Comments on Carrier's Claim for Army Off-Set for Freight Loss]

B-257516 January 17, 1995

A carrier's claim for refund of a set off against it for transit damages is doubtful when the claim is based on a rider to an inventory which takes exception to the condition of, or tender of, an inventory item at a nontemporary storage warehouse and the signature of the warehouseman's agent is not authenticated by the warehouse or by other evidence. When the record before us contains such a dispute of fact which cannot be resolved without an adversary proceeding, it is our long-standing practice to disallow the claim and leave the claimant to pursue his remedy in court.

Kevin Spealman Director of Claims and Customer Service National Forwarding Co. Inc. 2800 Roosevelt Road Broadview, IL 60153

Dear Mr. Spealman:

We refer to your letter dated May 17, 1994, requesting that we review settlement Z-2862672-25, in which we denied National Forwarding's request for a refund of the Army's set off of $761.73 for transit loss to the household goods of Daniel Sheahan (PPGBL QP-346,240). We affirm the settlement.

In your request for review, you directed our attention to your "Rider to Inventory." The rider indicates that the items listed on it were either missing or damaged when National Forwarding obtained the shipment from the nontemporary storage warehouse (Allen Transfer & Storage Co., Inc.). Since the item numbers on a second inventory match those on the rider, you also contend that your firm's liability is limited to the items on the second inventory and not to those on the original inventory which you allege was not presented to your firm by Allen. The second inventory is not acknowledged by Allen.

The Army provided a copy of your rider to Allen and asked it to verify that it was a party to your rider. Allen denied that it acknowledged your rider and denied that the signature of the "Party Making Delivery" matched the signature of any of its employees. Allen provided a copy of the original inventory which purportedly contains a signature of your firm's agent.

Without clear evidence authenticating the signature of the "Party Making Delivery" on the rider as that of Allen's employee, your claim is doubtful. In such a case it is our long-standing policy to disallow such claims. See B-199714, Oct. 9, 1980. The Army's report fully covers the other issues, and we adopted the Army's position in our settlement. Under 4 C.F.R. Sec. 32.1, we decline further review and affirm the settlement.