Board of Contract Appeals
                General Services Administration 
                     Washington, D.C. 20405
                                



                      ______________________

                         January 19, 2006
                      ______________________


                         GSBCA 16744-RELO


               In the Matter of STEVEN W. ANDERSON


     Steven W. Anderson, Redding, CA, Claimant.

     Vickie Smith, PCS Supervisor, National Business Center, Bureau of Land
Management, Denver, CO, appearing for Department of the Interior.  

PARKER, Board Judge.

     When Steven W. Anderson was transferred in May 2004 by the Department of the
Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the moving company visited his home and
estimated the weight of the household goods which were to be moved.  The estimate was
17,172 pounds.

     When the goods were actually weighed by a certified truck scale, the total weight of
the goods proved to be 18,900 pounds, or 900 pounds over the maximum weight allowance
for transportation of household goods.  BLM has asked Mr. Anderson to pay the excess
shipping charges, and he has asked the Board to review BLM's decision.  Mr. Anderson
maintains that he should not have to pay the additional charges because he relied on the
mover's estimate of 17,172 pounds.  He also states that he even removed some of his
daughter's furniture prior to the actual move.

     We hold that the agency was correct in asking Mr. Anderson to pay the excess
shipping charges.  Statute limits an agency's liability for transporting a transferred
employee's household goods to the cost of moving no more than 18,000 pounds.  5 U.S.C. 
 5724(a)(2) (2000); see 41 CFR 302-7.2 (2003).  The cost of transporting any additional
goods the employee may need to have moved is to be paid by the employee.  Jerry C. West,
GSBCA 16451-RELO, 04-2 BCA   32,764.  Certified weight tickets are a common and
accepted means of proving the weight of a shipment of household goods.  Jaime V.
Mercado, GSBCA 16313-RELO, 04-1 BCA   32,583.  We have held that, "[t]he burden of
proving that certified weights for the movement of household goods are incorrect is
exceedingly heavy and rests on the claimant. Agency determinations of net weight will be
set aside only where a claimant can show clear and substantial evidence of error or fraud."
Alan Poleszak, GSBCA 16693-RELO, 05-2 BCA   33,066 (quoting Robert G. Gindhart,
GSBCA 14288-RELO, 98-1 BCA   29,405 (1997)).

     Mr. Anderson has not shown that the official weight used by the agency was in error. 
A pre-move estimate is just that -- an estimate.  Although we can understand Mr. Anderson's
frustration, the best evidence available shows that he transported 18,900 pounds of
household goods -- 900 pounds of which the Government is prohibited by statute from
paying for.  Accordingly, his claim must be denied.




                                   _____________________
                                   ROBERT W. PARKER
                                   Board Judge