July 18, 1997
                                                  


                             GSBCA 14118-RATE


               In the Matter of TRI-STATE MOTOR TRANSIT CO.


     Robert D. Norcom, Auditor, Tri-State Motor Transit Co.,
Joplin, MO, appearing for Claimant.

     Jeffrey J. Thurston, Director, Office of Transportation
Audits, General Services Administration, Washington, DC,
appearing for General Services Administration.

     Colonel James F. Quinn, Staff Judge Advocate, Headquarters,
Military Traffic Management Command, Department of the Army,
Falls Church, VA, appearing for Department of Defense.

DANIELS, Board Judge (Chairman).

     Tri-State Motor Transit Co. claims that it is entitled to
payment of $670.75 more than the Government previously paid for
transporting ammunition from Crane, Indiana, to Andrews Air Force
Base, Maryland, in 1993.  According to Tri-State, it is due this
money because it devoted exclusive use of a vehicle to shipping
these goods.  The tariff under which charges were billed provides
that application of a security device which can only be broken
with the use of mechanical means -- for example, a cable lock --
mandates exclusive use of the vehicle involved.  Tri-State
alleges that it provided exclusive use and that the shipper
applied a cable lock to the container in which the ammunition was
enclosed.

     The General Services Administration's Office of
Transportation Audits (OTA) rejected the claim on the ground that
Tri-State had not presented substantive evidence to support its
contention that the seals used to secure this shipment were
actually cable locks.

     The burden is on a claimant to establish all elements of its
right to payment.  Rule 301(b) (48 CFR 6103.1(b) (1996)); Tri-
State Motor Transit Co., GSBCA 13743-RATE (June 11, 1997); Tri-
State Motor Transit Co., GSBCA 13737-RATE, 97-1 BCA  28,945. 
Tri-State has met its burden here, as to the single matter in
dispute, by providing a memorandum from a transportation officer
at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana, which
states that a serially numbered cable lock was applied to the
shipment at issue.  This is the only statement in the record on
the subject.  After reviewing the record, the Defense
Department's Military Traffic Management Command agrees that Tri-
State is entitled to exclusive use charges.

     We find no support for OTA's position.  The claim is
granted.





                                   _________________________
                                   STEPHEN M. DANIELS
                                   Board Judge