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                              August 22, 1997
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                             GSBCA 14119-RATE


             In the Matter of TRI-STATE MOTOR TRANSIT COMPANY


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

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

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

DeGRAFF, Board Judge.

     Tri-State Motor Transit Company (Tri-State) claims that it is
entitled to be paid an added $541 for transporting freight from
Swannanoa, North Carolina, to Letterkenny, Pennsylvania, in 1993. 
Tri-State asserts that this amount is due because it provided
exclusive use of a dromedary container to transport the shipment. 
The Office of Transportation Audits (OTA) and the Military Traffic
Management Command (MTMC) contend that Tri-State is not entitled to
payment because it has not established that exclusive use was
requested by the shipper and provided by Tri-State.  Because Tri-
State provided uncontroverted evidence that exclusive use was
requested and provided, we grant the claim.

     According to Government Bill of Lading (GBL) D-2,506,941, the
terms of Trism tariff 4001 applied to this shipment.  This tariff
provides that, regardless of any notation on the GBL, a shipper
requests exclusive use if it applies a security device such as a
bolt seal, padlock, cable lock, ball type lock, wire twist, or some
other device that can be broken only by mechanical means.  The
Defense Traffic Management Regulation provides that a serially
numbered cable lock is sufficient to secure the exclusive use of a
container.  In December 1995, Tri-State asked the shipper what type
of security device was applied to this shipment, and the shipper
replied that it had applied a serially numbered cable lock.  By
applying a serially numbered cable lock, the shipper requested
exclusive use.  Tri-State Motor Transit Co., GSBCA 14118-RATE
(July 18, 1997).  Tri-State s tractor continuity report shows that
a dromedary was devoted solely to the transportation of this
shipment.  Tri-State s evidence establishes that the shipper
requested exclusive use and that Tri-State provided exclusive use.

     OTA notes that an annotation found on this GBL concerning
flame or heat producing tools does not establish that the shipper
requested exclusive use.  Although OTA is correct, Tri-State does
not rely upon the GBL annotation in support of its claim.  OTA also
points out that if Tri-State were to provide the national stock
numbers of the seals used by the shipper, OTA would consider this
to be conclusive evidence that the seals were cable locks.  The
shipper s statement that it applied serially numbered cable locks
is equally persuasive evidence that the seals were cable locks.

     MTMC says that Tri-State provided no evidence that the seal
applied was of the type described in the applicable tariff.  In
fact, Tri-State provided such evidence from the shipper.  MTMC also
says that the GBL contained ambiguous terms because a GBL
annotation stated that exclusive use was not requested.  The GBL s
terms were not ambiguous because the tariff provided that a shipper
would request exclusive use if it applied a cable lock seal,
regardless of any GBL annotation.  Finally, MTMC asks us to
consider the fact that Tri-State s original invoice did not contain
any charges for exclusive use.  Although Tri-State did not
originally invoice for exclusive use charges, Tri-State is entitled
to be paid for its services in accordance with the terms of the
applicable tariff, regardless of whether its original invoice was
correct.

     Tri-State established that the shipper requested exclusive use
and that Tri-State provided exclusive use.  The claim is granted.




                                   _______________________________
                                   MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                   Board Judge