PART G: RECEIPT OF SHIPMENT 53250 ACCOMPLISHMENT OF BILL OF LADING 1. By accomplishment of a bill of lading is meant the execution thereon of an acknowledgment that the transportation service contracted for has been performed by the carrier. Accomplishment will be effected by consignee's execution of certificate of delivery on the original Government bill of lading. In execution of this certificate of delivery the name in full of the last line haul carrier employed in movement of the property will be entered. When delivery of carload shipments is effected through switching by other than the last line haul carriers, such switching service will be indicated in parenthesis immediately following name of last line haul carrier. In cases where shipment moves via freight forwarder service the name of the freight forwarder followed in parenthesis by the name of the last line haul carrier employed by the forwarder will be entered by the receiving officer. The point of delivery entered will indicate specifically where the transportation service, including switching, actually terminated. 2. Receiving officers will check carefully every shipment with bill of lading to ascertain that the carrier has fulfilled its obligations. The weight entered on certificate of delivery will be the gross total of weights shown in the body of the bill of lading less the weight of missing property, if any. If articles in excess of those listed on the bill of lading are received, their weight will not be included in gross total weight entered; see subparagraph 9. When incoming shipments are weighed by receiving officers because of evident loss, damage, or obvious error in weight indicated in the body of the bill of lading, the delivery weight, as ascertained by receiving officer, will be stated in the consignees certificate of delivery. No attempt will be made by receiving officers to adjust this weight to allow for shrinkage, temperature or dunnage allowance, and in no case will the mini mum carload or truckload weight be entered as weight of shipment in lieu of actual gross weight received. Indication as to whether delivery service "was" or "was not" performed by the Government must be made. The proper definition of the term "pick-up" or "delivery" will be as shown in paragraph 53301. 3. When freight is delivered to a common carrier for transportation, its complete delivery to the consignee in equally good condition and with a reasonable dispatch is expected. If these conditions are not fulfilled by the carrier a claim for the monetary loss sustained is the only available remedy. But this often does not compensate the shipper or consignee for the annoyance that may result. For this reason the determination of the cause or contributory factors responsible for the loss, damage or delay with a view to finding a remedy is of vital and far-reaching importance to all concerned. Most carriers maintain a loss and damage prevention organization whose duty it is to study claim causes and apply corrective measures to their own service or advise and assist shippers if the remedy lies in that direction. As soon as a shipment is received at destination a physical check of the property received will be made against the items shown on the Government bill of lading. In no case will the bill of lading be accomplished to show "Subject to Check and Verification." In case of loss or damage to property while in the possession of the carrier, such loss or damage shall, when practicable, be noted on the bill of lading before its accomplishment. All steps shall be taken at the time to determine the loss or damage and the liability therefor, and to collect and transmit to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ) without delay, all pertinent evidence. In no case is the carrier to be relieved of the responsibility for loss or damage to Marine Corps property without approval of the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code CSJ), and in no case will statements relieving the carrier of such responsibility be placed upon the bill of lading involved. Should the loss or damage not be discovered until after the bill of lading has been accomplished, the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ) shall be notified as soon as the loss or damage is discovered and the agent of the delivering carrier advised immediately of such loss or damage, extending privileges of examination of shipment. All correspondence written in connection with such loss or damage claims shall bear reference to Government bill of lading numbers, if any, and if covered by a commercial bill of lading the correspondence should so state. Any loss or damage noted at time of delivery will be made in the space provided therefor on the reverse of the original bill of lading, before accomplishment and surrender to the delivering carrier. Where a damaged article can be repaired, and the carrier and the receiving officer agree to have such repairs made by the receiving activity, every effort should be made by the receiving officer to have repairs made by Marine Corps personnel and at government expense. If repairs are effected by the Marine Corps a cost analysis will be submitted immediately to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ), with a copy to the agent of the carrier concerned. If the damage is extensive and, in the opinion of the receiving officer, repairs by the Marine Corps will be impracticable, bids will be requested from reputable commercial concerns, and with the written consent of the carrier's agent the lowest bidder will be employed to make the repairs. Settlement will be made to the contractor by Standard Form No. 1034 prepared by the receiving officer and forwarded to the disbursing officer who normally pays the accounts of the activity concerned. In all cases the Quartermaster General of the Marine Corps will be advised so that appropriate deduction may be made from the carrier's bill to recover the amount of the claim. Should the damage be of such nature that satisfactory repairs cannot be made the damaged articles will be returned to the carrier's agent for salvage purposes. In such cases a receipt therefor, in duplicate, should be obtained and one copy forwarded to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ). This will not 53-36 Supply apply where material is of a classified or critical nature including certain ordnance items which because of their nature, should not be in the possession of persons not officially entitled thereto, such as machine guns, rifles, revolvers, ammuni tion, etc. In that case disposition of such property will be required from the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ). Where a shortage exists in the above mentioned classi fied property which apparently occurred in transit a complete report thereof will be submitted promptly by letter to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ); copy to Code: CSF. 4. A time limit of nine months is stipulated in the Uniform Straight (Non-Negotiable) bill of lading form as the period in which claims for loss or damage must be submitted. Although a printed condition, on the reverse of the Government bill of lading, Standard Form 1103, sets aside the above limitation, such condition, in numerous instances, is deleted by the carrier, for the purpose of subjecting the shipment to the conditions stipulated in the commercial bill of lading. In view of the questionable legal effect of such deletion and in order to protect the interests of the Government, every effort should be made to comply with these provisions and unless claims are so made the carrier may choose to disclaim liability under the terms of the commercial bill of lading. 5. In order that this rule may be complied with in all cases of loss or damage to public property the agent of the carrier will be notified in writing of any loss or damage and informed that proper notation has been made on the bill of lading showing loss or damage incurred and that constitutes a claim for the value thereof. In every case a copy of the letter addressed to the carrier will be forwarded to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ), and an additional copy thereof, attached to the report of a board of survey (where required), in connection with such loss or damage. Any collection or adjustment on account of loss or damage to Government property, including uniform clothing which has been issued to enlisted per sonnel and shipped as checkable baggage on transportation request, and incident to such transportation, will be effected by the Commandant of the Marine Corps. If the officer to whom the property is invoiced, upon receipt of it discovers loss, damage or discrepancy not noted by the receiving officer, he will at once make application for a surveying officer notifying the receiving officer of the action. 6. On carload and truckload shipments the notation of shortage or damage will specify whether original car seals were intact upon arrival. When a carload or truckload arrives at destination with original seals intact (that is, those which were applied by the shipper or shipping activity and noted on the original bill of lading), but with existing shortage, such original car seals will serve as evidence that the shortage was not the responsibility of the carrier in absence of convincing evidence to the contrary. Shortage will be noted on the reverse of the bill of lading with the statement that the original seals were intact when the car was received. 7. When shortage has been noted on a bill of lading which has been surrendered to the carrier, and the property checked short thereon is received later, shipping officers will notify the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ) and authorize cancellation of discrepancy noted on the bill of lading or such modification of that notation as may be required in the case of only partial delivery of the property previously reported as short. The receiving officer will also take appropriate action to amend any report of survey which may have been submitted. 8. If no part of a shipment is received at destination, complete details regarding origin, destination, nature of shipment, weight, number of the Government bill of lading and routing, if known, will be furnished to the agent of the last line haul carrier in order that shipment may be traced. If shipment is not located this information will be furnished to the carrier's agent by letter with a copy of this letter being forwarded to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ), together with original unaccomplished bill of lading with value of each item of the shipment noted on the reverse thereof so that the claim may be filed against the originating carrier. 9. When check of materials received in a shipment indicates an excess over quantity stated on bill of lading a notation similar to that required in case of shortage or damage will be made on both the original and consignee's memorandum copy of bill of lading. If articles checked over are identical with those checked short on another bill of lading, and neither bill of lading has been accomplished, no notation need be made on either bill of lading. The receiving officer, however, will retain a record of the details. If overage on one bill of lading is identical with the shortage on another bill of lading and the latter has been accomplished and cannot be recalled from the carrier, shortage will be cleared as prescribed above. If it develops that there is an actual overage and weight of overage is not included in the weight shown in the body of the bill of lading the delivering carrier's agent should be notified by letter of this overage with a full description of the packages, including weight, approximate size, markings, and reference to any Government bill of lading shown thereon. 10. When articles are received from a contractor on a prepaid commercial bill of lading, notation as to the loss or damage will be made. on the delivery receipt presented by the carrier. If the contractor desires to make replacement, the additional shipment also will be made on a prepaid commercial bill of lading. If shipment of rejected material is directed to be returned by contractor it will be at his expense. 11. Loss or damage discovered at or after delivery of shipment to consignee shall be reported by the consignee or consignor to the agent of the carrier immediately upon discovery and in any event within 15 days after receipt, and contents and container held for inspection by carrier with a statement of facts or circumstances evidencing loss prior to delivery by carrier. Inspection by carrier shall be made when practicable and in any event, within 48 hours, and shall include examination of package and contents for evidence of abstraction of the missing goods or evidence of damaged goods, checking contents with invoice and weighing for comparison with shipping weight, also investigation of drayman's record of handling shipment. Report of inspection shall be made in duplicate on standard forms and signed by carrier's agent and consignee. One copy thereof to be retained by the consignee and attached to claim for loss, if made. In case no inspection is made by carrier's agent, consignee's inspection shall be accepted as carrier's inspection. Failure of consignee to comply with the foregoing regulations shall be regarded as indicating complete delivery of freight by carrier in good condition. Notice of loss or damage may be given carrier's agent by telephone, or in person, but in all cases shall be confirmed in writing. In case of loss or damage as provided above, and inspection is not made by carrier's representative, details of findings of inspection by consignee shall be furnished carrier's agent immediately upon completion of inspection. Government bill of lading which he must obtain from the Government official who authorized the shipment, provided that before photostating such commercial document the carrier will place thereon a notation as follows: PHOTOSTAT COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT FURNISHED CONSIGNEE ON (date) TO BE CONVERTED TO A GOVERNMENT B/L 3. A certified true copy of such commercial documents furnished by the carrier may likewise be converted to a Government bill of lading by the consignee, provided the certified copy contains a carbon impression thereon, obtained by typing or otherwise placing on the carrier's "Shipping Order," or the railway express agency "Delivery Sheet," the following state ment: CERTIFIED TRUE COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT FURNISHED CONSIGNEE ON (date) TO BE CONVERTED TO A GOVERNMENT B/L 4. It is to be understood that if the lost original commercial bill of lading or lost commercial express receipt is located subsequent to the conversion of the carrier's "Shipping Order," or the carrier's "Freight Waybill" (A. A. R. Standard Form No. AD-129-Part 3), or the railway express agency "Delivery Sheet," it will be forwarded to the Commandant of the Marine Corps (Code: CSJ), there to be properly voided and inscribed with the name of the disbursing officer and his voucher number (or the General Accounting Office Certificate of Settlement number) and the date on which paid, and then transmitted to the General Accounting Office. 53252 LOST GOVERNMENT BILLS OF LADING In the event that the original Government bill of lading cannot be found after diligent effort has been made to locate it, and it is evident that it has been lost or destroyed the Certificate in Lieu of Lost U. S. Government Bill of Lading, Standard Form No. 1108, and memorandum thereof, Standard Form No. 1108a, are provided Ch. 2 7/51 |