Human Resources Management Division

IV. Transportation of Your Household Goods

Your household goods and personal effects will be moved by either the "actual expense method" or by a Transportation Management Center (TMC) Commercial Bill of Lading (CBL) issued by your new administrative office. Both methods are described below. The net weight of your household goods and personal effects which can be transported at NRCS expense cannot exceed 18,000 pounds.

Under the TMC (CBL), NRCS assumes responsibility through the use of the TMC. The TMC will negotiate and award your contract to a mover, filing any loss and damage claims that may be necessary and auditing the transportation invoice. You receive no money for transporting your household goods and personal effects because NRCS pays the transportation invoice directly to the TMC. Reimbursement is limited to cost of shipping 18,000 lbs., any excess cost will be paid by NRCS directly to the TMC and then collected directly from you. You must pay the excess costs back to NRCS by check in a lump sum. Payroll deduction in installment payments for this type of debt cannot be accepted nor can an advance of funds be applied for these excess cost on your part.

If you choose, to independently move (actual expense) all or part of your household goods yourself by some other means, payment to you will be limited to the actual expense. The rental fee of a U-haul truck is an example of this. If you choose to use a rental truck, trailer, or private conveyance, payment will by limited to your own actual costs (e.g., truck rental, material handling equipment, packaging materials, gasoline, tools, charges, etc.) not to exceed the amount established by the CBL contract that limits NRCS' costs. Your own labor or the labor of other family members is not payable. You may also choose to move your household goods and personal effects by using any regular mover you select. You must get an original receipt from your mover showing that you made payment and this will support your expense claim, or you may transport your own property in a personally owned or rented vehicle, truck, or hauling trailer. In either case, a weight certificate is required.

Household goods mean all personal property associated with your home and all personal effects belonging to you and your family when shipment or storage begins. The goods must be legally acceptable and transportable as household goods by a licensed mover (see note below). Snowmobiles and vehicles with two or three wheels, e.g., motorcycles, mopeds, lawn tractors and golf carts, may be shipped as household goods. The items that NRCS cannot pay for as household goods are:

Automobiles, trucks, vans, and similar motor vehicles; airplanes; mobile homes; camper trailers; and farming vehicles.
Live animals, birds, fowls, reptiles.
Cordwood and building materials (i.e., cinder blocks used for bookshelves).
Property for resale, disposal, or commercial use rather than for use by you or your family as part of your home.

NOTE: Generally movers' tariffs prohibit household goods movers from accepting the articles listed below for shipment. Contact your mover directly if problems arise concerning shipment of:

Property liable to impregnate or otherwise damage equipment or other property (e.g., hazardous articles including explosives, flammable and corrosive materials, poisons, etc.).
Articles which cannot be taken from your home without damage to the article or to your home.
Perishable articles including frozen foods, articles requiring refrigeration, or perishable plants, unless — shipment is not to be transported more than 150 miles and/or delivery accomplished within 24 hours from the time of loading. No storage of your shipment is required; and no preliminary or en route servicing or watering or other preservative method is required of the mover.
Items which are irreplaceable or are of extreme monetary value or personal sentiment are not provided special security even though extra-value insurance may be purchased. You and your family are advised to personally transport these type items.
Professional books, papers, and equipment may be separately transported or shipped to your new duty station as an administrative expense by NRCS if the weight of these items would cause your own household duty station if the weight of these items would cause your own household goods shipment to go over the 18,000 lb. weight limit. For this purpose, the term "professional books, papers, and equipment" includes those professional or specialized items and other materials which you personally own for use in the performance of NRCS duties. The term does not include sports equipment or office, household, or shop fixtures and furniture; e.g., bookcases, file cabinets, desks, and racks of any kind even though you used them in connection with your professional books, papers, and equipment.

The transportation of professional books, papers, and equipment as a separate NRCS administrative expense (not part of your household goods) is subject to the following restrictions:

You must furnish an itemized inventory of these items for review by your administrative officer at your new duty station. You must also furnish appropriate evidence (as determined by your administrative officer) that transporting these items with your household goods would result in exceeding your 18,000 lb. weight limit.
Your administrative officer must certify for NRCS that your professional items are necessary to do your new job at your new duty station and that, if your items are not transported to your new duty station, NRCS would have to buy, these identical items new for you to do your new job.
When professional items are certified as above, and then separately shipped by NRCS for you as an administrative expense, the shipment will be by the TMC (CBL). If your household goods and other effects are also shipped under the actual expense method, and your itemized professional items are shipped in the same lot, the professional books, papers, and equipment must be packed and weighed separately; the weight of these items and the NRCS fund chargeable must be stated separately on the CBL. In unusual instances in which it is impractical or impossible to obtain separate weights, a constructive weight of 7 pounds per cubic foot may be used.

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