U.S. Geological
Survey ManualU.S. Geological
Survey Manual
No. OFM 96-07
Date: July 26, 1996
Subject: Prepayment Audit of Transportation Bills
This memorandum explains the requirement and process for prepayment audits of transportation bills (Government Bills of Lading, or GBL's). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) participates in the General Services Administration's (GSA) contracts to audit Federal agency transportation bills prior to payment. The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that freight carriers are not over-billing for their freight shipments. Savings to USGS result from paying carriers at the GSA tariff rate, rather than paying at the billed rate when it exceeds the GSA schedule. When it is determined that a carrier charged a higher rate than that allowed by GSA's tariff schedule, GSA bills the carrier for the resulting overcharges. The collections are deposited into miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury. GSA recently has made arrangements with two new contractors to audit all transportation bills prior to payment. Under the new contract, the National Traffic Service and Commercial Traffic Service will review the transportation rates used by the carriers to calculate billings to USGS for compliance with GSA's tariff schedule. The billed amounts will be adjusted where appropriate and the Office of Financial Management will process the payment to the carrier.
Effective August 1, 1996, Government Bills of Lading involving motor freight, air freight and household goods should be sent to:
Effective the same date, any ocean freight GBL's should be sent to:
Block 13, Bill Charges To of the GBL form should be filled out with whichever of the above addresses is appropriate, to ensure proper processing.
This IM will be canceled when superseded by revision of the Survey Manual.