United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao_comptroller_general legislative 2016-06-24 U.S. Government Publishing Office 1996-05-29 monographic deposited born digital 4 p. GA 1.13:B-270469 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-B-270469 P0b002ee18fd4e257 f:270469 DGPO 2016-06-24 2016-06-24 GAOREPORTS-B-270469 machine generated eng fdlp COMPTROLLERDECISION GAOREPORTS-B-270469 B-270469 Comptroller General Decision 1. A carrier is entitled to a partial refund of an amount setoff for damage to a dining table where the agency incorrectly applied a depreciated rate of 50 percent of the replacement value to compute the setoff amount, instead of using the maximum depreciation rate of 75 percent, as required by its own depreciation guide for a 20-year-old wooden furniture piece. <p/>2. A shipper establishes a prima facie case of carrier liability for damage to the shipper's property by showing tender of the property to the carrier, delivery in a more damaged condition, and the amount of the damages. Thereafter, the carrier has the burden of proving that it was free from negligence and that an excepted cause was the sole cause of the damage. Thus, a carrier that merely offers its conclusion based on an inspection that the damage was not transit-related has not met its burden when the carrier's inventory sheet does not list the damage as preexisting damage, and the carrier's rider, prepared when the carrier removed the items from storage, likewise does not list the damage. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-B-270469/html/GAOREPORTS-B-270469.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-B-270469/pdf/GAOREPORTS-B-270469.pdf GAO/B-270469 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-B-270469 Comptroller General Decision GAO/B-270469; Andrews Van Lines, Inc.;