Where possible, the freight bill should be supplemented by the original bill of lading or a copy of it, as the bill of lading often contains essential data which is not incorporated in the billing of the carriers, or on the freight bill rendered the consignee, or shipper, for payment of charges.

The bill of lading file of the traffic department should contain a copy of all bills of lading which have been executed for outbound shipments and the original bill of lading covering all inbound shipments, and the expense bills should be passed to the clerk in charge in order that this document may be attached to the respective bills.

It has been stated that there are fifteen opportunities on the average freight bill for errors to be made which will effect the amount of charges paid.

1. Frequently shipments are rebilled at one more junction points en route, and a great deal of difficulty is experienced by industrial concerns in identifying the shipment as to the point whence it was made. Often the absence of this information on the billing makes it necessary for the railroad revision clerk to set the charges up to the rate applying from the rebilling point, when properly only a proportion of the thru rate should be assessed therefrom.

2. Not infrequently there are two or more towns of the same name in the same state, and therefore the county in which the shipping point is located becomes an essential factor, since one of the towns may take the New York rate, for example, and the other may take a Boston rate,

and the rates from or to these groups may vary as applied to points of origin or destination. 3. The date of the shipment shown in connection with the original waybill number is then to be considered. But it should be borne in mind that if the shipment is delivered a day or so prior to the issuance of the bill of lading, or if the shipment is held several days before the waybill is made, as is frequently done, the date of delivery, and not the date of this waybill, controls as to the rate to apply. For example, if a shipment was delivered on February 28, and the billing was not issued until March 3, and if on March 2, an advanced rate became effective, the shipper is entitled to the rate that was in effect on February 28.

4. The original car number in which the property was loaded at shipping point is a prime consideration, since, on many commodities, the minimum weight on which the charges may be based is contingent on the size of the car ordered. If a car of the size ordered cannot be furnished by the carrier and a smaller or larger one is furnished for the carrier's convenience, the bill of lading and charges should be computed on the basis of the size of car ordered, provided the shipment could have been so loaded.

Frequently the original car loaded may develop a defect which necessitates the transfer of its contents to some other car en route. In a great many cases where larger equipment is so used, the minimum weight will be increased by uninformed agents to that of the size car in which

the shipment reaches destination, whereas the industry may be entitled to the lower charges attaching to the car in which the shipment was originally made.

5. The destination and the desired delivery at the destination should be next considered, as not infrequently, especially in large centers like Chicago, Boston, and New York, the expense incurred in effecting a desired terminal delivery comes out of the rate, and is not added to the charge for transportation. For example, the shipment is routed New York Central Railroad to Chicago, Chicago & North Western delivery, the switching tariffs provide conditions whereby a free delivery to the designated location will be accomplished, and the line effecting it looks to the New York Central Railroad for compensation instead of to the shipper.

6. The number of packages should be tallied or checked against the invoice or other authentic shipping documents, since, in a great many cases, the weight on which charges are based is contingent on an estimated weight per package, or the rate may be quoted per crate, per barrel, or per box.

7. The style of package used-barrel, box, crate, firkin, tub, kit, or hogshead-should be verified, as in many cases different ratings are established for different kinds of packages, and the promiscuous use of abbreviations by railroad bill clerks makes it decidedly difficult to distinguish one from the other when the writing is somewhat illegible.

8. The description of the article itself should be construed in the light of the classification or tariff, and the proper description should be employed in order to secure the application of the rates lawfully applicable on goods transported. Sulphate of soda takes a different rate from sulphide of soda and in certain cases sulphite, in turn, takes still a different rate. Consequently, the description of a shipment as "10 Packages of Soda" is insufficient, and may lead to the application of an erroneous rate of freight.

9. Where estimated weights are not used, the carriers rely on track scale weights, which, in many cases, are unsatisfactory, since the cars may be weighed in motion, coupled at both ends, or they may have accumulated a considerable quantity of foreign material that is not included in the weight of the car.

Many industries are in a position to know what a given quantity of their materials or stuffs weigh, and when the scale weights indicated by the carrier are so far out of line, these average weights are frequently resorted to in readjusting the charges. A dealer in lumber of various dimensions is quite emphatic in his refusal to pay transportation charges on quantities of lumber of given kinds when the weights on which charges are based exceed certain average weights or estimated weights which he has determined by years of experience.

10. An error in rates may result from the use of the wrong tariffs, from the failure to employ the

lowest combination, or from the division of the rate, between carriers, on percentages up to and from junction points to one line taking a greater proportion than that to which it is entitled. If the rate is assumed to be fifty cents per 100 pounds, and to divide on junction A, 50 per cent to line B, and 50 per cent to line C, the charges should be rendered on the basis of twenty-five cents accruing to each line. One line, however, might take thirty cents as its proportion, which is five cents more than it is entitled to, and the other line take its usual proportion of twentyfive cents, which would result in an overcharge of five cents per hundredweight.

The rate applied to shipments should be reviewed in this light when a division of revenue is indicated on the freight bill between carriers enjoying the haul.

11. Errors in the freight column are commonly called "errors in extension," and result from an incorrect multiplication process. Three thousand pounds at ten cents per hundredweight may, in some cases, be extended as $30, whereas $3 is the correct charge. Inconsistent as it may seem, shippers frequently pay such absurd computations without question.

12. Errors in the advanced charges may also result from an error in extension, the same as in the freight column, or they may be due to the fact that the connecting carrier up to the junction point has taken more than it was entitled to according to the percentage divisions of the route of which it forms a part.