Code of Federal Regulations Title 49. Transportation 49 CFR § 1201.6-2 6–2 [1201.6–2] Material and stationery store expenses

(a) To clearing accounts called Material store expenses and Stationery store expenses shall be charged expenses in connection with purchasing, handling and storing material and stationery in and distributing it from the company's storehouses. Including the pay of officers and employees in the purchasing and store departments and their traveling, office, and other expenses;  also expenses, including wages, fuel, and supplies, of operating switching locomotives when exclusively assigned to the service of switching at material storehouses. (Expenses of incidental switching at material yards by locomotives in regular switching service shall be charged to the appropriate transportation accounts.) The pay and expenses of men employed in purchasing or inspecting a single class of material, such as ties, shall be added as store expenses to the cost of that particular material.

(b) The total amount of storehouse expenses charged to these accounts shall be distributed among the accounts to which material and stationery has been charged in proportion to the amounts charged to each account for the items issued, except that the amount representing the purchasing department expenses shall be apportioned on the value of the items issued which were purchased by that department. To avoid monthly fluctuations in the ratio of store expenses to the value of material and stationery purchased or issued, carriers may make a monthly apportionment on the basis of fair percentage rates, provided the store expense accounts are adjusted and closed out at the end of each year.