Use of Privately Owned Vehicles in Commuting to Remote Worksites

GAO was asked for a decision on certain questions which arose in regard to the use of privately owned vehicles by Federal employees while traveling to and from remote worksites to perform temporary duty. The agency had provided both Government-owned vehicles and chartered aircraft to transport employees to these worksites, but it increased the use of aircraft to conserve fuel. Some of the employees decided to drive to the worksites in their privately owned vehicles rather than fly, and they believe they should be paid for the expense and time outside of regular working hours incurred by using their own vehicles. The agency required employees who used their own vehicles to arrive at the worksites at their ordinary work times and remain until their shifts ended. Employees who used the chartered aircraft arrived late on Mondays and left early on Fridays. The agency has indicated that employees who drove privately owned vehicles will not be reimbursed and must drive to and from the worksites on their own time. Travel to distant worksites is considered to be temporary duty status. Mileage for official use of privately owned vehicles, limited to the cost of travel by Government vehicle, is authorized if the use of the vehicle is authorized by the Government. Since the use of privately owned vehicles was authorized in the general travel orders issued to the employees and Government-owned vehicles were not available nor offered for use, the employees are entitled to reimbursement of mileage at the rate specified in the regulations. The employees using privately owned vehicles instead of the aircraft were not entitled to overtime compensation for the extra traveltime required outside of regular working hours. These employees were entitled to drive their privately owned vehicles to the distant sites on regular working time only to the extent that their traveltime did not exceed the traveltime that would have been used if they had traveled by the method of transportation selected by the agency. Any additional traveltime utilized during the employees' regular tour of duty must be charged to their respective annual leave accounts. Employees who drive their privately owned vehicles to and from the remote worksites may arrive at and leave the worksites at the same time as those employees using Government-chartered aircraft.