Employees are required to check for availability of a University vehicle before renting a vehicle from an outside vendor or electing to use their own personal vehicle. Vehicle availability will be confirmed by the Facilities and Construction Management Department. Jackson State University maintains a fleet of vehicles for official University travel.
If prior approval is granted for an employee to use a personal or University vehicle, reimbursement for the University employee will be at the same rate that federal employees are reimbursed for using private vehicles for official federal business travel. Refer to www.gsa.gov for mileage reimbursement rates when using a private vehicle. Employees are encouraged to include a copy of the mileage map and distance for reporting purposes.
When travel is by private automobile, the total travel expenses reimbursed, including meals and lodging, shall not exceed the cost of the lowest unrestricted air fare, unless a written justification approved by the employee traveler’s budgetary authority or the Department of Finance and Administration determines that it is in the best interest of the University that the traveler drive, or that, on comparison of “total driving” and “total flying” expenses, it is less expensive to drive than to fly.
If the employee chooses to drive and expenses exceed the cost of the lowest unrestricted airfare, reimbursement will be limited to the cost of flying. Documentation of the “driving” versus “flying” comparison must be attached to the Travel Reimbursement Voucher.
Mileage is not reimbursed between any regular place of work and home (or vice versa), and mileage is not reimbursed for any personal, non-employment-related travel. Reimbursement for the use of a personal vehicle for official state business, if authorized, will be at the same rate that federal employees are reimbursed for using private vehicles for official federal business travel, subject to the maximum reimbursement rate for state employees. See http://www.dfa.state.ms.us/Purchasing/Travel/Mileage Rate.pdf.
When more than one employee travels in one private vehicle, only one travel expense at the authorized reimbursement rate shall be allowed. The person claiming reimbursement shall report the names of other state employee passengers.