Hi ladies. This is totally non baby related. We received orders to PCS from Ft. leonardwood to Ft. Lewis in May. I am wondering about vehicle reimbursement. When we moved Oconus they only reimbursed shipping for one vehicle. Now that we are moving Conus, will we be reimbursed for both vehicles? I am under the impression that they pay per mile. Does anyone know exactly what the reimbursement rate is? I read somewhere it was .23 per mile. Lastly, we are thinking of coming out of pocket and shipping one vehicle so I can fly (we will pay this expense out of pocket since its only about $150). But, can we still get reimbursed mileage for the vehicle we ship? Anyone who has experience with this, your input would be greatly appreciated. I realize shipping will cost more than the cost to drive, but we would pay extra for the convince so I don't have to drive 2,100 miles with an 11 month old. Thanks!
Re: Have you moved conus recently?
On our last move we were able to ship a vehicle through the military, but that was because of the specific type of move we did. Our PCS the time before that though we paid OOP to ship one of our vehicles so we could drive cross country together (NY to WA).
H has not had to turn in receipts on any of ours moves because our reimbursement has always been automatically calculated for us. I think this is the case for all TMO moves, but I'm not positive. We were not expecting to receive any reimbursement for the vehicle we shipped, but we did receive it for mileage. Also you would be receiving per diem for you and your LO on the drive, which you wouldn't be spending if you're flying, so that could help cut the OOP expense of shipping the car.
Personally we always end up making money off of our moves, so the cost of shipping the car just comes out of what we make basically.
ETA: that move was in late 2010. We did 2 moves within a year and a half, so I just didn't want you to think that info was from 5 or 6 years ago.
I'm pretty sure it's .24 per mile, per vehicle, regardless of how many people are in each vehicle.
No we are in VA now, and moved here about a year ago.
Great, thanks for all the information!
Ok, I'll have to get in touch with them. I know they will not pay for the cost of shipping. I am more wanting to make sure that if we do ship, we will still get paid for the mileage as of we were driving it. According to my calculations, we will be reimbursed about $500 for mileage. The cost to ship is $750, so I don't mind coming out of pocket the extra $250 as long as they will pay us as if we drove.
For my information, did they pay you separately for your gas costs? My husband will be driving one car, up I did not know that they reimburse for gas separately. I assumed that was included in the mileage cost.
Also, did they pay you mileage for the vehicle you towed as well as the one you drove?
Your H can put in his travel pay request once your move is set up. They won't release the travel pay until within 10 days of your pack out or move date though. Your travel pay will include the per diem rate for all dependents, mileage, and dislocation allowance (DLA). If your move is 2100 miles like I think you said, that would be calculated at 6 days of travel since they use 350 miles per day. DLA is one and a half times his BAH. If they know you have 2 vehicles they will assume you are driving both vehicles and will get mileage reimbursement for both. If you choose to ship your vehicle or tow it on your own then they don't know that.
Very helpful, thanks!
It's been a while since I've done a move where I could drive, but several years ago, we drove both cars, and got mileage for both. But we also did it as a partial personally procured move, and we weighed the cars empty, and then loaded up with crap, and we got paid for the weight of our HHG in both cars. The movers took everything else, and it was very beneficial financially.
I don't know if that's still an option, but if it is, it's worth it to weigh!