THE RIGHT TO USE ONE’S OWN CAR
Lots of feds travel for the job and lots of them are told to use a rental car for the travel rather than their own vehicle. When a Border Patrol employee decided to use her own car instead, her agency refused to pay her the mileage costs between her hotel and job site for the 50 days she was there. The agency simply said she was not authorized to charge for her POV, but told to share a rental car with another Agent. So, the employee filed an appeal with the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) seeking reimbursement for about 2,000 miles. The Board dispensed with the case easily by telling Customs and Border Protection to simply read the rules. It pointed to two in particular.
May we prohibit an employee from using a POV on official travel? No, but if the employee elects to use a POV instead of an alternative form of transportation you authorize, you must: (a) Limit reimbursement to the constructive cost of the authorized method of transportation, which is the sum of per diem and transportation expenses the employee would reasonably have incurred when traveling by the authorized method of transportation[.]
What will I be reimbursed if I am authorized to use a special conveyance and I use a POV instead? You will be reimbursed the mileage cost for the use of your POV, and additional expenses such as parking fees, bridge, road and tunnel fees, not to exceed the constructive cost of the special conveyance.
In the end, CBCA ruled the agency must reimburse claimant for the mileage cost of using her POV, not to exceed the constructive cost of a shared rental car. CBP shall determine claimant’s constructive cost for a shared rental car commuting between claimant’s TDY worksite and her hotel from November 28, 2022, to January 27, 2023, by calculating claimant’s half of the rental car and fuel costs that she and another agent “would reasonably have incurred” traveling together under the authorized “1 car to 2 agent ratio.” If the constructive cost of the shared rental car is less than the mileage cost of commuting by POV, claimant only receives that limited amount.
At the end of the decision, I was left wondering whether the agency has made this mistake with other employees. Unions might want to check into that or at least alert their members of their rights when they use their own vehicle.
For more details check out In the Matter of Leeza R., CBCA 8249-TRAV (2025).
One final note. The law requires that if the employee can grieve the denial of a travel reimbursement, then they must do so and CBCA will not take the case. In this case, Leeza’s union contract specifically provided that travel reimbursement claims were not to be grieved but sent to the CBCA.
