Traveling by Personal Car

• Overview
• Mileage Rates
• Approved Drivers
• Accumulated Mileage

Personal car overview

It is important to recognize following information when traveling by personal vehicle:

• Repairs to a personal car are the owner's responsibility.
• The University does not reimburse flat tires, dead batteries, etc., or any violations such as parking or speeding tickets.
• An employee's daily commute to and from their residence and official work station is not reimbursable under the Travel Policy and will not be reimbursed.

See the Travel Policy for university requirements regarding traveling via personal vehicle.

Mileage stipulations

• Mileage is calculated from the traveler's official work location (or from their home) to their business destination, including lodging locations.
• Mileage reimbursement rates are determined by the IRS. This rate includes wear and tear, fuel and insurance costs for the personal vehicle.
• Mileage costs up to 500 miles are reimbursed at the full rate. Mileage above the first 500 miles is reimbursed at fifty percent (50%) of the full rate.
• Reimbursement for mileage costs is limited to the cost of a comparable 30-day advance purchase round trip economy class airfare ticket if the airfare is more economical than reimbursing mileage. To substantiate mileage in lieu of airfare, an airfare quote must be printed and uploaded to the reimbursement expense report in the online travel system.
• Fuel charges may be claimed in lieu of mileage, but will be limited to the cost of the mileage calculation.
• Business travelers are allowed a maximum of two full days of paid travel time to and from their official business location - one day before their official business begins and one day after their official business has concluded.

How to claim mileage

• Mileage for university business travel must be submitted through the online travel system (Emburse Enterprise).
• Mileage is determined using official state highway distances, as calculated by the Map feature in Emburse Enterprise.
• The full address for the business destination is required using the Map feature. Entering the city and state location in lieu of the full address is not sufficient substantiation for the mileage claim. Some exceptions apply, such as instances where the address must remain confidential.
• If the traveler is traveling to multiple destinations and claiming mileage for each leg of the trip, the Map feature in Emburse Enterprise must be used to enter each leg of the trip.
• Mileage can be accumulated over several trips and claimed as a single expense report provided the following criteria are met:
  • the purpose of each trip is approved university business;
  • each trip is non-overnight;
  • no per diem is being claimed; and
  • the daily mileage amount and the date and purpose of each trip is documented on the expense report. A completed Mileage Record form may be used in lieu of documenting the date, purpose and mileage within the expense report. The Mileage Record form, when used, must be uploaded to the expense report.

Mileage rates

• $.70 per mile for the first 500 miles (Effective January 2025)
• $.35 per mile for 501 miles or more

Airport code list

IND - Indianapolis International Airport
SDF - Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport
CVG - Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
MDW - Midway International Airport
ORD - Chicago O'Hare Interational Airport

Disclaimer: Mileage is from a general campus location to the airport and is for estimating purposes only. Actual mileage will vary.

Approved drivers

University policy requires that, as a condition for driving any vehicle on university business, drivers will give Indiana University authorization to conduct a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) check and provide all information needed for conducting the check. Driving on university business will be prohibited if authorization to conduct a MVR check is not given.

Before driving for any trip, complete the Authorization Form for Motor Vehicle Records Check, found on IU's Office of Insurance, Loss Control & Claims website.

Accumulated mileage

The accumulated mileage process allows a user to submit multiple mileage trips (such as weekly campus-to-campus visits) as a single reimbursement. This process is usually used by staff who must frequently travel between locations as part of their job & choose to use their personal vehicle to do so.

• Mileage can be accumulated over several trips and claimed as a single expense report provided the following criteria are met:
  • the purpose of each trip is approved university business;
  • each trip is non-overnight;
  • no per diem is being claimed; and
  • the daily mileage amount and the date and purpose of each trip is documented in the Emburse Enterprise expense report.

Download the Accumulated Mileage Travel Record and use it to keep a log of your daily destinations. Odometer readings should be taken per trip and individually accounted for on the record. This record must be attached to the expense report in Emburse Enterprise.

Learn how to report accumulated mileage expenses in Emburse Enterprise

Timing

Travel Management recommends submitting an accumulated mileage log monthly. If you are traveling via personal car more frequently, i.e. several trips per week, submit your accumulated mileage weekly.

Out of state mileage

Accumulated mileage expenses can be claimed on either In-State or Domestic trip types. Per Travel Management, when initiating your expense report, the best practice is to select Domestic travel as the Trip Type when all or most of the travel crosses state lines. Domestic accumulated mileage is most common with regional campuses close to state boarders.