Automobile Travel

Personal Car

• Authorization for travel must be obtained from the appropriate supervisor. In the event that several University employees will be traveling to the same destination, joint travel is expected.
• Reimbursement for use of a personal vehicle will be paid to the employee upon receipt of a properly completed Travel Expense Report Form. The maximum reimbursement will be at the current IRS mileage rate, which includes all costs of operating a vehicle. No other costs of operating a personal vehicle will be reimbursed. If the destination warrants air travel, but the employee chooses to use a personal vehicle for her or his own convenience, the reimbursement will be limited to the cost of airfare and rental car at the destination as quoted by Anthony Travel, or an internet provider, or the actual mileage reimbursement rate, whichever is less. The employee will be responsible for obtaining a written quote from Anthony Travel, or internet provider prior to departure.
• Mileage will be calculated using the most direct route. The Travel Expense Report Form will include point of origin, destination, dates of travel, business purpose, and the number of miles driven.
• Under no circumstance will the employee be reimbursed for fines resulting from moving or parking violations.
• In the event an employee is involved in an accident in her or his personal vehicle while traveling on University business, the employee is responsible for loss or damage to the vehicle and any bodily injury or property damage to others they may cause and is expected to maintain appropriate insurance covering damage, liability, and medical costs.
• Under no circumstance will the employee operate/use a cell phone, including text messaging, while driving a vehicle.

Rental Car – General Policies

The following general policies address University non-student drivers only. Please refer to the “Student Driver” section of the Travel Policy for all trips involving student drivers.

• The driver must be a University employee with a valid driver’s license.
• The University has insurance coverage for hired vehicles driven by University employees. This coverage includes public liability insurance as well as physical damage coverage with a $500 deductible. This precludes the necessity of purchasing rental car insurance coverage from any car rental agency. In the event of an accident, the University will be responsible for the cost of damages not to exceed $500. The cost will be charged to the department that rented the vehicle.
• Only business-related travel is authorized use of a rental vehicle. The rental vehicle may not be used for personal side-trips. The only authorized driver is the employee who rented the vehicle..
• In the event of an accident, regardless of the amount of damage or injury, the employee must contact local law enforcement authorities, and an accident report must be obtained. The employee must notify the University’s insurance provider, Travelers, 24-hour claim reporting service, at 1.800.832.7839 and reference Policy # TJ-CAP-7440L22-2.
• Rental vehicles should be returned refueled to avoid excessive vendor refueling charges.
• Under no circumstance will the employee be reimbursed for fines for moving or parking violations.
• Under no circumstance will the employee operate a rental vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other controlled substances.
• Under no circumstance will the employee operate/use a cell phone, including text messaging, while driving a vehicle.

Rental Car – Local

The University has contracted with Enterprise Rent-a-Car for all authorized local transportation needs. The authorization is for official University business only for destinations exceeding 30 miles (round trip exceeding 60 miles). The procedure is as follows:

• Contact Enterprise at 531.2700 to obtain reservation information. (for security purposes, the link to enterprise has been moved to the intranet and can be found here)
  
• Enter a Procurement Requisition into Colleague. The reservation will not be honored if a purchase order is not prepared or a Valparaiso University Procurement Card is not provided. Departments that have a high volume of travel needs should consider issuing a blanket purchase order for all travel during the semester/year. Each time travel arrangements are made, Enterprise must be given this blanket purchase order number. This will eliminate a purchase requisition/purchase order for each individual travel situation.
• Arrange with Enterprise for pick up or delivery of the rental vehicle. The rental agreement must be signed by the driver/employee at the time of pick up/delivery. The driver/employee must inspect the vehicle for damage before and after the rental period and note any damage on the rental agreement.
• Enterprise will bill the University directly for the rental charges.

Rental Car – Out of Town

• In the event that transportation is required at a travel destination, Valparaiso University authorizes and will reimburse for the use of rental cars. The rental agreement must be signed by the driver/employee at the time of delivery. However, only business-related travel is authorized use of a rental vehicle. The rental vehicle may not be used for personal side-trips. The only authorized driver is the employee who rented the vehicle.
• The style of vehicle needed for business travel may vary depending on the purpose of the business trip. Keeping budget constraints in mind, the vehicle choice remains with the employee with the approval of the appropriate supervisor.
• Drop off charges will be reimbursed to the employee if the charge meets the necessary University business purpose criteria.
• A personal credit card or University procurement card must be used for the rental of vehicles outside of Valparaiso. Local blanket purchase orders will not be honored by out-of-town agencies.
• Reimbursement for use of a rental vehicle will be paid to the employee upon receipt of a properly completed Travel Expense Report. The University will reimburse for the additional night(s) rental car cost resulting from choosing a flight option that requires a Saturday night stay as long as the option resulted in savings or no further expense to the University.