14 Hour Rule Government Travel

Over the past 10 years, business class airline accommodation has accounted for approximately 97% of the cost of all reportable airlines, with the exception of bus transportation. Of the 97% of business class air travel mentioned above, 35% were approved under the «14-hour rule» under FTR 301-10.125. Since premium economy class airline tickets tend to be cheaper than business class, especially for flights to destinations outside the continental United States (OCONUS), the GSA proposes to allow authorities to approve premium economy class accommodation if the scheduled flight time exceeds eight hours and travel is departing, at the departure or between OCONUS sites, i.e. foreign and non-foreign territories. This exemption for the use of Premium Economy Class is similar to private sector travel grants and is intended to reduce the use of first class and business class transportation, in the hope that agencies will approve Premium Economy class where it is offered, instead of business class or first class if they are otherwise eligible. In the event that a traveler is entitled to fly under the new eight-hour Premium Economy rule, eligibility for a rest period will continue to follow the 14-hour rule. (2) Your scheduled flight time, including stopovers, exceeds 14 hours; Start printing page 12055 (a) Before purchasing a fare without a contract, you must meet one of the exemption conditions listed in § 301-10.111 and present on your travel authorization an authorization to use a fare without a contract; and interested parties should, by 2 at the latest. May 2022, submit written comments to the Department of the Regulatory Secretariat at the address below to be considered in the formation of the final regulation. The GSA is also proposing several amendments to the RTF based on the recommendations of the Working Group on the Federal Integrated Operating Framework on Travel and Expenditure Management established by the GSA in April 2017, where the GSA worked with other organizations to develop core standards for travel and expense management. For example, the group proposed to remove an outdated exception from the City Pair program that allowed travelers to use a non-contractual fare if smoking is allowed on the contract airline and the non-smoking area of the contract aircraft is unacceptable (FTR § 301-10.107(e)). In 2000, smoking was banned on all scheduled domestic and international flights of the United States between the United States and another country (FR 65 36771), which eventually led to smoke-free policies for airlines around the world. Therefore, the GSA proposes to remove this outdated exception to the tariff use of the Contract City Pair Program. The inclusion of Premium Economy Class as a separate class of service is consistent with current practice in the commercial aviation industry and recognizes a potentially cost-effective alternative to business class accommodation for federal travelers.

(b) the Contractor`s flight schedule is contrary to the explicit guidelines of your federal department or agency regarding travel planning during normal working hours; (d) If you consider that the use of a POV is beneficial to the government, such as travel to and from shared carrier terminals or to the TDY location. When determining whether the use of a POV at a TDY location is the most advantageous means of transportation, you must consider the total cost of using a POV in relation to the total cost of operating a rental vehicle, including rental costs, fuel, taxes, parking (at a common carrier terminal – not exceeding the cost of taxi or transportation network companies, etc.) and any other relevant costs; Private car – A car or light truck, including a van or van, owned or leased by a person, but not necessarily the traveller, for personal use. Your agency may allow a rest period of more than 24 hours if no scheduled transportation service departs from a stopover within 24 hours of your arrival. To be eligible for a rest period of more than 24 hours, you must be scheduled for the first available scheduled departure. Your agency will set a reasonable overtime period for each rest period of more than 24 hours. The GSA proposes to amend the FTR by defining several terms to include «bus class», «other than bus class» (including «First Class», «Business Class» and «Premium Economy Class»), «Contract City Pair Program», «Scheduled Flight Time» and «Usually Travelled Route», as well as other minor editorial changes in the glossary of terms. This proposed rule also defers regulations that are informative and non-directive in nature, such as «What is an additional fare train?» (FTR § 301-10.163), and places them more appropriately in the «Glossary of Terms». For all official travel, you must use accommodation in bus classes, unless your agency authorises or authorises the use of accommodation other than the bus class in accordance with § 301-10.103. The Federal Travel Regulations summarize travel and relocation policies for all civilian federal employees and others who are authorized to travel at government expense. Federal employees and agencies can use the RTF as a reference to ensure that official travel and removals are carried out in a responsible and cost-effective manner.

The GSA will also consider comments from small businesses on existing regulations in the paragraphs affected by rule-making under 5 U.S.C. 610. Interested parties should submit these comments separately and cite 5 U.S.C 610 (FTR Case 2020-300-1) in the correspondence. Must not drive after 60/70 hours of service for 7/8 consecutive days. A driver may restart for a period of 7/8 consecutive days after taking 34 consecutive hours or more of leave. (a) Your Agency may allow a rest period not exceeding 24 hours at an intermediate point or at your destination if: Yes, the exceptions are in accordance with §§ 301-10.111 and 301-10.112 of this chapter for the mandatory use of a City Pair Program contract rate and § 301-73.103 of this chapter for the mandatory use of a travel management service. This exception does not apply if the contracting carrier offers the same or a lower fare and has seats available at that fare, or if the fare offered by the non-contractual carrier is limited to government and military passengers doing official business and can only be purchased with a charging card issued by the contractor, a centrally billed account (for example. YDG, B. MDG, QDG, VDG and similar rates) or GTR if the previous two options are not available.

In addition, organizations are required to report annual travel data for certain types of travel in accordance with Subsection B of Part 300-70 of the FTR. Traveling in premium class (formerly known as «non-bus class» travel) is a type of travel that requires an annual report. The requirements for reporting premium class travel are set out in the FTR and do not have a legal deadline for submission that gives the General Services Administrator flexibility to set reporting deadlines. Typically, many agencies request an extension to submit their premium class travel dates. In order to give agencies more time to review their data, the GSA is proposing to increase the reporting requirement for premium class travel to 31. December of each year (instead of the current 60 days after the end of each fiscal year). Under Section 5 U.S.C. 5707, the General Services Administrator has the authority to impose regulations on the reimbursement of federal employees traveling with official business outside of their official place of work.

The superior executing authority is the FTR, codified in Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapters 300 to 304 (41 CFR Chapters 300-304). Some agencies have expressed the need for a rest period of more than 24 hours when the availability of scheduled departures is limited, as travelers can occur when traveling abroad or remotely. Therefore, the GSA proposes to add a note to section 301-11.20 informing organizations that they may authorize a rest period of more than 24 hours in the circumstances described in the proposed notice. Cannot drive for the 14th consecutive hour after 10 consecutive hours after service, after 10 consecutive hours out of service. The shutdown period does not extend the 14-hour period. (c) the acceptance of payments from a non-federal source of travel expenses (see Chapter 304 of this Title); and (c) your Agency may approve or approve the reimbursement of First Class Accommodation in accordance with paragraphs (a) (1), (2) or (9) of this Section, or if no bus class, Premium Economy Class or Business Class accommodation is reasonably available. «Reasonably available» means that it is available on a shared airline that departs within 24 hours of the proposed departure time or arrives within 24 hours of the scheduled arrival time. e. Add the definitions «Expected flight time» and «Normally flown» in alphabetical order; (a) You may use the 14-hour rule to travel in a class other than the bus if: No, you cannot use the contractual passenger service for personal travel. A group of 10 or more passengers traveling together on the same day, on the same flight for the same mission, requiring group integrity and identified as a group by the travel management service at the time of booking, is not a mandatory user of the government`s City Pair contract rates. For group travel, agencies are expected to receive a convenient and cost-effective passenger transportation service for the government.

A driver is exempt from the requirements of § 395.8 and § 395.11 if: the driver drives within a radius of 150 air miles around the normal workplace and the driver does not exceed a maximum service life of 14 hours.