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U.S. Code > Title 10 Armed Forces > Subtitle A—General Military Law (§§ 101—2925) > PART IV—SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROCUREMENT (§§ 2201—2925) > CHAPTER 157—TRANSPORTATION (§§ 2631—2651) > § 2634. Motor vehicles: transportation or storage for members on change of permanent station or extended deployment

U.S. Code

§ 2634. Motor vehicles: transportation or storage for members on change of permanent station or extended deployment

(a) When a member of an armed force is ordered to make a change of permanent station, one motor vehicle that is owned or leased by the member (or a dependent of the member) and is for the personal use of the member or his dependents may, unless a motor vehicle owned or leased by him (or a dependent of his) was transported in advance of that change of permanent station under section 406 (h) of title 37, be transported, at the expense of the United States, to his new station or such other place as the Secretary concerned may authorize—
(1) on a vessel owned, leased, or chartered by the United States;
(2) by privately owned American shipping services;
(3) by foreign-flag shipping services if shipping services described in clauses (1) and (2) are not reasonably available; or
(4) by other surface transportation if such means of transport does not exceed the cost to the United States of other authorized means.
When the Secretary concerned determines that a replacement for that motor vehicle is necessary for reasons beyond the control of the member and is in the interest of the United States, and he approves the transportation in advance, one additional motor vehicle of the member (or a dependent of the member) may be so transported.
(b)
(1) When a member receives a vehicle storage qualifying order, the member may elect to have a motor vehicle described in subsection (a) stored at the expense of the United States at a location approved by the Secretary concerned. In the case of a vehicle storage qualifying order that is to make a change of permanent station, such storage is in lieu of transportation authorized by subsection (a).
(2) In this subsection, the term “vehicle storage qualifying order” means any of the following:
(A) An order to make a change of permanent station to a foreign country in a case in which the laws, regulations, or other restrictions imposed by the foreign country or by the United States either—
(i) preclude entry of a motor vehicle described in subsection (a) into that country; or
(ii) would require extensive modification of the vehicle as a condition to entry.
(B) An order to make a change of permanent station to a nonforeign area outside the continental United States in a case in which the laws, regulations, or other restrictions imposed by that area or by the United States either—
(i) preclude entry of a motor vehicle described in subsection (a) into that area; or
(ii) would require extensive modification of the vehicle as a condition to entry.
(C) An order under which a member is transferred or assigned in connection with a contingency operation to duty at a location other than the permanent station of the member for a period of more than 30 consecutive days but which is not considered a change of permanent station.
(3) Authorized expenses under this subsection include costs associated with the delivery of the motor vehicle for storage and removal of the vehicle for delivery to a destination approved by the Secretary concerned.
(4) Storage costs payable under this subsection may be paid in advance.
(c) When there has been a shipping error, or when orders directing a change of permanent station have been canceled, revoked, or modified after receipt by the member, a motor vehicle transported pursuant to this section may also be reshipped or transshipped in accordance with this section.
(d) When the Secretary concerned makes a determination under section 406 (j) of title 37 that the dependents of a member on a permanent change of station are unable to accompany the member to an overseas duty station because of unexpected and uncontrollable circumstances, and the member shipped a motor vehicle pursuant to this section in anticipation of a dependent accompanying the member to the new duty station, the member may reship or transship such motor vehicle in accordance with this section.
(e) The Secretary of Defense (and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy) may prescribe regulations limiting those leased motor vehicles that may be transported pursuant to this section based upon the length of the lease and other terms and conditions of the lease that the Secretary considers appropriate.
(f) No carrier, port agent, warehouseman, freight forwarder, or other person involved in the transportation of property may have any lien on, or hold, impound, or otherwise interfere with, the movement of a motor vehicle being transported under this section.
(g) If a motor vehicle of a member (or a dependent of the member) that is transported at the expense of the United States under this section does not arrive at the authorized destination of the vehicle by the designated delivery date, the Secretary concerned shall reimburse the member for expenses incurred after that date to rent a motor vehicle for the member’s use, or for the use of the dependent for whom the delayed vehicle was transported. The amount reimbursed may not exceed $30 per day, and the rental period for which reimbursement may be provided expires after 7 days or on the date on which the delayed vehicle arrives at the authorized destination (whichever occurs first).
(h) In the case of a member’s change of permanent station described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (i)(1), the Secretary concerned may authorize the member to arrange for the shipment of the motor vehicle in lieu of transportation at the expense of the United States under this section. The Secretary concerned may pay the member a monetary allowance in lieu of transportation, as established under section 404 (d)(1) of title 37, and the member shall be responsible for any transportation costs in excess of such allowance.
(i) In this section:
(1) The term “change of permanent station” means the transfer or assignment of a member of the armed forces from a permanent station inside the continental United States to a permanent station outside the continental United States or from a permanent station outside the continental United States to another permanent station. It also includes the following:
(A) An authorized change in home port of a vessel.
(B) A transfer or assignment between two permanent stations in the continental United States when—
(i) the member cannot, because of injury or the conditions of the order, drive the motor vehicle between the permanent duty stations; or
(ii) the Secretary concerned determines that it is advantageous and cost-effective to the United States for one motor vehicle of the member to be transported between the permanent duty stations.
(2) The term “continental United States” does not include Alaska.
(3) The term “nonforeign area outside the continental United States” means any of the following: the States of Alaska and Hawaii, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, and any possession of the United States.
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