Work out what the drive itself pays on a PCS. Travelling by privately owned vehicle pays MALT Plus: the flat standard CONUS per diem rate of $178 for every authorized travel day, plus mileage for each vehicle driven. Authorized travel days are 1 day for 400 miles or fewer, then the official distance divided by 350 with one more day when the remainder is 51 miles or more — so 800 miles is 3 days, not 2. Dependents travelling with you draw 75% of your rate at 12 or older and 50% under 12. Mileage is paid per vehicle actually driven, not per traveler.
Rates last verified August 2026 against the published source tables.
Using government quarters or a dining facility on the drive does not reduce any of it. JTR Table 5-4 states that government quarters and dining facilities have no impact on the MALT Plus calculation, so the flat rate is paid whether you stay in billeting or a hotel. Members routinely avoid billeting on a PCS drive believing it will cost them per diem; it does not.
Mileage is paid per vehicle, not per person. Under §050203, when more than one traveler on official orders uses the same vehicle only one may be reimbursed and the rest are passengers with no transportation reimbursement — a family of four in one car is a single MALT payment. Two vehicles are reimbursable when the member and a dependent each drive one, and more than two requires the Secretarial Process, with Table 5-1 explicit that a third licensed driver is not on its own a reason.
Dependents who travel separately are paid more, not less, and this is the row most published summaries omit. Table 5-6 pays a single separately travelling dependent 100% of what the member would have received, and where two or more travel separately it pays the first 100% and the remainder at their own age-based percentages. A member who reports ahead of the family — the ordinary house-hunting case — puts every dependent into those rows.
Driving your own vehicle on PCS orders pays MALT Plus: the flat standard CONUS per diem rate of $178 for every authorized travel day, plus mileage. It is flat in two senses — it is not the locality rate of anywhere along your route, and it is not reduced on the first and last day the way TDY per diem is. Every authorized day pays the full rate. Dependents travelling with you are paid a percentage of your rate: 75% for each dependent aged 12 or older and 50% for each one under 12.
JTR §050205-A authorizes 1 day for 400 miles or fewer. Past that, divide the official distance by 350 — not 400 — and add one more day when the remainder is 51 miles or more. The divisor is the part that trips people up: 800 miles is 3 authorized days, not 2. Your orders state the number your approving official computed, and the orders govern the claim — this page shows what the regulation's own computation yields for the distance you enter, so a transposed digit is visible.
No. JTR Table 5-4 is explicit that using government quarters or dining facilities while travelling between authorized locations has "no impact to the MALT Plus calculation." You are paid the same flat rate whether you stay in billeting or a hotel, and whether you eat in the dining facility or not. This is the single most common thing members expect to lose and do not — some members avoid billeting on a PCS drive believing it will cost them per diem.
No — MALT is paid per vehicle driven, not per traveler. JTR §050203 states that when more than one traveler on official orders uses the same POV, only one may be reimbursed; everyone else in that vehicle is a passenger and receives no transportation reimbursement. A family of four in one car is one MALT payment at 0.235 a mile. Two vehicles are reimbursable when you and a dependent each drive one. More than 2 requires approval through the Secretarial Process, and Table 5-1 is explicit that simply having three licensed drivers in the family is not on its own a reason — the usual grounds are that the family and their luggage genuinely will not fit in two vehicles, or a dependent needs special accommodation. A car loaded onto a transport truck is not being driven and earns no MALT, though shipping it may be a separate entitlement on an overseas move.
They are paid more, not less — and this is the row most explanations of per diem leave out entirely. JTR Table 5-6 has three rows. Dependents travelling with you draw 75% or 50%. But a single dependent travelling separately is paid 100% of what you would have received, and where two or more travel separately, the first is paid 100% and the rest at their own age-based percentages. "Separately" means a different route or a different time — driving a second car in convoy with you is still travelling with you. If you report ahead of your family, which is how most house-hunting moves go, your family is in the separate-travel rows and the first dependent's rate rises from 75% to 100%.
The rate in effect on the date your PCS travel begins, even if the rate changes while you are en route — JTR §050203. The MALT rate was $0.205 a mile for the first half of 2026 and rose to $0.235 on 1 July, so members with orders on either side of that date are owed different amounts for the identical drive. This calculator picks the rate from the travel date you enter rather than always using today's.