MALT Rate 2026: PCS Mileage Went Up to $0.235 in July

Rates normally change once a year, on 1 January. You learn the new number, you plan around it, you move on. That is why almost nobody caught this one.

On 1 July 2026, the PCS mileage rate went from $0.205 to $0.235 per mile in a midyear adjustment. No email, no formation announcement, no banner on the DTS login page. If you drove to your new base this summer and your voucher came back computed at $0.205, you were shorted, and the only person likely to notice is you.

Here is exactly what changed, which date decides whether it applies to you, and the second change from the same window that quietly put your arrival night on the government's tab.

What actually changed on 1 July 2026

GSA adjusted the standard mileage rates mid-year, and DTMO published it as MAP/CAP 46-26(I), "Updated CY2026 Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Rates." Four rates moved:

MALT is the one that matters for a PCS. It is the flat per-mile payment for driving your own vehicle between duty stations, and it is separate from per diem, which you also get for each authorized travel day.

💡 Do not mix these up. MALT and the TDY car rate are different numbers for different things. MALT is lower on purpose, because per diem covers the rest. If someone quotes you $0.76 per mile for a PCS drive, they are reading the TDY line.

The date that decides it is when you TRAVEL

This is the part people get wrong, and it is the part worth arguing about at the finance counter.

The change applies to travel and relocation performed on or after 1 July 2026. Not the date on your orders. Not the date you signed in. Not the date you filed the voucher. The date the wheels actually rolled.

So:

• Orders cut in May, drove in July: $0.235. You get the new rate.
• Orders cut in July, drove in June on early authorization: $0.205.
• Drove across the 30 June to 1 July line: the leg matters, not the paperwork. Ask Finance how they are splitting it and get the answer in writing.

If your orders are dated before July and Finance computes the whole thing at $0.205 out of habit, that is the error to catch. It is an honest mistake, and it is yours to spot.

What the extra three cents is actually worth

Three cents a mile sounds like nothing until you multiply it by a real move.

💡 Quick math: if your dependents travel and a second POV is authorized and actually driven, you claim mileage on both vehicles. On a 2,000 mile move that is roughly $120 of difference, not $60.

Nobody retires on this. But it is your money, it takes one line on a voucher to fix, and the number is not up for debate once you know the rule.

Mileage is calculated on the official distance from the Defense Table of Official Distances, not your odometer and not what your phone said. DTOD will sometimes disagree with Google Maps by twenty or thirty miles. DTOD wins.

The second change: your arrival night is now covered

Five days later, on 6 July 2026, a quieter change landed that is worth more than the mileage bump to the right person.

MAP 03-26(R), "Lodging for the Last Day of Travel to the New Permanent Duty Station," added a rule to JTR Table 5-5. If you travel to your new duty station by airplane, train, ship, or bus, and you need lodging on the day your travel ends, you now get:

• the lesser of what you actually paid for lodging or the applicable lodging rate, plus
• 75% of the applicable M&IE rate for that day.

Before this, the last day of travel paid M&IE only. You landed, you needed somewhere to sleep before you could sign in, and that first night came out of your own pocket. DTMO's stated purpose was to line member PCS allowances up with what civilian employees already got under JTR section 0539.

This one does not apply if you drove the whole way. POV travel is still the flat rate per travel day. It matters if any leg of your trip to the new base was on a commercial carrier, which describes most OCONUS moves and plenty of stateside ones where the POV got shipped.

⚠️ Ask Finance how this lines up with your TLE. TLE starts once travel ends, and this covers the day travel ends. You do not want to claim the same night twice, and you do not want to skip it because you assumed it was covered somewhere else.

Want your own numbers instead of a table? Build your playbook and it computes MALT, per diem, TLE and the rest from your actual orders.

What did not change

Just as useful, so you do not go asking for the wrong thing:

• DLA is unchanged. The 2026 table took effect 1 January (MAP 72-25(I)) and has not moved since. E-5 with dependents is still $3,548.02, without is still $2,389.42.
• Per diem is unchanged for now. The standard CONUS rate is $178 a day, $110 lodging plus $68 M&IE, and it runs through 30 September 2026. FY2027 rates take effect 1 October, so if you are traveling in October or later, check the current number before you file.
• TLE days are unchanged. Up to 21 days for CONUS-to-CONUS and OCONUS-to-CONUS. Only 7 days for CONUS-to-OCONUS, at the losing station, before TLA takes over overseas.
• PPM is still 100% of the government constructed cost. The temporary 130% window ended 30 September 2025 and was not renewed. If a moving company or a well-meaning buddy tells you 130%, they are a year out of date.

How to check your own voucher

Five minutes, and you either confirm it is right or you find money.

1. Find the mileage line on your travel voucher or your LES settlement. It will show a rate per mile.
2. Compare it to the date you traveled. Travel on or after 1 July 2026 gets $0.235. Before that, $0.205.
3. Check the distance against DTOD, not your odometer.
4. Check the vehicle count. If dependents traveled and a second POV was authorized and driven, you should see two.
5. If it is short, go back to Finance. Ask them to recompute under MAP/CAP 46-26(I), effective for travel performed on or after 1 July 2026. Naming the change item gets you taken seriously a lot faster than "I think it should be more."

Both change documents are public on the DTMO site under Policy and Regulations, Joint Travel Regulations, Changes. The current mileage table lives under Travel and Transportation Rates, Mileage Rates. Print the page if you expect a debate.

Why you did not hear about it

Rates are supposed to change in January. Everyone plans around that, including the people who write the briefings. A midyear adjustment lands in the middle of PCS season, when the finance office is at its busiest and the briefing decks were written in the spring.

There is no mechanism that tells a Sergeant packing a truck in July that a number moved on the first of the month. The change register is public, it is thorough, and approximately nobody reads it recreationally.

That is the whole reason to check your own voucher. Not because anyone is trying to short you, but because the system does not have a good way to tell you when the ground shifts under a number you already learned.

Get this for your move

This post covers what changed for everybody. Your move has a rank, a distance, a dependent count, and a report date, and those decide your actual numbers.

PCS Copilot takes about two minutes and gives you every entitlement in real dollars for your specific orders, a timeline counted back from your report date, and a checklist so nothing slips. No account, no payment.

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Rates verified against DTMO (travel.dod.mil) on 16 August 2026, including MAP/CAP 46-26(I) and MAP 03-26(R). Verify all dollar amounts with your local Finance or MPF before counting on them. JTR rates change, sometimes mid-year, as this post demonstrates.

Last updated: August 16, 2026