Originally Posted by
TGS
Correct.
The use has to be determined to be "to the advantage of the government, not the employee", I think is the wording. If you put an extra mile on the clock by driving through the access road and circling the parking lot to get in and out of the grocery store, you're fucked. You're not supposed to make stops out of your way. If the grocery store isn't literally on the street you're driving down to get home, you are technically in violation. By law, misuse of a GOV is an automatic 30-day suspension. Now, your average supervisor isn't comparing mapquest to your stated miles for each trip, and most supervisors will try to justify the trip as official if they can (why were you at the grocery store? You were buying bottled water and energy bars for the protection detail you start in two days, right?) but the hickup usually comes about from an accident where there's a discrepancy between what your mileage and location is supposed to be versus what it actually is. and it can't be explained as a job function.
If we're out doing field stops or working somewhere that doesn't have restroom facilities or food service, we're allowed to do things like get food, coffee, etc, or if TDY away from home we can use it for going to get food, grocery shopping, going to the laundromat, etc. The big variable in all this that can make or break you is that your supervisor has to approve whether you were good-to-go on an authorized trip/in scope of duty when the accident form is completed. To wit, I used my G-ride to go pick up suits getting tailored on the way home from work, because they were getting tailored specifically for my protection duties to be used on the job; my supervisor said I was okay to do that, so I was okay if I got in an accident. In addition, I can use a GOV to go to the range, since shooting at a range to maintain proficiency is in the scope of my duties; if I were to bring my girlfriend to go shooting with me during work hours, that's fine, but I can't bring her in the G-ride...only official personnel.