PCS Rule Extends Lodging to 60 Days
PHOTO CAPTION: A mover loads a box into a moving truck during a household-goods pickup for a permanent change of station at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, on July 18, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Stephanie Henry.
Service members whose household goods get stuck during certain PCS moves will soon have a new option for avoiding weeks of paying for temporary housing out of pocket.
Beginning Sept. 1, the Joint Travel Regulations will allow Temporary Lodging Expense, or TLE, to be increased to as many as 60 days for a move to a new duty station in the continental United States when a service member's household goods cannot complete shipment because of shipping restrictions through no fault of the member.
The change could provide significantly more breathing room for military families caught between homes without access to their furniture, beds, kitchen supplies and other household belongings.
Normally, a service member reporting to a duty station in the continental United States may be authorized up to 21 days of TLE. The new provision creates an avenue to extend that period when a qualifying household-goods shipment is disrupted.
The additional days are not automatic.
Before an extension can be approved, the local transportation office must verify that the household-goods shipment is unable to complete its move through no fault of the service member and that the disruption is expected to continue beyond the normal transit time for that shipping route.
The member's military component must also verify that government housing capable of accommodating the service member is unavailable at the new duty station.
The individual request and supporting documentation must then be routed through the applicable Military Advisory Panel member to the Per Diem, Travel, and Transportation Allowance Committee for approval.
The change is formally listed as MAP 29-26(R), “Temporary Lodging Expense Extension When Household Goods Shipment is Delayed Due to Shipping Restrictions,” in the Sept. 1 update to the Joint Travel Regulations.
The regulation specifically describes the authority as applying when household goods cannot be received because of international shipping restrictions. It also excludes members whose household goods were placed in non-temporary storage in the continental United States during an overseas tour.
TLE reimbursement depends on factors including local per diem rates, lodging expenses and the number and ages of dependents. Under the updated regulation, a service member and dependents may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $290 per day, although receiving the maximum amount is not guaranteed.
For military families who have spent weeks living in hotels while waiting for a delayed shipment, the new authority addresses one of the more frustrating possibilities of a PCS: arriving at the new duty station while nearly everything the family owns is still somewhere in transit.
The new rule takes effect Sept. 1, 2026.
Source: Defense Travel Management Office / Joint Travel Regulations
