Vehicle Reservations 

EC Vehicle Rental Rules and Regulations:

1. Please review USU travel guidelines carefully and note that you are required to submit a Travel Authorization before making a University sponsored trip if the duration of your trip is 12 hours or more.
   • If you are requesting reimbursement from the University for any travel expenses (not including fuel), all travelers must complete a Travel Authorization (TA) as early as possible (preferably at least one week prior to travel). You will need a separate TA for each trip you take.
2. The Ecology Center must be provided with name and current Defensive Drivers Certificate of anyone driving an EC vehicle.
   • A screen capture of your USU Learn Blue transcript showing training completion is sufficient. If those planning to drive EC vehicles are not current with their mandatory Defensive Driving training, they will need to complete the training and send their transcript to Lexi before their reservation is confirmed.
   • If you are not sure if you have taken the course or if your certification is current, you can check by logging in to the USU Learn Blue Portal.
3. If you do not already have a fuel pin, please contact Tammi Godfrey (tammi.godfrey@usu.edu) at USU Motor Pool. There is a fuel card in every vehicle, but you will need your own pin to use the card at any gas station.
4. At the start of your trip, please record the starting odometer reading (take a picture, write it down somewhere, make a note on your phone, etc.). Make sure that the odometer reading you are recording is NOT a trip reading, but the total vehicle mileage.
   • At the end of your trip, or at the end of each month (for reservations lasting longer than 1.5 months), you will need to fill out and return (by hand or email) a vehicle mileage log to the Ecology Center so that we can bill for the vehicle miles appropriately.
   • Please note the Mileage Log has been updated to request information regarding the locations you plan to visit during your trip (field sites, etc). Please be sure to include this information if you visit multiple sites.
5. If you return to Logan during your rental window, please return the vehicle to the state lot for the duration of your time in town. You may load luggage/equipment and have the car at your residence the night before returning to the field, but the vehicle should otherwise be parked in the state lot.
6. Fuel up the vehicle to the same level that it was at when you picked it up from the state lot (should be full; if not, email Lexi) before returning it to the back state lot.
   
   • The best place to fuel up is at the USU Motor Pool pumps. They are very near the lot where you return the vehicle, and the price is cheaper than any other gas stations in town.
7. If the outside or inside of the vehicle became dirty during your trip, please wash and vacuum the vehicle so that it is returned in the same state as when it was picked up. 
   • If you find a messy vehicle when you pick it up from the lot, please let Lexi know right away (alexandra.turano@usu.edu).
8. Once you've returned the vehicle to the state lot, please bring your final mileage log along with the vehicle keys to the EC office NR 208).
   • If the office is closed or no one is there to accept the keys and log, there is a key drop box outside of the EC office door. Place the keys in the drop box, along with the mileage log.