When you are assigned a meet, you will be asked to carpool with other judges in your area. Carpools are recommended to help maintain reasonable costs for meets. The State Judging Director will list carpools from each area of the state with one person designated as the carpool coordinator. The carpool coordinator will be responsible for contacting each member of her/his carpool with information of when to meet the carpool and where. If the coordinator does not call you at least two days prior to the meet, please initiate contact yourself. The carpool coordinator may be the driver or designate another person in the carpool as the driver. Carpool drivers will be reimbursed at the currant mileage listed on the contract, in accordance with the compensation package contracted by NAWGJ.

• Judges are requested to carpool whenever possible. If a judge chooses not to carpool for any reason, mileage will not be paid to that judge unless prearranged with the SJD and the Meet Director (USAG policy)



• The Meet Referee assigned to the meet will not be required to carpool because of early arrival to the meet.



• The designated carpool coordinator is responsible for contacting others in the carpool to coordinate carpool arrangements no later than Wednesday of the week of the meet. Usually the coordinator will be the individual who drives; however this is not required. If the coordinator does not wish to drive, she/he will designate an individual in the carpool who will be the driver. If a judge will not be riding in the carpool, the judge should contact the coordinator to notify her/him of the change.



• If carpool participants change, the SJD should be notified to make sure no one is left without transportation.



• Only judges assigned to the meet may drive in the carpool (judges who will be practice judging may participate in the carpool upon request to the SJD; the practice judge must meet the carpool at the designated point of departure).



• The carpool driver must carry a cell phone that is fully charged and turned on or must ask another judge in the carpool to assume this responsibility. Cell phone numbers are listed in the address book distributed at Judges Cup (list will be updated periodically and listed in the quarterly newsletter). All judges must notify the SJD if their cell phone number changes.



• Cars used for carpooling should be clean and free from clutter so as not to crowd carpool participants.



• Judges who are worried about the driving practices of the carpool driver should notify the driver immediately and request a change in behavior. If the judge continues to drive in an unsafe manner, the concerned judge should notify the SJD. If complaints are received about driving practices of a judge, that judge may not be assigned as a carpool driver in the future as a matter of safety for our judges.



• If you have a long drive and you help with some of the driving responsibilities (you drive the coordinator's car), they are under no obligation to split the mileage with you. Drivers' cars should be clean and in good, safe running condition.

• The departure time for the carpool should be established by calculating the travel time to the meet site plus adding 20-30 minutes to accommodate carpooling arrangements/transfers. The carpool driver has the responsibility to select a departure time that will allow arrival at the meet site without having to drive too fast for the conditions



• The departure time for the carpool should not be more than 30 minutes above the estimated travel time unless there is mutual agreement of all participants. The carpool driver may not set the time so early as to cause other carpool participants to have to back out of the carpool and drive alone.



• For carpools requiring an overnight stay before the meet, the carpool driver should establish the departure time so as to be at the hotel no later than 10:00 p.m.



• If ALL carpool participants agree that they want to leave earlier than the guidelines suggest (for personal reasons) they may not expect a room or charges for meal expenses that fall within the time period of the carpool guidelines.

• If the carpool driver or participant in the carpool is delayed, the delayed judge must call the carpool driver or other carpool participants to notify them of the delay and give an estimated time of arrival. The carpool driver must make a decision at that time as to whether the carpool will leave without the judge or wait until the judge arrives. Common sense will be the guiding rule for such decisions. The decision to wait should not result in the meet waiting for the judges arrival (therefore possible increase cost to the Meet Director).



• If the carpool judge is unable to make contact with the carpool by phone to inform them of the delay, the delayed judge should call the meet site and leave a message for the carpool driver and contact the SJD. The carpool driver in turn, should call the Meet Director and the SJD to find out if a message has been received from the delayed judge before leaving the departure site.



• If a carpool participant is unable to join the carpool in a timely manner, the participant should continue to drive to the meet by herself/himself. Mileage may not be claimed. The delayed judge will continue to try to make contact with the carpool/SJD/Meet Director to inform them of the status of her arrival.



• If a judge has not contacted the carpool and has not arrived at the departure site within 20 minutes of the designated departure time, the carpool should depart for the meet.


• The carpool driver should contact the Meet Director, SJD or Meet Referee to notify them of the problem with the carpool. These individuals can continue to attempt to make contact with the delayed judge to ensure her/his safety.

No mileage is paid for the first 30 miles except to those carpooling, wherein there is no deduction of the 30 miles. A standard rate is negotiated between NAWGJ and USAG and is paid to the driver. Riders fees are not paid. The total mileage should not exceed the cost of an airline ticket to the same location.

In the case of competition spanning two or more days, if lodging is provided to the judge by the Meet Director and the judge chooses to return home and drive back the second (and successive) days, round-trip mileage will be paid only once unless prearrangements have been made with the SJD and the Meet Director. No other expenses (such as baby-sitters, car repairs, car rental, reimbursement for lost salary) will be paid.

Judges with dietary restrictions should bring their own meals to meets. If you do not like the meals provided, you are not entitled to per diem nor should you ask the Meet Director or helpers to go out and get you something different (USAG R&P page 97). Alcoholic beverages are not reimbursed.

Day/Local Meets - Per diem is not paid for competitions that require the judge to be at the meet site for less than 3 hours unless round trip mileage is 100 miles or more. These rates apply regardless of departure or arrival time to the judge's home. Unless meals are provided at the meet, per diem compensation should be paid to the judge at a rate of:

• $15.00 diem - when on-site responsibilities are at least 3 hours but less than 8 hours. Time begins with report time to include meetings and competition.
• $30.00 diem - When on-site responsibilities are at least 8 hours or more. $15.00 per meal (up to a maximum of $30.00 per day) is assessed for meals not provided by the Meet Director. Reimbursement for breakfast is not considered for day meets which the judge travels to and from the meet site in one day.
• $15.00 per meal (up to maximum of $35.00 per day) is assessed for any meals not provided by the Meet Director. It is recommended that judges charge only the actual cost of the meal

Overnight Meals - All meals not provided by the MD are compensated at a rate of $15.00 per meal to a maximum of $40.00 per day. It is recommended that judges charge only the actual cost of the meal rather than claim the per diem rate. Alcoholic beverages are not reimbursed. A meet director may supply meals in lieu of per diem.

The SJD will provide you with hotel information for needs requiring overnight lodging. The SJD will try to obtain the hotel information and phone number and put it on your meet information, but sometimes this is not always available. Should this be the case, once you arrive at the meet site, the meet referee or meet director will be able to give you this information.

If you can reach the meet site by leaving home by 7:00 a.m. you will not be assigned to a hotel room. If you indicate that you need a room and do not cancel with the Meet Director in advance and the Director has to pay for your room, she/he has the right to deduct the cost of the room from your check.

In a two-day or longer meet, you may be expected to stay at the hotel if the Meet Director is able to obtain a complimentary room. In this case, mileage would only be paid for one round trip even if you should choose to go home each day. Likewise, it is not the Meet Director's responsibility to provide a hotel room for you just to avoid an early morning drive if you line within a reasonable travel time to the meet site.

If you anticipate that a meet is going to end late (past 9:00 p.m.) and require you to stay overnight at the meet city, please let the SJD and Meet Director know so that arrangements can be made for you to stay overnight on the last day of the meet. Because there are a number of factors that must be considered in determining overnight stay following last-night meets, no set rule is in place and judges and Meet Directors are asked to use common sense. This is a safety issue for judges and Meet Directors and the decision must be made with the safety of the driver/carpool as the highest priority.

When staying in a room with other judges. It will be helpful if you:

• Don't monopolize the bathroom in the mornings. Let all roommates have an opportunity to visit the restroom early before you shower, put on makeup, dry hair, etc.
• Do your makeup, hair, etc. outside the bathroom when the hotel room has dressing mirrors outside the bathroom area. This will allow your roommate time to use the bathroom facilities.
• Don't invite others to the room at night if your roommate wants to sleep. If you want to socialize, go to the lobby or elsewhere.
• If you bring food to your room, remove the leftovers before going to bed so the room doesn't smell like a fast food restaurant all night and the next morning.
• If you will arrive in the middle of the night, let your roommate know in advance so they won't be startled when you enter the room.
• If something in the room needs repaired, contact the hotel front desk right away; don't rely on your roommate to do this for you.

If you want a family member or friend to travel with you to a meet or you wish to stay in a hotel room with a family member or friend on the way to or during a meet, the following procedures are REQUIRED. Please do not ask other judges or the SJD for an exception to these procedures. Such requests put pressure on these people to comply with your request when they may prefer not to. So, please do not ask for exceptions.

• You cannot take ANY family member in a carpool being paid for by the Meet Director. Don't even ask the driver for an exception. If you want to travel with a family member or friend, you will have to drive to the meet site on your own and you will receive no reimbursement for mileage or gas. If you are the carpool driver and wish to take your family or friend, you must call the assigner and relinquish that position and receive no mileage or gas.



• Hotel rooms are not furnished for family members. If you have been assigned to a room and you bring your family along, you as a judge, can stay in the designated room but not your family. A judge may stay with her/his family member but the judge must assume responsibility for making hotel reservations and paying for them.



• Please do not take food from the judge's table to feed your family members. If meals have been arranged by the meet director in an off-site facility (restaurant), family members are not to accompany judges.



• Family members are not permitted in the judge's room. If you want to spend time with them during the breaks, you will need to meet with them outside of the judge's room after all meetings have ended.



• Family members that wish to attend and watch the meet, must pay admission. They are not officials or participants, therefore, they must pay as a spectator. Do not ask for special privileges.