controls tech, no truck?

[xarralu]

I drive a company piece of crap Ford E-250 with a 170,000 miles on it. They buy the gas and pay for repairs. So I don't complain. The AC and radio still works, I think when it comes to a life end I'll be looking at the 50 cent per mile refund for my own vehicle.

Is this something that your employer has alluded to or is this something that your wanting to do?

That's all I care about is that come the end of the day that POS starts and the A/C works.

Yea, but was it at three in the afternoon on a friday?
Always a lot of fun.

No, but the one that always comes to mind was the friday afternoon and going by the word of someone else that the pumps were in hand that served all of the tenants WSHP's for a big, busy strip mall. I've never had more people yelling at me at one time!

[rojacman]

Any guys out there working for a company, and driving their own vehicle, who are not contractors?
I've been offered a job by one of the larger control companies, but they told me I have to drive my own car. A part from that everything seems fine.
Is this an epic fail in negotiating on my end?
If it was my company, it'd be a bit embarrassing for me to have my guys driving their personal vehicles on service calls. Is this something that may get rectified after a trial period?
I'm currently looking into other companies, hopefully something comes up before my start date.

i've worked many years out of my career using my own vehicle but always have gotten compensated for it....always got enough to not be a problem....i loved having my own vehicle....Jack

[Control Man]

Sad thing is that most that get MILEAGE compensation for using their own vehicle have no clue at their CPM for that vehicle otherwise they would be asking for more $.

[CB_Matt]

The company that i work for gave me the option when i started to either have a van or a car allowance. The car allowance is a set number per month, plus they pick up the fuel.

I currently choose to drive my truck for a few reasons.

1. I don't have extra of parking space at the house, so having another vehicle parked here somehow always get in the way.

2. I don't have to carry many tools. Most of my work is done with the laptop, meter and small hand tools.

3. By getting the car allowance, it allows me to have a nicer vehicle than i would be inclined to buy with out it. This make trips on the weekends that much better.

4. When i get off work, if i want to run errands, i do not have to go home and swap vehicles. Seems like a small issue, but it sure comes in handy sometimes.

There are times that i wish i had a van so that i could carry spare parts and other items that come in handy, but our electricians usually have these items.

When the parking situation at the house changes, i will be looking to switch and have a company van, but this situation is working out ok for me currently.

[JohnLoves2ski]

All of our techs have a company vehicle.
Software guys drive their own cars; Software guys should not need a ladder, parts, etc. They should only have a laptop and a small tool kit.

$0.50/km adds up pretty quickly, it should cover your expenses. Do a little math, figure it out. If you don't like how it works out, talk to the boss.

Consider getting an older Toyota stick shift that gets good mileage and use it as a work car until it dies.

Good Luck!

[Hensman]

Look at where the jobs are going to be. I drove my own car for 1 year and quit the company. I got $600 per month + $.50 per mile over 500 in 2 week period. Not worth it put over 70K on my car, now it’s not worth what I owe. If you use a car because you are not supposed to be using a ladder “that much,” you will always be borrowing a ladder from your customers, pretty classy when you’re billing them. It is my opinion that any company that is worth working for wants their name out there on the trucks so people see it. Do you get calls from the number on the side? No, probably not, (except about how you’re driving) but the next time they have a project and you are trying to get them to let you bid, they might have at least seen your trucks.

[xarralu]

x2

[T87F]

At $0.50/KM = $0.80/mile, 1.61 kilometer = 1 mile. If you drive 300 miles per week that adds up to $241.5. That would be close to $1000/month, or say $12,000 per year. This should support the vehicle cost for the year, give or take.
I work for a large Temp Control Company and there are drawbacks to the company vehicle. My truck has GPS in it, the company know my every move. They know if I am speeding, my location, even if the truck has been idling too long. I can't even stop to pick up a loaf of bread on my way home with big brother watching. I would gladly give up my truck for $0.80/mile.

[s2sam]

At $0.50/KM = $0.80/mile, 1.61 kilometer = 1 mile. If you drive 300 miles per week that adds up to $241.5. That would be close to $1000/month, or say $12,000 per year. This should support the vehicle cost for the year, give or take.
I work for a large Temp Control Company and there are drawbacks to the company vehicle. My truck has GPS in it, the company know my every move. They know if I am speeding, my location, even if the truck has been idling too long. I can't even stop to pick up a loaf of bread on my way home with big brother watching. I would gladly give up my truck for $0.80/mile.

Good day,

What you say has merit, however, depending upon where you live your car allowance may be deemed as income and so it may be taxable... Thus, your "net" gain may not be as high as you originally thought... Just another item to consider.

Cheers,

Sam

[xarralu]

At $0.50/KM = $0.80/mile, 1.61 kilometer = 1 mile. If you drive 300 miles per week that adds up to $241.5. That would be close to $1000/month, or say $12,000 per year. This should support the vehicle cost for the year, give or take.
I work for a large Temp Control Company and there are drawbacks to the company vehicle. My truck has GPS in it, the company know my every move. They know if I am speeding, my location, even if the truck has been idling too long. I can't even stop to pick up a loaf of bread on my way home with big brother watching. I would gladly give up my truck for $0.80/mile.

You got to remember...if he's in the UK they pay almost twice what we pay for gasoline and if he's in Canada it's 30% higher than the US.

I don't usually drive 300 miles a week, I usually do that every two weeks. All of my driving is most of the time in Dallas/Fort Worth, with the occasional trip to Oklahoma. So, with your earlier calculation that barely pay's for my fuel for the week. $241/2=$120. Last time I filled up was $97 (and that's at $.80 a mile, right now $.55 is what's allowed per IRS).

The way the owner of our company tells the installers they get paid for mileage is what the mileage is from the office to the job, not from their homes. Some of those guys live pretty far out too. I am able to drive my van home so I am not out the gas on that part of it either.

I agree with you on there is some disadvantages to a service vehicle. Mine is like a rolling billboard, almost to the point of being gaudy. It also seems like they cut you off on purpose just because they see a service van.

I also had a store owner in a upscale area of Dallas come out and tell me I can't park in front of her store. I told her I was buying/picking up something from her and she didn't care.

[EMPadvocate]

Current US IRS defines mileage expense as .55/mile; sorry for you guys getting paid .50/mile; your company is making .05/mile on you and maybe the IRS needs to know about that.. I always thought expenses as one-to-one what a entity declares to the IRS.

[Control Man]

How many of you that use your own vehicle have the CORRECT insurance coverage for work ?

Yesterday a jr tech for another company had a incident on a job site , $2,000.00 damage , found out he was not covered as he did not let the insurance company know he used his car for work and drove more than 15 miles per day.

Today the project manager and owner both want PROOF of vehicle insurance for any vehicle on the site.