controls tech, no truck?

[iceman2013]

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.

[Six]

Nope.

They offer you a fuel allowance at least ?

Im commercial service so driving my own vehicle would be a deal killer.

[iceman2013]

Apoogies, I failed to mention that, 50¢ per kilometre. Maybe most jobs will generally last all day/week or even month with laptop only. I obviously need to talk with them again.

[Control Man]

Years back knew a few JOHNSON Pneumatic service guys who drove their own cars instead of a company van.

Today a lot of the Big NON name brand places have their techs using their own cars , know of 1 that charges them to use a company van ( Gas / Parking ) if they need to move anything too big for their car.

[ZeroTolerance]

Sounds like a rather large liability for the owner of the company you are working for.

[s2sam]

Apoogies, I failed to mention that, 50¢ per kilometre. Maybe most jobs will generally last all day/week or even month with laptop only. I obviously need to talk with them again.

Good day Iceman,

Ensure that you consider all of the costs with using your own vehicle... For example:

1. Car insurance will be more, because now you are driving more and are using it for commercial purposes. Greater risk of vandalism, theft, etc.

2. Extra wear and tear on the vehicle (mechanically and aesthetically) and more mileage and so reduced value when time to sell/trade in.

3. Additional service costs because of greater usage.

That being said, you might/should be able to claim some of these additional expenses as deductions on your income tax... however, now the issue is you have to log all of your travels, document everything, and potentially pay more for accounting fees because of it.

Sadly, a number of firm's are doing tactics like this to reduce their overall employment costs. The other rage is for firms to not provide office space/equipment and so people are forced to work out of their homes, as this reduces their operating costs big time (no upkeep/maintenance insurance, lease, phones, network, etc).

Cheers,

Sam

[xarralu]

When I was done doing T&B I promised myself I would not have a job that I have to drive my personal vehicle for commercial work ever again.

Alot of times it's at a new construction job site. Job sites are usually you parking in the near by rock/grass/mud field, so it looks like $h!t real quick. Not only being dirty I had other issues. I had the rear driver door scratched real bad and had my spare tire stolen.

The final straw was when my then boss had to ride with me. He actually had the nerve to give me a hard time about having a child car seat in my car!

When I started here I had a probationary period of 6 months of driving my own vehicle. It was explained to me that they have had guys talking the talk, they get a vehicle and it gets abused and then they quit. So I broke the promise to myself and started driving my wife's car (small compact) and I was actually making money because the work at the time was 3 counties away. Still the same thing though. Car was always dirty inside and out, and had to carry tools, wire, laptop and parts in my car.

Long story short. If you have to drive your own personal vehicle permanently for work, to me it says very little about the company or they just don't trust you.

[iceman2013]

Wise words s2sam, I'll definitely check into that, and you're right, could be some tax benefits worth claiming.
xarralu, you sound like me a few years back. When I first got into the HVAC trade I had an employer who made me use my car, and after quitting 2 weeks later, I vowed I wouldn't do it again. The difference now is my salary is substantially more, especially when you consider that I'm entering a training phase to focus solely on controls.
At this point, the important thing for me is that I won't be a roof rat...rain, sun, and snow, slugging another compressor into the truck, up a ladder and onto a roof, or inhaling that freon/mustard-gas cocktail which is almost impossible to avoid, or change belts, dirty, dusty filters etc.
There's a great community in this forum, thanks for your feedback.

[xarralu]

I remember when I worked for a mechanical company and I used to help the other service guys doing unit/compressor change outs. That just flat out sucked!

The worst I remember was I had to change an evap blower motor out on a 20 ton Lennox RTU on a warehouse by myself. "Oh yea, Lennox is easy slide it out and slap in a new one". That wasn't the hard part. Getting the damn motor up there and getting it across the roof that looked like you were looking into the horizon and then getting the old one down was the hard part. I thought I was going to die by the end of the day!

Kudos to "y'all" doing it day in day out. I get worn out now just getting pipe and a bender on the roof! So I understand why you want to get out of it. It will make an old man out of you.

[crab master]

then getting the old one down was the hard part. I thought I was going to die by the end of the day!

What, getting it down is the easy part, just drop it off the edge of the roof!

Kudos to "y'all" doing it day in day out. I get worn out now just getting pipe and a bender on the roof! So I understand why you want to get out of it. It will make an old man out of you.

Definitely, but I didn't start losing hair until I started in controls...

Back to the OP. I hated and still hate driving my own vehicle, it'd be one thing if there was a better vehicle allowance, but even at that when I started in controls I gave up my service van and had to drive my own truck at 45-50 cents a mi. (maybe your deal is better since km's are less than mi, *but liters are less than gal and you pay more for fuel, so maybe the same*). I'd carry enough tools to do my job then on the weekends when I wanted to take the dogs and go hunting I had to unload most/all my work stuff and then reload it back Mon morning/Sun night. Got old in a hurry.
Got a company truck eventually then changed jobs a few times and now I am back to driving my own, but not hauling all too much in tools so it isn't as bad. I think one could come out ahead if they drive a fuel efficient and cheaper vehicle. Problem is I like a truck too much. I am compensated enough that it's not a huge bother, but each year in my review on what can help me to do my job better I put down a company vehicle.

[xarralu]

Definitely, but I didn't start losing hair until I started in controls...

VERY TRUE! I remember the first time I had to download a chiller plant at a up and running data center. I thought I was going to have a heart attack!

[desert guy]

VERY TRUE! I remember the first time I had to download a chiller plant at a up and running data center. I thought I was going to have a heart attack!

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

[mechdorn]

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.

[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]

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