Please give your view on this I recently heard of a company wanting its field service guys to give the company the first hour of each day like they would travel to depot or site.It was finally resolved so they give quarter of an hour morning and night.
My personal view is if he is a field engineer/tech he starts work as soon as he gets in the van.
Whats your views?
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Here in Canada the gov't can nail you with a company vehicle, so we work everyday like we are at a shop, ie our hours are 730-4, our vans are our personal vehicles, when you come in its on your own time untill 730, unless you start the job earlier, I leave at 630, not paid, start at 730, paid, end at 400 get home at 500, the hour after 400 not paid, unless I have to travel to the customer, ie 3hour drive from my house, it would be paid because of the service call rates
Mike_n, are you no longer in the forklift business?
whadcha doing these days?
Andy, I totally agree, and that's why I already got out.
I even had one company try to get the mechanics to service/repair the vans on our own time. Their logic being that the van was such a great benifit, that we really owed them for letting us drive them.
If the company makes you leave the vans at the shop overnight, just make sure you pull your tools out every afternoon, and then they can pay you to put them back in every morning. I've been through this as well. The company gave in about 2 days later.
Sure, taking the van home saves gas, but it is also a bonus to the employer, as they can call you out quicker and easier. As a road-tech, you are also required to know/do a lot more than a shop guy. Do you get payed more? No, the employer gives you the van to drive home, as a compensation.
That works well, until the employer forgets.
We lose half an hour travel per day. About the same as it would take me to travel to a workshop based job locally, so I don't mind that. I wouldn't be happy if that were changed in the company's favour though, and if I only got paid when I got to site I would find another job. Most of my customers are an hour and a quarter's drive, and a couple are two and a half! There seems to be a gradual erosion of working conditions throughout the industry, whilst you are expected to do more and more.
With my company, no matter if the vans are at the shop, or in my driveway, as long as the doors are locked and the security system is set, all my tools, and parts are covered under the companies insurance. Not to say the company wouldnt try to fight and make my homeowners insurance pay for it, since they are pretty cheap that way. But like was said earlier, having that van is a huge benefit for me, not just for the company. So I don't mind giving up that 1/2 hour first thing in the morning, and at night. That just means always get gas on the way home (and pump very slowly, and wash all your windows too) to help absorb some of that 30 minutes.....;-)
I would have to agree with Proshade, that one of the reasons to allow a tech to take the van home is that when it is at the tech's house, the tools usually are not covered by the company's insurance, but are usually covered by the home owner's insurance. I doubt that to be _the_ MAIN reason, but it is one more factor. I would bet the overall main reason is just that if you have to go to the shop to start your day, you are already about a 1/2 hour behind the guy that just starts driving to the job instead of the shop. And it's the same at the end of the day. it's just more effective.
Ive been a shop mech.Loved it heat it winter ,cool in summer ,no hot parking lots, no pissy customers.A road tech has to be a pr man ,a supervisor and a repairman all in one.When an office flunky over bills or double bills,Both has happened,Yea I know it never happens there.My state must be the only one, every dealer and independent here has done this.A road mech has to deal with it.He ,not the sales or Pr or anyone but him, is the face of the company.Now back to subject.I wont drive 1.5 hrs to work a job, but my company wants me that far away.Now if my time started at the customer they could take this van and shove it. I always thought the biggest reason they didnt want vans at the shop was one good break in and they would be out of business for days till the mechanic, technician , engineer, tobie got new tools. Just a thought I own my truck that I have to pay insurance on Reguardless if I have a company van or not so cut that out of your 8000
Maven i think you've done too much thinking.The van is part of the job,when you are an outside engineer/tech thats where you carry out most of your work.So,you use the van thats provided by your employer.In the U.K private use is now charged by the mile to the employees,hence why most companies use tracker systems to monitor private mileage.The tax man no longer regards travelling to your first job and travelling home as private use (benefit in kind).All companies i know let lads take the vans home because
A:Its easier to travel to your first job,instead of going to the depot first.
B:To cover some out of hours calls.Its been known for lads to collect parts of other vans instead of waking up the gaffer to let them into the stores.
Some firms are now telling the employees that travel time to first and from last jobs will be docked,why because it saves them more money from nothing.Who suffers ? the same employees who you expect to make you money out in the field.
Maven said;
So Mechanics morphed from mechanics to "Technicians" to "Engineers"...
but he missed the latest one; from mechanics to "Technicians" to "Engineers" to "Redundant"....
;-(
So Mechanics morphed from mechanics to "Technicians" to "Engineers"... Pretty laughable... Lets remember, most mechanics have their uniforms paid for, a service van to travel back and forth to work in with paid gas AND insurance. Calculated over a year you are looking at an $8000.00 benefit to the mechanic, whether they want to aknowledge that or not is another arguement. I have always believed that the mechanic is paid the minute he arrives at his first job, just like everyone else at the company. Look at the shop mechanics, they get the paid when they arrives at the shop, AND he pays he pays his own gas and insurance.
If a company runs travel and fuel charges on every work order,then in my thinking he should be paid from the time he starts his truck.Company is profiting so the should its workers.If Im not productive IE just chatting a a customer no selling or working Im not billing.Either way is fine by me if you can live with it good if not look for something new.But in your search remember all company's have some hinky thing thats going to tick someone off,The grass isnt always greener.
Given the cost of fuel, insurence premiums and wear and tear on my vehicle I have no problem giving the company a half hour of my time to drive to the customer in the morning as if I had to drive to the shop it would take me half an hour anyways. It just more efficient way of doing business from a personal view and more money in my wallet.
The company that I'm currently working for has the Techs give up a half hour both in the morning and evening, unless the drive is less than a half hour, then you just clock out when you leave or arrive at the customer. By not making the techs show up to pick up their vans, we're able to cover a 200 mile radius out of one central hub...all we do is hire people all across the state and give them a van filled with parts to work with. This way we don't need a branch in every city and near every industrial park. Just one main hub.
The company that I worked for made the 3 road service techs report to the main shop at 8 am, just like the shop mechanics. Then we would head out from there. First stop was the diner, we parked around back ;)
chris, would you be happy to fill the van with your own money to travel to site? not many jobs pay your fuel travelling to work? i don't understand your logic mate!
Last 4 companies I was with had field tech's give the first half hour morning and evening in exchange for driving vans home etc. The way they justified was if you didn't drive the company vehicle home you'd have to come there first to report to work. Not sure how I felt but I am not there anymore either.
"Good information from customer to service dispatch is always beneficial".
heck " Good information " is always beneficial, no matter where it comes from.
To be painfully honest, I almost only use the info I get from the dispatcher as humor to occupy my mind while waiting at traffic lights.
I hope your techs keep their mind on driving rather than thinking about the future while driving (living in the the present), and have played the kids game that they tell a secret phrase to one person and that person sends it on, around the room, and after about 20 people the phrase is told to the room to see how it changed. that is about like the info we get from the dispatcher. the operator told his supervisor, who told the manager, who told the accounting department, who told the secretary, who called the dispatcher, who told you, and only the 2 people at the end (the operator and the tech) even know what the front or rear of the forklift are.
In my [not so] humble opinion, what the dispatcher has to say about what the problems are, is an assumption that their is some reality connected. heck, they often don't even get the correct unit number, much less the correct model and serial numbers, and that is not the dispatchers fault.
Food for thought here folks, I had a tech tell me he was thinking of the repairs & problems on the way to his service call. Good information from customer to service dispatch is always beneficial.
i know of a company that has trackers fitted they are checking the engineers starting times and pulling them up if they are 5mins late starting in a morning.But say they are not checking finishing times this may be because most engineers get home after there finishing time and are not booking the overtime,they are told it is swings and rounder bouts but looks to be all swings.
there have been at least one other thread here on forkliftaction discussing this same question.
My understanding of it (here in the USA), if you are paid for the commute to and from work, and use a vehicle provided by your employer, then that use is a taxable benefit, and you have to keep considerable records to prove you were taxed for the portion of value of that vehicle and fuel used to commute. (Federal income tax)
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