"this has created poor response times and poor morale.But i think we are going to have to put up with it for the near future,"

Herald, poor response times and moral issues that are allowed to filter down to the customer will not be tolerated by the customer and he will move elsewhere.

As for getting paid to travel, if you live 30 minutes from the depot and your normal start time is 08:00hrs, then your "unpaid" start time each morning is 07:30. Why should anybody expect to get paid for traveling to and from work? - Simples,

I worked in London for a while and had to commute each day from Coventry it was a 3 hour journey some days, did i get paid whilst traveling?