****,Everybody has to commute to work, Your wife,your brother, etc. charging your customer or company travel time when you enter the service vehicle is just a ploy to collect more time then your willing to put into it, Be a honest man and put a little of extra effort in to keep cost down while satisfieng your customer. I ve been a tech for years and service manager, now i own my own business, All i have to say is employees who scrape and try to collect every 1/2 hour or more are desperate and only looking out for themselves , consider the whole pitchure, Its your job, they know when your over charging, do it the American way

i've been road service tech since 1992 for various companies and in michigan it's been the same eat 1/2 hour to and from and your job van sits in your driveway....a nice perk considering your portable toolbox sits right there when you need it.....and no travel to the shop for a tool on the weeknight or weekend...think about that aspect...also being that the truck is at home the money made for after hours calls are good cash for someone who can take them extra cash the shop mechanic won't get on a "callout because there stationed in the shop.....this position has saved me a ton of cash not driving a personal vehicle which i did for 3 years.......

I have been on the road for about 30 years in various trades. One of my requirements for starting a new job is do I take the truck home! Some companies give no travel time they view the use of the company truck as a perk. I can accept that for the savings on wear & tear on my personal vehicle! I have a 10 year old truck with less than 75,000 miles on it & currently drive it less than 5,000 miles a year I couldn't do that if I had to drive it to work! The company truck has saved me a fortune!
At my current job we lose a 1/2 hour coming & going which I think is fair & no one should complain about it (be realistic here how long would it take you to get to any job in your own vehicle) yes road techs do provide service above & beyond with call outs & customer service, but I for one would not give it up I love being on the road. But start making me drive 1 to 2 hours without pay & I'll hit the highway there is always another job out there. Bottom line.. are you happy & can you pay your bills! If you answer yes to both then don't ***!

road service for 25 yrs. our company wants this too but most of the time we lose our lunch the company thinks we get a break driving too the customer, i do not think its legal in new york. be side that our company charges the customer from A to B so we should get payed too,i think my/your boss should drive the truck for a couple days, he will gladly give it back with a raise.

road service for 25 yrs. our company wants this too but most of the time we lose our lunch the company thinks we get a break driving too the customer, i do not think its legal in new york. be side that our company charges the customer from A to B so we should get payed too,i think my/your boss should drive the truck for a couple days, he will gladly give it back with a raise.

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.