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)

You should get paid from the moment you turn your key.If they wanted to get the 1/2 hour for free maybe all of the vans should be parked up at the depot and you make your own way there.If this happens who covers callouts?
Its just a money saving exercise,pity the management at the company you refer to have not taken such steps themselves

its a big money maker for companies not to pay you to drive to the customer....cause its billed out to them, and they have no expense to get you there....sounds bad to do it, but if you think about it.... Not too many jobs actually pay you to drive to work. If you worked at any retail or hourly job, you wouldnt get paid to drive there... Not saying i agree with it, but thats the logic.

In the U.S. it varies from state to state because of different labor laws. Most states if you go by the letter of the law the tech is supossed to start getting paid the minute his but hits the seat in the morning and when he gets out in the evening.

Common practice on the other hand is an agreement is made with the tech that they give up the average amount of time it would take to drive from their house to the shop and the same on the way home. The reason being, if the employer wanted to, they would just leave the vans at the shop and make the techs drive their personal vehicle back and forth to the shop. Then pick up and drop off the van at the shop every morning and evening.

There are many industries in my area like plumbers, air conditioning repair, cable television techs in my area that have to pick up their vans in the morning, but all of the lift truck companies in my area allow the techs to take the vans home.

The technician should be paid the minute they leave there home as long as they are headed to the customer to start work or coming to the office for parts to do repairs. All this time should be billed to the customer. Now with the economy the way it is each company I'm sure is trying to find ways to reduce the cost of doing business. The tech here are paid for the time they can bill the customer. No customer bill no pay. When there is plenty of work to be done a tech should be able to bill 9 to 10 hours in an 8 hour workday. Right now I am happy if all the techs have enough work to keep them busy.