Some here have stated that it benefits them to bring the van home instead of driving their own vehicle. In some ways it does, low mileage on personal vehicle and tools at home. Now would you have taken your present job if you didn't get to take the van home and the office was 50 - 100 miles away? I doubt it. Who really benefits from this is the employer they are able to widen their service area and increase their profits and have a safe place to park the van ( You wouldn't keep your tools in a van in a unsecured area would you?) without any added expense to them.

Here is something to consider. Your driving the company van on the 30 minute no pay time. You get in a accident and have injuries. What insurance is covering you? Not workman's comp. your not on the clock. Not the auto insurance because you can't use the company van for personal use and since your not on the clock it is considered personal use per federal laws. It comes down to your personal medical insurance with your deductable. Also could your employer sue you for using the van for personal use and getting in a accident? Most likely for lost revenues from the van being out of service.
Ask around to some of the other service industries and see if they get payed for travel time. Most of them do get paid. If the customer is getting billed for the time the tech is getting paid.

I think there is some kind of service charge or zone charge. However, I don't mind that they get paid and I don't. I get a free vehicle, free gas, no boss, no strict schedule, no time clock, great pay, decent benefits, free cell phone, all the OT I can muster, etc., etc. This is probably one of the best jobs out there for a non-degree carrying person.

RESPOSE TO batman: Does your company charge the customer a "Trip Charge" or mileage? --- just curious

I do not get paid to get to any job. My company does not charge any travel. However, I do not find it hard at all to cover my day from when I leave my house until I get home. I don't let the office do my quotes, I do them myself and always add a little time in there for my driving. Unethical? I wake up in the morning, get dirty during the day for one reason, repair customer forklifts. Someone is going to pay me. My customers never complain because I do a good job and don't have callbacks. Good techs are hard to find and customers really appreciate them.
As far as GPS goes. I hear rumors that my company is going to install GPS on the service vans. I will not do anything different. If anything is said to me, there are loads of jobs out there for good techs, I'm not real worried about it.

everywhere I've been we did 30 in the am 30 in the pm. With dsh our techs cover large areas and we pay hotels etc so we don't have that luxury. The other option is have the guys return the vans every nite and pay them from when they pick it up until turning it in...what a pain.

Seen that done.Our company supplies cell phone but their reason was that you could leave it a a customers and do whatever.Well you can leave a van there to.

Unless you are the 9 dollar an hour just change oil tech you can defeat the gps.Has been proven.Truckers do it all the time.My company has gps they dont gripe over a trip to the java house or a extra long lunch.Just not every day they did not see a dollar increase over said units.They also found most techs when on the road skip lunch and finish job at hand.We have had tech that cut the clock but the paper work will show that no matter how slick you think you are.2 to 3 calls to same customer over same problem 1hr to do same job that took 3.And yes if I get my pic on front page of local paper for dui or bank robery I will be fired even if it is on a saterday when I am not at work.If your company is cutting you on travel time they will cut you somewhere else.Find a new job and let the jiffy lube crew have yours.We are trained service men and jobs are not that hard to find.

etharp; I agree, however you need to qualify your statement with :"assuming that you are dealing with an honest person".
My guess is that dealerships are installing GPS because some employees have been less than honest. My assumption is always that any employee is honest unitil they show me otherwise and a unfotunately fair amount have.

One of their standings is that it is a standard in the industry. That I don't know because I get paid from the time I get in my van until I get home so either we are the execption or we are following the laws concerning this. I don't think the Feds would be able to get any money from the techs because they are not able to use the vans for personal use. What you are trying to say is that if I get in a accident with my personal vehicle my place of employment should be able to disipline me? It may raise their insuance rates some but it will also raise mine also. Once you are in the company vehicle with all of it's markings you now represent that company and all of it's rules and regulations. This company has installed GPS on the vans and have questioned techs about how come the van moved when in the geo fence area after work hours and why the tech's time cards don't match GPS times. Connecticut is a right to work state.

I was just wondering how much $$$ the dealership is making on the rare occasion that a road tech uses the company van and fuel for personal business or when they aren't where they are supposed to be or when their first stop in the morning is the coffee shop or when they drive 10 miles out of the way to go to their favorite restaurant for lunch.
I know of 2 dealerships that installed GPS; one on their vans and the other on their delivery truck. In one case a third of the road techs either quit or were fired and in the other case they ended up firing their driver, selling the delivery truck and hiring out the deliveries because it was cheaper to hire it out than it was to do it in house. Sad commentary......
It's a two way street as long as both parties are honest and not trying to take advantage of the other.

From talking to some of the Techs there it was started by one of their techs to the labor board. Their standing on this is that the company benifits from them taking the vans home by being closer to the customers and for emergency calls. Also the customer is getting charged for their time to travel to the customer and they don't get payed for it. What if they got in a accident or road rage during that first or last 1/2 hour of the day could they get fired or disiplined for their actions even thou they are not getting payed. Years ago another company had the techs pick up and drop off the vans every day until they found out that the billing dropped down to around 4 hours a day.

Update: The company decided it will take it's chances before a judge it is going to court.

Another point was made by a fellow "ROADIE" today, He made an interesting comment about what we have been discussing: What "if" we have an accident in our Co. van during the first or last 30 mins of unpaid or "off" the clock time, injuries are sustained that keep you out of work say 7 to days-- Where would be ? Workers Comp---Co. health Ins--Co. vehicle Ins--part of all three? Not to beat this subject into the ground, But it is a valid concern. Can anyone shed any light on this?

I would agree with etharp. I had a company service van and was paid once I was at the job. I moved in to a non technician position and was required to claim personal mileage and pay for the miles. If I did not claim mileage it was considered a taxable benefit.

You could be required to leave your van at the shop and drive your personal vehicle to and from work which would be much more expensive for both employee and employer.

i get paid door to door but i,m home based with a dedicated area. some site based engineers have different deals. workshop based engineers get paid when they clock on till when they clock out