Thanks for that but i'm leaving the Fork Lift injury to take on a bigger challenge and very much looking forward to it. Be Well.

Stan,
Just a few comments:
1. The devil you know is quit often better than the one you don't know. I & I don't know anyone that interviewed a new prospective company where the new company openly mentioned their short comings. They seem to paint a "bed o roses" & roll out the red carpet. On day one at the new job they lift the carpet & you see were the dirt was hidden. There is no Utopia! Even if your the King!
2. In an unrelated industry (commercial electrical work) my son is a journeymen electrician (& heaven forbid a Mason which I encouraged him to do). His company has been giving him 40 hours a week work steady for the last year. They bid jobs based on a no over time basis & if an employee turns in overtime pay without approval from one of the owners (3 of them) they are subject to dismissal as OT can affect the profitability of the job. On occasion he will work OT but not often. Maybe the same applies at your company when a service quote is issued to your companies customers.
Just food for thought.

Hello. Im in the very same position. Some of my compratiots say thats its not quite legal but I imagine they would have made sure first, from a legal standpoint. I know Barloworld do not do this. Out the door at 8am and in @ 16.30, core day. I dont agree with it which is why i'm leaving my company in the VERY near future. Be safe out there.

have some problems and sleep expera.

proshadetree,
No doubt you have your act together and facts from a practical viewpoint, to prove your value & contributions to your company and yourself & family. I guess that's how a "shadetree" becomes a "Professional" - just a friendly play on your screen name.
Don't stop!

proshadetree, it sounds to me like you work for the rare breed of management in the forklift industry that can not only count high enough to see the whole profit picture, but that also has the authority and gravitas to keep the bean counters from mucking up the works.

I had a reply my company likes me charging for the trip for extra tools. Nope most of my lifts are under guaranteed maintenance. Customer only pays set amount a month. My tools are all mine down to the air hose. The laptop I carry is mine with all programing on it. To travel home costs my employer. I am closer to the customers than they are. My last two customers are a direct result of employees getting laid off at one job and obtaining a new one and recommending me. My Employee Cost Analysis is consistently high. My nonchargeable is consistently low. I have spent hours on end my time and cost collecting information that has benefited my company so when the 1/2 hour rule passed they backed down. My tools are back in the van. My company gets my lunch everyday as I normally do not take it. To raise profit improve you low productive people and praise the ones who make you money. Always worked for me.

from your mouth to God's ears johnr j. if an employer cant make a profit from your labor do them a favor and go to work for the competition.
"in a land without profit the well soon runs dry"

Disgruntled folks, no matter the job responsibility have a tendency to believe in the philosophy that "Life is not fair when you actually have to perform productive work for the time you are paid for."

Duodulux is also right about lift tech's not having to fix their mistakes on their own time.....like most automobile mechanics do!
Friends are very envious when they see us with a company truck, free gas. It's a big edge over them. My employer pays for training each year, sending some of us a thousand miles by plane and paying for all food and lodging and travel.
Now that the world economy is still struggling, and sales are down, we still have disgruntled techs who complain.
Our manager's asked all techs to bill the 40 hrs they are paid for, even close to 40 will do! Some have quit, others let go because they did'nt even get 60% efficiency. They found other jobs where they can "make up hours". But customers are getting wise to all the tricks some tech's pulling. Work orders have to be signed by managers at site with time stamped on arrival and departure. Also, a flat rate fee for job procedures is in place. With GPS added, only the best tech's will survive. Giving a bit of time to your employer will come a lot easier when you see all your mates lose their jobs during this tough economic global recession.

I kinda agree with Duodulux

Problem is if employers were able to sack or sue Employees for misrepresentation on CV's or interviews then we probably would have nobody left in the workplace.

Been road tech for 12 years. Have been through many changes in travel time last company we got 1/2 hr every day home and then got a flat rate which was ok. Now have a pretty good deal we figure the distance to shop from home and draw a travel circle. Have to be out of circle by start time and get paid when hit. Works well for me being I live 8.2 miles from shop, s u c k s for the guy who lives 30 miles away. ( hope dispatch likes you)

When I applied at this previous company I was a maintenance machinist. I rebuilt engine lathes, mills, auto feed band saws, conveyors, etc., What little I knew about IC forklifts was that I could do more damage than good (but kept on trying til I couldn't fix it anymore). I knew absolutely nothing about electric forklifts (which was the primary bread and butter there). After acing the mech aptitude test I failed the electric apptitue test utterably. They gave me a second interview in which the lead tech doing the interview walked in and set a brown bag on the table. He proceeded to pull out parts. I was able to name off (and he even learned a couple of things) the name and use of each mechanical part. When he pulled out SCRs, transitors, gated SCRs, etc., my only responses were "another electrical thinga-majiger". I was then hired as I don't blow smoke and I know what I don't know....no guesses and I can be trained". I was then taken out to the shop area and shown an EZ-Reach with all the circuit boards exposed. I kept sending out resumes for weeks after expecting to get the boot anytime. They stuck with me and I stuck with them even after most of the other techs that were working there when I hired on had moved to other companies. In 11 years I never actively looked for other employment and turned down alot of offers. But as I was told during a meeting, "If you don't like all the changes then you know where the door is". And it took me about 6 months to find it afterwards.

Again it's a two way street. I can't remember that I ever promised anything to any employee that I didn't follow through on and I certainly have never taken anything away from anyone.
As an employer one thing that is remarkable to me is that if every resume or every potential employee being interviewed is correct about how good they are- Wow would we have all unbelievable successful companies. To me, that is their upfront promise to a company of what they will bring to the table. Unfortunately, what most bring is not what was reflected in their resume or the interview.
The other amazing thing to me is this. Can you imagine if the person being interviewed had the same attitude and respect 3 or 4 years after they were hired as they did in the interview? What I want to know is what changed?

Oh, I have no real problem with it, duodeluxe. As I said, I can see both sides of the coin. My only problem with it was if it was part of your "sign on package" like insurance, 401K, mandatory overtime/on call, etc., and then one day some bean counter yanks the parts the company/owner can make more money off of??? But, atleast I had a job when so many others didn't...atleast until I found a better one.

Why is it a big deal if the company collects some travel time in return for your huge benefit? Do you pay back your company when you mess up a job and they have to pay to fix your mistake? I didn't think so.
What is so bad about a two way street anyway?

The travel fees is covered under trip charge or service call fee which is generally normal one hour labor rate (more if not local). Cost of labor, insuranse, gas, etc., is covered under the $87 to $110/ hour labor rate charged locally. And yes, I know how much all that costs.

Are you peoples taking in to concideration the cost of gas, insurance, all the costs of keeping the van running, like tires and service, deprecation of the vehicle (big one), registration fees, paying the tech his hourly rate while driving, etc. ?
Isn't the travel fee supposed to cover all that stuff too?
What I'm getting at is, at least with my company, there is no company profits from travel fees charged, it more or less just covers the cost of buying and operating the truck.

I agree, Rick. I had 2 small accounts less than five minutes from the house. I used to set up any repairs for first thing in the morning or on the way home. Problem is I was also given a "zone" of customers that were atleast an hour away and my primary account in that "zone" I would spend 3-3.5 weeks of every month at (which is my current employer). Ofcourse, now that I'm not field service anymore I not only don't get paid to travel but I have to pay for gas, insurance, vehicle maintenance, etc., Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

this is the neverending song. a long time ago an accountant showed me the tax code and it is ambiguous enough that if your company chose to they could do things in a manner that would require you to file your "free vehicle and gas" on your income tax. just because you may go directly to a jobsite does not exempt you from all the times you didn't. i was a tech for 30 years and i always thought it was a fair trade to get a free ride to and from work for the cost of travel time. however.....you must be paid when you are on a customer location billing time and that is very difficult issue to resolve. my solution was to leave home a little late on those days when my first stop was close to home and consider the extra time with my wife and my coffee cup an acceptable trade off. the company gets a few minutes of billable time for free and i get an extra cup of coffee.