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Absurd
01-26-2008, 05:34 PM
Just curious i hear lots about reimbursements but my company provides cars, trucks, or vans to each office location.

Scott_Lewis
01-26-2008, 06:37 PM
Our company provides a limited number of vans and cars for our use. There aren't enough of them to go around or that I particularly -want- to drive. For local service we (for the most part) use our personal vehicles. Company vehicles for m/c deliveries or out of town calls.

We get a flat 40 cents a mile.

Navy
01-26-2008, 06:57 PM
Company provides Truck/Car, tools, and a laptop to most techs. Most of the laptops are older but good to keep manuals on and stuff like that.

yourownfree
01-26-2008, 07:44 PM
company provides gas card, car, laptop, and pays us about $25 a month to keep it clean. Not to be used for personal pleasure. No riders either unless company employees

Mr Spock
01-26-2008, 07:57 PM
We use personal vehicles with a "fixed" amount(monthly payment,insurance and nonchangeable expenses) and a variable amount to cover gas, oil, tires and such. I get a 378 a month fixed and around 24-25 cents per mile variable.

blackcat4866
01-26-2008, 07:58 PM
I have a company vehicle now, but I definitely prefer driving my own. With an efficient vehicle (I've always had Ford Festivas, Escorts, Chevy Cavaliers) and a reasonable compensation, it completely covers the cost of ownership.

Cipher
01-26-2008, 09:57 PM
A half decent company car works for me.
No servicing, insurance and fuel bills to worry about.
I can take it home and use it out of hours as much as I like.

Saves me lots of $$$ each year.

I do think it would be nice to drive a car of my own sometimes, but it just does not make financial sense to buy a car I would really only use at weekends.

Here is a car that suits me, but I would need one hell of a pay increase to afford such a luxury.
(Maybe when I retire or win the lotto ah). :(

http://www.sportscarcup.com/cars/aston-martin-db9.jpg

unisys12
01-27-2008, 03:16 AM
You English have all the great cars... makes me sick!! :p

Anyway, our company provides a Ford Ranger (4cyl), gas card and pays for all maintenance. We just have to do our best to keep it clean and all that. They don't mind if you need to use it for something personal, just not driving across the state or something. We also get to use them when we go to school, which most of time is in Atlanta, GA. Me and one other have `03 models, while the other 5 or so have `98's or `99's. One manager has a `03 SportTrac and one tech has an Explorer. We purchase ours from a body shop that buys insurance totals and fixes them on the side. My `03 Ranger was totaled by a deer :rolleyes: and had 12k miles on it. I think we paid about $2500 for it and it's in great condition! FWIW, when we want to purchase a new truck, the owners call him up and he let's them look over the trucks he has before he has worked on'em.

Working for Xerox, as an agent, I drove a personal car and got 18 cents a mile working for the agency and after the agency was bought out, that went up to 22 cents with a base of $250. That was a hugh increase for me, because when I started with the agency, 5 years earlier, we got 15 cents a mile. So over 5 years, our gas allowance was only raised 3 freaking cents. It was about the same the short time I worked for the subcontractor for Dell. I made $20k a year and 27 cents a mile.

We had a co-worker take a job in Nashville, TN not long ago and he said that they got $750 a month. No gas allowance! When he told me that he was going to be working mainly outside the metro area and going as far north as Kentucky, I told him he would not be able to do it. And sure enough, even though he drove a Civic, he couldn't do it and after two months he threw in the towel. He started back at our shop this week... :eek:

Copier_Guy
01-27-2008, 06:27 AM
I do a lot of sub-contracting work along with my own clients. I usually work within a 40 mile radius of home. With my clients the compensation is worked into the price.

For sub-contracting, the rate is $0.485 per mile and all tolls.

One sub-contract client pays $20.00 flat rate for all calls whether they are 30 miles or 2 city blocks.

It works itself out.

just a tech
01-27-2008, 06:57 AM
got a company car..(2007 toyota yarus).. fill out an expense report every 2 weeks for reimbursement for gas, oil, or whatever i purchase for the job..take it home every day too.. not too bad really..

blackcat4866
01-27-2008, 06:04 PM
I really liked the look of the Yaris when researching service vehicles. But since I have to make deliveries occasionally, there was no way to cram a Copystar CS-3050 in the back. I remember fondly of the days all I had to worry about was my 5 or 6 service calls, and finding a few minutes for lunch.

just a tech
01-27-2008, 06:14 PM
I really liked the look of the Yaris when researching service vehicles. But since I have to make deliveries occasionally, there was no way to cram a Copystar CS-3050 in the back. I remember fondly of the days all I had to worry about was my 5 or 6 service calls, and finding a few minutes for lunch.

yea. know what ya mean about needing room. i'm a kinda large sized guy but i fit into the yarus prety well. as for the room, i keep the back seat folded down to maximize storage space. gas mileage descent with approx. 30-35 mpg. thought the car was was ugly at first. it's grown on me now though. as for deliveries, we use the delivery truck with liftgate..

blackcat4866
01-27-2008, 06:21 PM
I've gotten pretty fond of this 08 Scion xB. With the proper arranging it will take the CS-3050, cassette base, finisher, Document Feeder, and a tool case.

CopyXpress
02-05-2008, 12:53 AM
I drive my own, car, and get no kind of reimbursement. Am I getting shafted? How do I bring this to the owners attention without loosing my job?

blackcat4866
02-05-2008, 01:51 AM
I guess that depends on how big a territory you have, how many miles per week.

I was offered $0.12 per mile to drive my own car, and turned it down flat.
The way I approached this is, I produced reciepts demonstrating costs of ~$0.30 per mile, and gently pointed out that at 1000 miles per week that would cut into my pay to the tune of $300 per week.

Don't forget to include car payments, gas, insurance, repairs, vehicle registration, license renewals, & car washes. I would personally be very surprised if it wasn't closer to $0.40 per mile or more.

In the state of Michigan I believe the state mileage rate is $0.48 to $0.52 per mile.

Dukem
02-05-2008, 02:00 AM
You are sooo getting the big shaft! If you are a good tech and think you could not be easily replaced there is no problem. Get the other techs together and schedule a meeting. The owner knows he's getting off cheap. Tell him you'll be happy to accept the industry standard mileage rate or actual cost. Remember that whatever you don't get reimbursed for you can claim on your taxes.

kyoceradude
02-05-2008, 12:23 PM
Remember that whatever you don't get reimbursed for you can claim on your taxes.

Our company half personal cars, half company cars. Last year we only got .30 per mile, (gov said .485.) That left a difference on my mileage reimbursement of about $2900.00.:eek: At my tax rate that only got me $580.00. I'd rather have the $2900.00. This year we went up to .35 per mile, but the Gov also went up to .525. In my book, still getting screwed.:mad:

The Otrain
04-20-2008, 12:57 PM
Thanks for the info. I've always worked at a company that had fleet vehicles. Thinking of switching to Sharp Business Solutions. It will be my first job with personal vehicles. Haven't gone into details about the reimbursement package yet. That comes up this Wed. Good to get some ideas!

cobiray
04-20-2008, 02:29 PM
I've got a company vehicle now, but drove my own car for the first 3 or 4 years. I don't remember what the mileage rate was exactly, I'm thinking .31 or so. I think the guys driving their cars now are getting .41 or .42. They pay the up keep, gas, etc.

texchar555
04-20-2008, 05:16 PM
I work in the Dallas / ft. Worth area. I use my own car and get 44 cents a mile. reinbursements check is about $300.00 to $450.00 plus bonuses which is about $350.00 average.

fixthecopier
04-24-2008, 12:33 AM
I have a 2003 Toyota Tacoma, comes with credit card for gas, an account at one shop for oil and inspections, an account at another for brakes, and I get blank checks for everything else. I may get a new one to go with the new five year contract with the army.

Speedy
04-30-2008, 02:59 AM
My company pays 35 cents a mile to drive your own car, but a company vechicle will set you back $180 a month. To make matters worse you now have to drive 15,000 miles a year to qualify which is up from 12,500 miles the last fiscal year. Needless to say half of us now cannot get a company vechicle. The big suck ass is gas here in Indianapolis just went up today to $3.75 a gallon. After doing my 2007 it cost me $1200 out of my own pocket for the glory of working at my company. I didn't have enough deductions to get back the unreimburst part. Upper management says they are looking into raising the reimbursment amount but I'm sure they are in no hurry, I'm sure they done want to hurt there own commissions. May be time to call in sick with the out of gas blues!

fixthecopier
04-30-2008, 12:39 PM
Guess I got it pretty lucky, i'll try not to complain about some of the crazy and or dumbass things my shop will ask me to do today.

iMind
06-08-2008, 01:21 AM
My company personal car Clio for two people you can call it a van if you like, 40 Km free for travelling to work and back. €130 of diesel per month payed by credit card, if you don´t waste the €130 per month they refund you for not spending the amount, thats great, the worst part is your salary free of tax you will take home the sum of €1050 to drag you thru the month, hehehe that SUCKs...

the refund is made at the end of the year, and sometime you can make an extra €47 hehehehe Diesel liter is € 1,43

minolta35
06-08-2008, 11:29 PM
Company car...7/24 and no extras, always full , no payment, no limited km...But it is van...Renault Kangoo, Peugeot Partner, Fiat Doblo of course diesel angine...

Rudi
07-27-2008, 03:59 PM
i drive my own, car, and get no kind of reimbursement. Am i getting shafted? How do i bring this to the owners attention without loosing my job?
that really sucks , i bet the boss drives a state of the art 4x4
or a merc or something .

leo34staffs
07-27-2008, 06:37 PM
We get the choice of personal cars or company cars, me and another collegue stayed with company cars when the boss gave us a chance to pick our own cars. Basically its hassle free motoring in a car i otherwise would struggle to afford (20k) and with the cost fuel going up, the comany fuel card comes in handy also. The only downside is that i get a hefty taxation on the wages, but i know where i am each month with regards to what i have to spend on myself, bills etc.

JustManuals
07-28-2008, 12:59 AM
A little known fact about using your own vehicle and getting compensated for it is if you don't get the official government rate per mile, then you can take the difference of what you do get and subtract if from the gov't rate and the difference can be deducted from your taxes, I'm pretty sure you have to itemize to do this. Its always best to check with an accountant.
The other thing is, no matter how much you get in compensation, its not enough for the wear and tear you put on your own vehicle.

HtH
Paul@justmanuals.com

schooltech
07-29-2008, 07:28 PM
I've only had one company vehicle in the 5 total places I've worked at over the years. It was a 92 Volvo 240 station wagon. Decent gas mileage (not great) but it would hold a ton of parts, etc. We all had Volvo's. We just took it in for service and just drove it in to get gas. I changed the oil at my cost in my garage because I used it for school and such. But, we never HAD to pay anything for them, even at the end of the year for tax declarations.

Now I have a personal vehicle, but it's a great commuter. 95 Nissan Altima. It's 1 of 3 of my personal vehicles, so I've dedicated it strictly for work. I get a fixed rate per month that just went up, whether I drive anywhere or not. Over the summer I'm hardly going anywhere. When school starts up, I will fill it up about once per week, and I do all of my own maintenance. It's paid for and insurance is cheap. I turn in nothing and account to no one for what/where I go.

DarthAlbin
08-10-2008, 06:14 PM
I'm very fortunate.

My employer provides car (with personal use), tools/training, newer laptop, and BlackBerry.

DSallee
08-11-2008, 04:41 AM
We get a company car (I drive an 08 Aveo HB) .... 10 @ 08 Aveo's, 6 @ 94 Rangers (what I started in 2 yrs ago) and we just purchased 2 09 HHR's :) ....

We also get gas card, car wash card, all car service paid, car insurance paid, Laptop, Blackberry, uniforms, trainings and tools supplied. We can use our vehicles for (some) personal use... they will and do track us (our cars have GPS tracking so they know exactly where we are at at all times... ) We get to take our cars home every night even over weekends and vacations...

Oh and we also have Pike Passes paid for the Will Rogers Turnpike (Toll road)...

They take care of us pretty good :)

Sales, parts and office personnel have to use their own vehicles though...lol

Dave

Moocher
10-19-2008, 03:34 PM
Some of you guys a re getting well shafted.

We have company fleet cars (no older than 3 years or 100k miles), (Techs get focus estates, TDCI)
Company fuel card, fully insured, all maintenance and repairs, hire cars when in garage.
All tools
Shirts
Mobile phone (PDA)
Manufacturer training
Notebook soon
We can also get free tickets to racing venues as we have an arm of the company involved in the industry, sometimes you can get VIP box!

We can opt out of the government fuel tax and pay for private mileage (I do that as it saves me about £20 a month)

We can also opt out of company car and provide our own (interest free loan to buy car). Company re-emburse for servicing and pay for mileage that is not private, the guys that do this say thats it is at least the same or cheaper than company car.

The best thing about this company is that if you have a bad problem you can't get to the bottom of you just phone supevisor or service manager to get verbal assistance or eventually supervisor will come to machine with or without you and sort it out, and there's no comeback or negative view taken. They would rather get the m/c fixed and running for customer than score points against techs.

OtherTech
10-19-2008, 04:54 PM
We have just been forced to get our own vehicles, get $525 per month if newer than 5 years or 435 if older (taxed , so you don't see it all till tax return filed). Plus about 20 cents per kilometer for gas. Company reimburses for parking.Canada

DCR
10-20-2008, 07:49 PM
We get,

Brand new car every 3 years or 70k iirc. (Girlfriend/Wife/Husband etc can use the car too)
I've got a Megane sport tourer dynamique with sat nav, cd changer, cruise, sports seats, etc.
Fuel/Oil Card,
Toll Tag,
Full tool set, Snap on may I add.
Decent spec laptop, new one every 3 years,
Hard drive with most service manuals, (we support ALL manufacurers)
PDA/Phone with push e-mail, can order parts/cleaning stuff on it too,
All Manufacturer training,
Unlimited ordering of air dusters, foam cleaner, rags, etc.
Excellent salary and really easy to get bonus's, plus put a lead in for a sale (This isnt pushed, some people don't do them) and you get commision too.
All Parking paid for,
Best hotel in the area provided for all training courses with all food and drink paid for.
All parts delivered to a drop point in your area with discretion to use a next day delivery.

Can't complain really, love the job and company

Only negative thing for some people is we have to wear a suit and tie, but I like dressing that way.

Nieu
11-26-2008, 06:12 AM
I used to work for Nashua and had to use my own car.Thought it was a good idea at the time, but we got screwed.I now work for Panasonic and have a company pickup.Much better.No more high milige cars for me!!!!!!!!!!:)

CopierTechofOmens
01-05-2009, 06:11 PM
Company pays all work related travel expenses. I just shell out 30c/mile personal use, everything included.

DallasTech
03-13-2009, 09:57 PM
We get .48 cents a mile and tolls are reimbursed.

Sounds like the techs across the big pond have it a little better.

Here is my car on it's weekend warrior setup:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/19/1444077/tsxproof3.jpg

alex@wocltd.com
05-04-2009, 06:45 PM
hi- I get car allowance - by FAR the most tax efficient in the u.k - my last company car was an Audi A4 and was massively shafted by the tax man

last car was the seat cupra r(wife has that now)
don't think was availble outside the U.k

car at present mazda6 mps -in the U.s.a known as Mazdaspeed6

Jonesy-5150
05-26-2009, 05:37 PM
I'm glad this subject is being covered. My company is throwing around the idea of company vehicles.
what are some the terms you guys have with your company on this?
Do they charge you back communiting miles from your house to the first call?
Do you pay a fee back to the company for using their company vehicle?
Does your company register the vehicle in your name?
These are just some of the things that have been coming to us through the rumour mill. I'm trying to get a feel for what other companies are doing.

TheOwl
06-03-2009, 07:34 AM
1484

This is my baby. I get an allowance for the ute, plus fuel. The rest gets written off at tax time.

serviceman
07-01-2009, 01:15 PM
We drive our own personal vehicles and we JUST got our mileage bumped to .25 per mile. That is supposed to include wear and tear on the car, oil, tires and gas....not enough in my opinion but the owner thinks this is VERY generous.

schooltech
07-01-2009, 04:15 PM
FWIW, I received .25 per mile 11 years ago when I first started in this business.

Unless you get a ton of other perks, like a free Costco card, lunches paid, tons of time off, and stuff like that, you're getting screwed with mileage (even with those types of perks you're still getting the raw end of that deal).

The real problem with mileage is when you work in an area with a lot of traffic and you travel 20 miles in one day, yet it's really like 40 or so miles because of all of the stop/starts/idling and other waste you're dealing with. Distance driving is the best for that, but even at .25 per mile, it's tough to get a check to truly justify what you're doing for the company.

I get a monthly flat rate, which is extremely generous, and I get it whether I drive or not. In the summer, it's really slow, but throughout the year it picks up a bit. My point is that when a place really looks out for you, they don't try to nickel-and-dime you to death.

My situation is different, but they still want to make sure I'm taken care of, so I don't get frustrated and want to get the hell out. :D

mo0651
07-02-2009, 03:15 PM
Hellooooooo! Tell me if your getting screwed. IRS allows .55 cents/ mile.:eek:

TkPW
07-08-2009, 11:51 PM
I'm pretty happy with my company car. I do a lot of car shows with it on the weekends.:D

JasonW
07-21-2009, 03:41 PM
.55 cents a mile. Anyone under .40 a mile is crazy when you account for insurance, maintenance, totally dirtying your car inside and out, and ever-rising gas prices! Plus I get a $40 cell phone allowance. Stand up for yourselves if it truly is a business expense!!

driving a 2000 ford exploder, about to die... I work for a really small company so they rely on me being able to fit copiers.

Say you drive 1000 miles a month, in five years you have made $24000 @ .40 cents a mile. Half of that was spent in gas, another two thousand on maintenance, another 7000 on covering your own insurance. And you are losing about 8,000+ out of your pocket for the depreciated resale price on your car when you sell it.

Bottom line, you should never ever spend your money on the company. My good friend is paying $850 a month for his car because he owed 12,000 still when he needed a new car!!

Stirton.M
01-24-2010, 05:14 AM
In KM Calgary, we all use personal vehicles. We get 600/month car expenses. Covers insurance and car payment with sometimes enough left over for maintenance. Depends mostly on the individual and what their situation is with insurance and cost of car payments. The guys who do out of town work get .25 per km (that is about 40c/mile) but no allowance. If I do any out of town calls, anything that will accrue more than 60Km round trip, I get 15 cents per km. And of course, I can claim expenses at the end of the year at tax time.

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