Travel, how far is too far?

[Donnie]

How far are we all going for a days work? I’m a commercial cutter so it’s a bit different from tree surgery and it kind of comes with the job, travelling. 
 

That being said how far would you say is too far? The sole company I cut for is taking on more and more work up north and it means, like today I’m doing 110 miles to site and then 110 back with 8 hours on the saw. Which I only really do 6 as it ends up a 15 hour day in total if you do/hitting rush hour traffic on way home. 
 

 

 

[josharb87]

Just charge for your travel time, all of it or over 1/2hour or similar 

 

no one honestly expects people to travel for free, but plenty are happy, like your guy, that you’re not charging 

[patrickgalloway3]

Did Cumbria to Winchester for a railway shift once, it got cancelled when we arrived. 5 hours each way if memory serves. Regularly used to do around 2 hours but more locally based now. I was mainly railway climbing with some power lines.

[swinny]

4 hours ago, Donnie said:

How far are we all going for a days work? I’m a commercial cutter so it’s a bit different from tree surgery and it kind of comes with the job, travelling. 
 

That being said how far would you say is too far? The sole company I cut for is taking on more and more work up north and it means, like today I’m doing 110 miles to site and then 110 back with 8 hours on the saw. Which I only really do 6 as it ends up a 15 hour day in total if you do/hitting rush hour traffic on way home. 
 

 

 

**************** that for a game of soldiers !

 

Obviously different but I'm fortunate to o ly work within 20 miles of my Base. Usually 5-12 miles away most time. That's domestic arb though .

 

Once of a day contract climbing I've been allover but even then maybe 60 miles away and 60 miles back and that wore thin after a while

[Mick Dempsey]

In the early days over here, I’d sometimes go up to 2 hours for a one-off job priced on photos.

Trouble is I would struggle to do any the the next day I was so knackered.

Your day seems unsustainable to me.

 

 

[Dan Maynard]

Do you do that several days in a row, or broken up with nearer jobs? In the long term, fatigue would be my fear.

 

Most of my tree work is within 10 miles of home, but working in automation I've had customers in Southampton and Portsmouth, and Aberdeen and Jedburgh.

 

As a young thing I used to do the long drive there and back in a day, but about 10 years ago while doing an install in Leicester I hit the back of a lorry on the way home. Luckily it was coming in to roadworks so only 40mph, but stopped by the M1 you think about how bad it could have been, so I've changed my attitude to driving. Now if it's 2 hours away then I'm in a hotel the night before, its easier to decide this as it's my company and the day rate's higher.

 

The other thing I think to bear in mind is that driving to site is a work activity in the eyes of HSE, as they say on the website driving can be the most dangerous part of the day. You are self employed so easy to fall into the trap of working in a way that no employer could reasonably expect you to.

[Steven P]

We're office based so might be softer but driving hours are seen as a part of the working day (8 hour day, 2 hours drive there 2 back leaves 4 for work, 8 hours working +2 +2 driving = 12 hour day). Similarly they consider early starts too - some stats out there for road accidents are more common at the early start rather than end of the day. Pretty much they push us to public transport (no driving) or an overnight stay if the travel is more than an hour each way.

 

OP - 110 mile I'd be estimating 2 1/2 hours each way, plus half hour break (recommendation a driving break every 100miles / 2 hours) on decent roads, back roads (40-ish) could be 3 hours. If the 110 miles wasn't 90 on motorways I'd be considering the total working day, perhaps an overnighter and combining 2 jobs in the area if they are lucky to pick and choose.

 

 

A lot of us are 'older' now and younger days driving wasn't seen as much as an avoidable risk so am sure we all have stories to tell, mine tend to be cross Pennine for a 9:30 Cumbria start wacky races (before A66 was upgraded a lot - race past the lorries on the half mile stretches of dualled road and hope you don't get your front taken off by the guy pushing it a little bit more), and a round trip Edinburgh to Birmingham for 10:00 start and then back to Penrith to climb there the next day.

Edited August 26 by Steven P

[GarethM]

We've all been there in our yoof, in my 20s I was a mobile engineering type covering the whole of the UK excluding London/South East.

 

1000s miles a week wasn't unusual, so 12+ hour days with two 3 hour jobs per day with an hour's drive in-between, excluding emergency weekend call outs to the south east repairing some else's bodged jobs.

 

Mileage got so bad they couldn't insure the lease van and I ended up in a hatchback, plus side I was paid milage whilst running LPG.

 

These days anything more than 40 miles away and the next day I'll pay the price physically and be rewarded with a cracking headache.

 

Plus I think today's roads are worse, I remember doing the snake pass almost every day and at cough cough speed.

 

You can't even do the 40 let alone the 60+ of the past.

Edited August 26 by GarethM

[Donnie]

This has a lot of long replies that my tired brain cannot understand right now but on the long drive home today I calculated my hourly rate after expenses (not including running costs and maintenance costs if you know what I mean, wear and tear etc). 
 

 

260 top line for the day.

8.5 hours on the saw. 

5 hours driving. 13.5 total. 
 

fuel can 5L felling a hillside. 
easily 6 gallon of diesel. 
 

60 odd quid expenses in fuel for the day. 
 

200 profit. 
13.5 hours 

 

14.80 an hour. 

[Donnie]

9 hours ago, Dan Maynard said:

Do you do that several days in a row, or broken up with nearer jobs? In the long term, fatigue would be my fear.

 

Most of my tree work is within 10 miles of home, but working in automation I've had customers in Southampton and Portsmouth, and Aberdeen and Jedburgh.

 

As a young thing I used to do the long drive there and back in a day, but about 10 years ago while doing an install in Leicester I hit the back of a lorry on the way home. Luckily it was coming in to roadworks so only 40mph, but stopped by the M1 you think about how bad it could have been, so I've changed my attitude to driving. Now if it's 2 hours away then I'm in a hotel the night before, its easier to decide this as it's my company and the day rate's higher.

 

The other thing I think to bear in mind is that driving to site is a work activity in the eyes of HSE, as they say on the website driving can be the most dangerous part of the day. You are self employed so easy to fall into the trap of working in a way that no employer could reasonably expect you to.

Monday might be 200 miles

tuesday might be 150 in the opposite direction. 
 

usually 100 miles a day is pretty ‘local” for me. 
 

 

I’d rather not stay away either as they pay for digs but I still need to feed myself in overpriced pub food at night which is just as expensive as driving half of the time, plus it’s normally 1 hour from digs to the site usually. 

 

 

My first week of owning this pick up I did this exact journey 5 days in a week. Spent over 200 in diesel and was no better off for it but saying that to my boss is like a death sentence probably

 

Edited August 26 by Donnie