Advice from long commuters

[eek]

Some sketchy advice in this thread.

The easiest summary is to include commute hours and overnight stays in your working hours. Try to get the best hourly rate you can. If you're on a day rate, as most of us are, then overnight stays and commuting destroy your hourly total rate.

Most contractors are better off taking a lower paid gig with no or almost no travel. The hourly rate is higher and you have the bonus of being able use your spare time to enjoy life and do what you want to do.

Really? If I'm away from home I knock off at 5pm and do something else for the evening.

I then get up an hour later than I otherwise would and rule into the office at my normal time.

And that worked out as roughly £20 more than the fuel costs because I was a cheapstake and stayed in a Travelodge (for it wasn't being expensed so I wasn't spending more than the absolute minimum).

[BR14]

Really? If I'm away from home I knock off at 5pm and do something else for the evening.

I then get up an hour later than I otherwise would and rule into the office at my normal time.

And that worked out as roughly £20 more than the fuel costs because I was a cheapstake and stayed in a Travelodge (for it wasn't being expensed so I wasn't spending more than the absolute minimum).

I think he meant to give sketchy advice.

I spent years in UK on stay away days/weeks/(three weeks sometimes if the gig was in Europe).
then more when i was based in NL and gigging in DE/FR/CH.
it's about balancing income* with hassle, really.
I did enjoy working in other countries though, some people don't travel well.


*very good income to offset commuting/accommodation/subsistence costs, of course

[Gibbon]

Really? If I'm away from home I knock off at 5pm and do something else for the evening.

I then get up an hour later than I otherwise would and rule into the office at my normal time.

And that worked out as roughly £20 more than the fuel costs because I was a cheapstake and stayed in a Travelodge (for it wasn't being expensed so I wasn't spending more than the absolute minimum).

You not heard of getting a commercial rate? If you contract of a sizeable client they will have deals with nearby hotels, mainly for visitors.
I managed 4 months on a rate of a company I didn't even work for, just looked at some badges in the bar and then asked to book some rooms on the "*****" rate. Note didn't say I worked for them. Got sussed when a new receptionist asked for a badge, said I'd bring it next day then avoided and cancelled.

I wouldn't touch a Travel Lodge, too noisy and crap beds/showers etc.

[northernladuk]

You not heard of getting a commercial rate? If you contract of a sizeable client they will have deals with nearby hotels, mainly for visitors.
I managed 4 months on a rate of a company I didn't even work for, just looked at some badges in the bar and then asked to book some rooms on the "*****" rate. Note didn't say I worked for them. Got sussed when a new receptionist asked for a badge, said I'd bring it next day then avoided and cancelled.

I wouldn't touch a Travel Lodge, too noisy and crap beds/showers etc.

So you are saying you should get a commercial rate and then admit you didn't fraudulently and got caught? Proper smart that is.

[northernladuk]

Some sketchy advice in this thread.

The easiest summary is to include commute hours and overnight stays in your working hours. Try to get the best hourly rate you can. If you're on a day rate, as most of us are, then overnight stays and commuting destroy your hourly total rate.

Most contractors are better off taking a lower paid gig with no or almost no travel. The hourly rate is higher and you have the bonus of being able use your spare time to enjoy life and do what you want to do.

Have I got this right. You say there is sketchy advice in this thread and then try and suggest the commuting/overnight is done on clients time?

[Lance]

Have I got this right. You say there is sketchy advice in this thread and then try and suggest the commuting/overnight is done on clients time?

I once worked with a bunch of contractors who had negotiated a £30 a night rate with the hotel for all the others.
head of corporate purchasing for the client found out and was not happy. No one cared, except the head of corporate purchasing when it became widely known that rate we were using was less than half what the head of corporate purchasing had negotiated with the same hotel

Outcome : nobody gave a hoot except the head of corporate purchasing

[eek]

Have I got this right. You say there is sketchy advice in this thread and then try and suggest the commuting/overnight is done on clients time?

I took it to read that the rate ends up being crap because it's a 12 hour day rather than 8 hours due to the commute.

Then again I pick contracts on the basis of what they allow me to do next or whether it's interesting rather than commute time. Worst contract I ever had was 1/2 mile from home - and I knew it was going to be from day 1.

[ladymuck]

When I lived on the south coast pretty much every gig was a commute because there was feck all work locally. That's why I moved to that London.

I did find that long daily commutes really took its toll and I would seek to stay over during the week to retain my sanity.

[vwdan]

Really? If I'm away from home I knock off at 5pm and do something else for the evening.

I then get up an hour later than I otherwise would and rule into the office at my normal time.

And that worked out as roughly £20 more than the fuel costs because I was a cheapstake and stayed in a Travelodge (for it wasn't being expensed so I wasn't spending more than the absolute minimum).

Same, there's obviously a lot of drawbacks about staying away - but actually I found when both my wife and I were working full time I might aswell stay away than have a huge commute because at least I'm not completely ****ed on a weekend.

[vwdan]

90 minutes was always my absolutely upper limit. An hour I can commute no issue, but by 90 minutes I'm starting to resent it and dislike life - doubly so if driving. Especially if it's not the kind of place that you can roll into at 9:15 with a coffee and pastry, and ditch off at 5.

Any more than 90 mins and I stayed in a hotel - if I couldn't stay, then I wouldn't take it.

Obviously short term is different, and trains do take the edge off.