Reply to: Daily car commute

[darmstadt]

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...ml#post1826549

[Old Greg]

For my first contract I was driving 1 hr 45 mins each way, but it was before I had kids, and I couldn't do it now. And having just left permie employment, it seemed a pretty good deal for £500 pd.

[TykeMerc]

I don't count the long haul ones which you could never do daily as commutes, I drew the line at even a weekly commute to Gosport (280 miles each way) and did that every 2 weeks.
Assuming things go to plan I'll be trudging off to near Bath on a weekly/bi-weekly basis very soon, I'll decide how often I come home after I've done the trip a few times.

[stek]

Leeds - Farnborough, weekly, never less than 4.5 hrs, frequently 6 hrs plus, every junction on M1 - '40mph, Queue after Junction'...

Worst ever for me - since M25 is involved and it stresses me out - had Leeds - Swansea last year, 4.5hrs but it was 4.5hrs and the M50/Heads of the Valleys usually quite pleasant, so one arrived quite chilled out and ready for some pintage in the Uplands Tavern and some easy money and cracking rates at the DVLA in Morriston.

Oddly enough I moved to Leeds from Manchester as I had a long termer there and Manchester is a contracting dead hole generally - since then - not a sniff of a role locally...

Still Leeds is a lot nicer than Scumchester, and I;m a Lancastrian...

[Hairy]

Do you often travel to Bridgwater, the one just off the M4?

It's off the M5 and I used to a lot.

[AtW]

A trip from Bridgwater to Gloucester takes an hour leaving at 6

Do you often travel to Bridgwater, the one just off the M4?

[Hairy]

Depends, also, on how you wangle your hours. A trip from Bridgwater to Gloucester takes an hour leaving at 6, but a lot longer, leaving at 7. Coming back the same; leave at 3, you're back among the family as they return from school, leave after 5 and you'll not be back before the kids bath time. It can impact the day an awful lot. So get flexi working, and you bring other places into scope.

[AtW]

15 mins off peak

45 mins peak.

[bobspud]

Two hours is about the limit but only if I get WFH after a few weeks.

[scooterscot]

What are you daily car commute limits?

For me, 1 hr each way is a doddle, but 2 hrs each way every day it too much.

2-3 minutes, on foot. Anything more I start complaining.

The joys of having the office across the road from the apartment.

[Mich the Tester]

In an XJR, no limit as long as there are no jams, but hotels are cheaper than the bloody petrol.

[TykeMerc]

It depends on the traffic, if it's 60+ mins sat in jams I tend to just rent a place within strolling distance or 5 mins in the car, I've spent far too much of my life sat in traffic jams as I spent a lot of my early career in field engineering, installations and support. I'd rather stop over than put up with heavy traffic.

With several years of working from home, I really resent time wasted in commuting traffic.

[BlueSharp]

I will do a 2 hour drive each way max and stay over a couple of nights a week to break up the weekly commute. With out staying over probably just an hour.

[evilagent]

60-90 mins is bearable.
anything over that, a pain.
I think whether the time is spent on motorways, or stuck in traffic, makes a difference, as in jams you really feel the time being wasted.

[eek]

acceptable commute is proportional to daily rate on offer....

Nope I know my limits. Over an hour and it won't be a daily commute. I will stay over twice a week. Moneywise a night or two in a cheap hotel doesn't cost much and I like my sleep