Can you run an Electrical Contracting business without trucks?

[celtic]

FA...I suspect you already know the answer to your question.

 

[sbrn33]

I supply all my guys trucks for both new construction and service, but to be honest with a company of 10 sometimes you do both on the same day.
The way I look at it is like this. If I hired a plumber and 1 guy shows up in a beat up pickup and his helper shows up in a red pinto the first thing I would ask for is his license and even if he was licensed he wouldn't have my respect. Now great big jobs is a whole different story as your really more of a "labor hour" than an employee
Scott

 

[George Stolz]

In this area, if you work electrical construction you get yourself to the job.

By hook or by crook.

Around here, foremen typically drive company vehicles, but may not always drive them home. I drove a company van home when I did residential, when I oversaw a few projects.

After making the switch to commercial, I am not a foreman so I drive my own vehicle. Since the shop I work for is typically farther than the jobs I'm working at, if I were offered a vehicle to drive at some point I'd probably still decline it and continue driving my personal vehicle just to save time.

There ought to be a company vehicle on any project, IMO. It does lend credibility to the company, having a marked van on site. On the few times I've pulled up in the Subaru to do an odd job for a longstanding client, I got a bit of a smirk from the GC.

It would take a silver tongue on your part and on your employee's behalf to justify working out of a Civic, and chances are in most circumstances, the employee isn't all tickled about it enough to aid you in that regard.

It depends on your clientele. Local startup tract home GCs are more comfortable with a Civic than multi-state operations, IMO.

 

[goldstar]

Reducing your overhead, yes. Shifting your overhead onto your employees, no. It amazes me how in this day and age, some employees are required to supply power tools, trucks, even allow their boss's use of their personal cellphones.

Drive to the jobsite and start work there, fine. Drive to the shop and use the company's vehicle, fine. But requiring an employee to shuttle between jobs, and transport your tools or materials is, IMO, for an hour's pay to save YOU the cost of a van, the ultimate in ballsy-ness. Might as well just do sidework since they'd already be all setup for it.

I feel the same way and couldn't have said it better myself. If you have the type of business where you're doing long term jobs and can park a worker or two there for a month while having supplies delivered to them then that's great. But, if you're asking an employee to use his vehicle for service calls or picking up material just to save you a few $$ then I think that's way out of line.

 

[romexking]

But requiring an employee to shuttle between jobs, and transport your tools or materials is, IMO, for an hour's pay to save YOU the cost of a van, the ultimate in ballsy-ness. Might as well just do sidework since they'd already be all setup for it.

It's not done to save US the cost of a van, it's done to save the customer the cost of a van, remember...we don't actually pay for our company's expenses, it all a shell game. So, don't be angry at the employer, get angry, very angry at the customer for not suppling everyone a van.:grin:

 

[220/221]

On the few times I've pulled up in the Subaru to do an odd job for a longstanding client, I got a bit of a smirk from the GC.

I have done a service call or two in my car. Not the smartest thing I've ever done but it was an emergency and I didn't have a truck available.

It's not done to save US the cost of a van, it's done to save the customer the cost of a van, remember...

Actually it wouldn't be done to save money but to reallocate it. The employee would be compensated and the contractor wouldn't have to deal individually with maintenance, license fees, insurance etc.

 

[mdshunk]

I'll do an estimate in my personal car. Matter of fact, I often do.

 

[emahler]

It's not done to save US the cost of a van, it's done to save the customer the cost of a van, remember...we don't actually pay for our company's expenses, it all a shell game. So, don't be angry at the employer, get angry, very angry at the customer for not suppling everyone a van.:grin:

Let them eat cake

we supply everything...but sometimes I wonder why...I noticed guys take much better care of their personal tools that cost $100, than they do of company tools that cost $1000...

i can almost see requiring the employee to provide everything...wouldn't have to constantly ask our customers for more money to repair/replace tools...LOL

 

[romexking]

seriously though, if an employee is expected to run between jobs or carry material more than once in a while, a van is warranted. However a van is very costly to be sitting on the same jobsite 8 hours a day and being used mainly as a free taxi for an employee.

 

[mdshunk]

seriously though, if an employee is expected to run between jobs or carry material more than once in a while, a van is warranted. However a van is very costly to be sitting on the same jobsite 8 hours a day and being used mainly as a free taxi for an employee.

I know that a big outfit I worked for years back had a company van that just had all seats. You could park at a 'park and ride' somewhere between the shop and the jobsite, and they'd pick you up and bring you to the job. I notice now that this is also the preferred mode of transportaion for 'southern' labor.

 

[George Stolz]

I know that a big outfit I worked for years back had a company van that just had all seats. You could park at a 'park and ride' somewhere between the shop and the jobsite, and they'd pick you up and bring you to the job. I notice now that this is also the preferred mode of transportaion for 'southern' labor.

Marc, I was born in Arkansas - but I never thought about that when I parked my company van at a park-and-ride and rode in the 12-passenger company van to a jobsite 60 miles from my house... [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/FONT]

 

[quogueelectric]

Ford f350 crew cab is the minimum

Ford f350 crew cab is the minimum

That I would use. Only kidding. New Chevy Colorado crew cab 4x4 is 22k done. 5 foot bed is a pita tho for 25k I will deal with it

 

[captaincrab55]

Talk to your CPA, if they drive the truck home it's considered a fringe and is subject to payroll tax.

That may vary some.. If one answers Emergency Calls it's considered a job requirement..

In Maryland, when an employee drives to the shop & picks a vehicle up, his time starts.

 

[LawnGuyLandSparky]

It's not done to save US the cost of a van, it's done to save the customer the cost of a van, remember...we don't actually pay for our company's expenses, it all a shell game. So, don't be angry at the employer, get angry, very angry at the customer for not suppling everyone a van.:grin:

Actually, it is to save the contractor the cost of the vehicle. Nowhere does the OP mention passing those savings on to the customer.

Do any of you demand that employees provide their own vehicles? Perhaps pay them an additional hour per day on those days they use their trucks to haul parts or tools?

I see trucks as a impediment to business growth and if there is a business model that does not include operating a fleet of trucks I'd love to hear about it.

What this equates to is the company expects the employees to provide the company with something other than labor. We need your car too. And your power tools. We'll use your cellphone for communication. Heck, why not just demand each employee take turns having your family over for dinner, after all, feeding your own family must also be an impediment to your business...

Does anyone else's State motor vehicle department require your personal vehicle registrant to certify that the vechicle will be used only for the transport of people and household goods only? (IE, not used for any commercial purpose?)

 

[480sparky]

I once worked for an outfit that told me, during my interview, that all I needed to supply were hand tools.

I didn't realize that ladders, hammer drills, hydraulic benders and KO sets, wire pullers and Burndy crimper were considered hand tools.

Now I take their customers from them because I have those tools, and they don't.

 

[romexking]

Actually, it is to save the contractor the cost of the vehicle. Nowhere does the OP mention passing those savings on to the customer.

I was being sarcastic by eluding to a previous post iby you in a different thread

You are not paying for material, payroll, taxes or anything else for that matter, the customer and your labor is. Unless you're printing money that is... It's a shell game. They're your shells and it's your table, but the game is about balls and those aren't yours.

If you think that it is not my money that I am spending and it is just a shell game, how would you feel about waiting 90 days to get your first paycheck, but after that I should be able to pay you every month as long as a shell is passed to me from the GC.

You are also missing the fact that most jobs do not have a GF, they have a working forman. Now I gather from your posts that you know all there is to know about everything, at least about electrical and running a business, but not every electrician out there does, and thus some must be supervised more closely. Just because an electrician says that they can do a job, does not make it a reality.