With fuel at about 6 or 7 quid a gallon how far do you think is reasonable to travel for a days work ?. I pretty much stick with a 20 mile radius these days, or you can easily find yourself spending 80 to a 100 quid a week on fuel.
My work is 5 miles away so very lucky. Max id travel will be same as you 20miles.
Ex Haulier:
With fuel at about 6 or 7 quid a gallon how far do you think is reasonable to travel for a days work ?. I pretty much stick with a 20 mile radius these days, or you can easily find yourself spending 80 to a 100 quid a week on fuel.
Currently 20 miles each way but the money more then makes up for the distance, just wish I was there more often.
Last year I was doing a 35 mile each way commute to a regular job. It was along A303 as well so not exactly motorway miles.
I had an agreement with the agent for a contribution to my fuel though so it didn’t work out too bad.
Max these days would be 50 mile round trip unless money was exceptional or was tramping all week.
They called me last Year down to southampton.
I got collected by an agency lad at 13.15 North of london and we were after 17.00 in Southampton,back home next day at 09.00
was a friday and M25 roadwork,and everyone going to the Seaside
Every hour paid,but normally just 1 Mile from house i could walk or bus
54 mile round trip 
I know in these days we have to watch the pennies, but one thing to remember is that what you spend on petrol getting to and from " the client is tax deductible , which has been discussed before ( I’m sure someone will put up a link ) at IIRC 14p per mile
60 mile round trip was the norm for pretty much most of my working life to date.
pierrot 14:
I know in these days we have to watch the pennies, but one thing to remember is that what you spend on petrol getting to and from " the client is tax deductible , which has been discussed before ( I’m sure someone will put up a link ) at IIRC 14p per mile
I think you’ll find thats mileage at 45ppm for the first 10,000 and you will have to have business use on your car insurance.
Normaly never more than 10 miles. My current job less than 5. Would only do more than 15 if desperate or tramping.
Up to 120 miles round trip, but around 80 as a rule…but I’m self employed, it goes through the books and I get a fuel allowance - the further I travel, the more I charge for the same length of shift… 
car is diesel and if I do around 60mph I get the same return in MPG so not too bad.
67 miles each way for me but I tramp out so its only once a week. I find if I go at about 55-60mph as oppose to 70-75 I save about 25% in fuel and takes me 5-10 mins longer.
Simple, go self employeed, buy a commercial through the business which can also be used as a family car on hp (I got a Nissan Nivarra), log all your miles and keep your fuel receipts. Not only will you benefit from 45 p a mile, most of the loan for the nice motor will also come off your taxable income. Makes a massive difference financially to me anyway!
I think that, if you are self employed, or are based at home and travel to wherever the agency sends you, you are working as soon as you leave home. Whether or not you are paid for this time, it will be subject to drivers hours laws and Working time directive. It is always worth asking the agency to bang on an extra hours pay to contribute to your travel expense although this becomes part of your taxable income. Emloyed or not, it is worth filling in a self-assessment tax return to reclaim your travel expense.
Conor:
pierrot 14:
I know in these days we have to watch the pennies, but one thing to remember is that what you spend on petrol getting to and from " the client is tax deductible , which has been discussed before ( I’m sure someone will put up a link ) at IIRC 14p per mileI think you’ll find thats mileage at 45ppm for the first 10,000 and you will have to have business use on your car insurance.
Sorry Conor , you’re right about that amount, don’t know why 14p came into my head
Not sure about the insurance bit though, you’re only driving to and from a place of employment not using the car " for " business purposes
15 miles there and just over 13 on the way back.
pierrot 14:
Conor:
pierrot 14:
I know in these days we have to watch the pennies, but one thing to remember is that what you spend on petrol getting to and from " the client is tax deductible , which has been discussed before ( I’m sure someone will put up a link ) at IIRC 14p per mileI think you’ll find thats mileage at 45ppm for the first 10,000 and you will have to have business use on your car insurance.
Sorry Conor , you’re right about that amount, don’t know why 14p came into my head
Not sure about the insurance bit though, you’re only driving to and from a place of employment not using the car " for " business purposes
I think the point is that if you claim that the mileage is “business use” then the need for “business use” insurance follows. How anyone would make the connection though is a mystery.
Also - to make it clear to those who may not know - the 45ppm is tax relief. That meand that if you claim 1,000 miles then you get an additional allowance of £450 - which means you pay £90 less tax (at 20%).
Claiming for tax relief on the purchase of a car is more complicated. You can get relief on the interest you pay for a loan (not for the capital sum) and only for the proportion you use it for business. If you do 10,000 miles a year and 1,000 are on business then that is 10%.
Of course if you are a limited Co. then the rules are quite different.
Santa:
pierrot 14:
Conor:
pierrot 14:
I know in these days we have to watch the pennies, but one thing to remember is that what you spend on petrol getting to and from " the client is tax deductible , which has been discussed before ( I’m sure someone will put up a link ) at IIRC 14p per mileI think you’ll find thats mileage at 45ppm for the first 10,000 and you will have to have business use on your car insurance.
Sorry Conor , you’re right about that amount, don’t know why 14p came into my head
Not sure about the insurance bit though, you’re only driving to and from a place of employment not using the car " for " business purposesI think the point is that if you claim that the mileage is “business use” then the need for “business use” insurance follows. How anyone would make the connection though is a mystery.
Also - to make it clear to those who may not know - the 45ppm is tax relief. That meand that if you claim 1,000 miles then you get an additional allowance of £450 - which means you pay £90 less tax (at 20%)…
Sorry if I didn’t make my original post clear, I was actually talking about claiming it back as travelling expenses as an employed agency driver, not business expenses as a self employed driver, hence no need for the business insurance for the car
pierrot 14:
Sorry Conor , you’re right about that amount, don’t know why 14p came into my head
Not sure about the insurance bit though, you’re only driving to and from a place of employment not using the car " for " business purposes
I was actually talking about claiming it back as travelling expenses as an employed agency driver, not business expenses as a self employed driver, hence no need for the business insurance for the car
If you’re not using it for business purposes (which includes doing journeys on behalf of an employer) you cannot claim the mileage as the mileage is claimed as an expense of employment. If you claim the mileage you are using it for business purposes so you have to have business insurance.
On top of that, most insurance companies class the “commuting” cover to a single place of work so many agency workers are technically in breach of their car insurance.
Its not a problem though because for pretty much most people, having the “class A” business use put on will cost them nothing at all other than an admin fee if you do it mid policy.
I keep my truck outside on the drive even when I am on 2 weeks holiday so my answer is about 30 feet.
If I change jobs I wouldn’t want to go any further than the next village ‘Fort Anne’ which is 12 miles away.
When I lived in Towcester the last 2 years of living there I worked out of Upper Heyford ai base, during the show season i only did the trip there and back about once every two or three weeks if that, but out of season it was every day.