Company reimbursement for TT use?

[Pillow]

I have an opportunity to be on the raod for about a month installing gear at various locations in the South-East. Instead of flying in and out every week to various destinations, I would prefer to use my TT and just drive/camp it out. Plus it would save the company a mint in costs!

They are picking up all gas, camping site fees, and a rental truck. Which is great. But is there any "industry standard" calculation for the use of my TT to receive any payback for wear and tear? Mainly tires. LOL

TIA,
Adrian

[JDS]

The only thing I' m aware of is the IRS allowance for use of cars; not aware of anything for your situation.

John S.

[HiHoAgRV]

Federal Folks don't get any break for staying in a camper above the standard personal vehicle mileage so I don't think there is one.

[idroba]

If you company has a standard rate for Motel stays, I would ask them if they would pay it to you for use of your RV.

[overlander63]

Many companies pay a per diem for housing, food, etc. Ask them if they would do that. A per diem could be several hundred dollars per day, depending.

[andreasduess]

I think you're getting a really sweet deal, especially considering they're paying for a rental truck. Asking for wear and tear on tires, especially given that this was your idea and is also benefitting you, is asking for a bit much, IMO.

[wahoonc]

My company covers motel costs when we travel, up to $100 a day. For crews it is double occupancy. If someone wants to use their own travel trailer or has relatives nearby they will give them half of whatever the current crew hotel cost is. I have done it several times. At the time the crew hotel was ~$60 a night, so they gave me $30 a night plus my regular per diem... worked for me. I stayed at a KOA that only cost $95 a week in the off season.

I would not get too greedy.

Aaron

[NevadaGeo]

It's hard to look up the price of renting an airstream for an idea of what to charge your company for the use of your stream. You might come up with about the same as a middle class motel. Then you might need to create an invoice form.

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by Pillow

...snip...

They are picking up all gas, camping site fees, and a rental truck. Which is great. But is there any "industry standard" calculation for the use of my TT to receive any payback for wear and tear? Mainly tires. LOL

TIA,
Adrian

Sounds like a great deal! They're picking up gas, camp fees and a rental truck - AND - you get to stay in your own trailer. With the money you're saving on that deal, I would imagine you are well ahead of any wear and tear costs. Personally, if my company set me up like that, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat as is, no questions asked. Just one guy's opinion.

Enjoy the trip!

[TouringDan]

Adrian

Sounds like a sweet deal. Sounds like if you are part of a work crew they would be paying mileage plus food plus maybe $30 per day for a double occupancy motel. What they have agreed to pay would sound great to me.

As far as tire mileage and wear, I suspect most folks do not actually wear their tires out. I will need to replace mine, due to age, within the next year and they only have about 7k miles on them.

Will you be camping in your 48 Spartan?

Dan

[Pillow]

Thanks for all the + feedback!

I should have specified that this is a Fed job so all Per Diem would be in effect. Daily allowance for meals and then the applicable for Fed rate at Hotels.

The idea of pur$ing the hotel rate is a good one. The campground actual rates are waaay cheaper than the hotel route, about ~$1200 difference in savings for my trip. I pondered something like $.15 a mile usage charge.

The other option is spend every week in the airport and collect Marriott points like normal over 6 weeks instead of 3ish. Tops $5k camping versus 10-15k the normal way.

Yes TouringDan, I would be in the Spartan camping.

Wife logic was of course: "You want to buy $900 tires to do work a favor? Seriously!" I know the $900 is high, but she always exaggerates a bit to make a point. Wives are good at that. LOL As TouringDan said, and is correct, two of mine are starting to crack from age. And that is bad, bad, and bad to travel on.

I just submitted the cost breakdown and tentative schedule this afternoon... Lets see what happens!

[Skater]

Federal government pays regular mileage rate, camping fees, dump station fees, and the like. No extra allotment for the wear and tear on the camper itself.

It's totally worth it to me to avoid hotels and airlines and rental cars...

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Pillow

I should have specified that this is a Fed job so all Per Diem would be in effect. Daily allowance for meals and then the applicable for Fed rate at Hotels.

The idea of pur$ing the hotel rate is a good one. The campground actual rates are waaay cheaper than the hotel route, about ~$1200 difference in savings for my trip. I pondered something like $.15 a mile usage charge.

You won't make much of a profit off of it. Meals and incidental expenses are paid at a fixed rate based on your locality. Mileage is at a fixed rate as well. Both determined by the JTR— Joint Travel Regulations— if it's Department of Defense, but most other agencies either use JTR or an agency equivalent. For lodging, it's reimbursement for actual expense as shown on an itemized invoice. If you stay at a $20-per-night State Park, you get paid $20 per night, not the $75 or whatever that your brethren up the road in the motel would get reimbursed. There would be no allowance at all for wear and tear on your RV, other than the per-mile reimbursement rate for the tow vehicle.

So where you make your (small) profit is the M&IE— meals and incidental expenses. You can eat cheap if you buy groceries instead of buying restaurant meals, and the M&IE meal rate is based on mid-level restaurant meals. Incidental expenses (laundry, dump stations, etc.) are reimbursed at actual cost so you'll break even there. Lodging is break-even, and mileage probably a slight loss.

And as a kicker, if it's long-distance travel, over 8 hours one-way driving time, then you run into a concept called "constructive cost." They'll compare the cost to drive versus the cost to fly, and pay you the cheaper of the two. Which makes a difference if you drive three days each way (with lodging each night) rather than an afternoon's plane ride with no extra lodging. I've driven to training courses where my reimbursement was less than half of the driving cost, because someone in the Government found a cheap airfare to my destination and would only reimburse me the cost of the plane ticket I didn't use.

[m.hony]

I tried to get my employer to let me use my trailer for work and pay my trailer note for me...
He didn't go for it.
I guess he figured I'd have too much fun and after a few years work have a paid for trailer...
So, the next idea I pitched was give me the $50 (now it is $65) hotel allowance and I would stay in campgrounds instead of hotels.
We have $25 food allowance and fuel paid.
He didn't go for that idea either.
Either way, I would have gotten my trailer paid for...

[Pillow]

Great info guys, again a big thanks!

Maybe this was meant to be by divine intervention, a Craigslist add put up exactly 3 almost new Mich LTX M/S2 tires that I was in need of for the trailer! So I purchased them tonight on the way home from work. I run LT245/75/16Es, instead of old bias ply sizing, granted ST225/80R16 would be close.

The travel "journey" has been approved, but they neglected to address any form of mileage or "rent"... So like everyone else I guess it ends up as a donation to Uncle Sam for the convenience of having my own TT instead of planes,trains, and automobiles.

... I did end up with a few weekends at the beach, so no complaints. Gotta love FL!

FWIW for Veterans, Active Military, or Federal contractors (CAC holders), there are multiple military sponsored campgrounds that are a screaming deal $ wise! Some are part of bases (can be restrictive if you are loud or drink sloppily), but others are set aside MRC (Military Recreation Center?) that are all about family fun for soldiers. Worth checking out if you have the option, because the location and value are unparalleled.

M.Hony, seems like your employer would put in something! That just doesn't seem fair if you aren't using any hotel allowance. That is saving them a bundle.

We used to have a traveling cable crew for running copper and fiber network infrastructure throughout CONUS. A few rolled RVs, but mostly to keep the wives and/or family with them. Sadly, they got per diem for food and campsite fees paid, but no mileage between sites and only one paid "travel day". So the long runs were tough. Then again the young guys owned nothing and banked it all.

I'll keep you all posted in the next week as this plan comes together!

[m.hony]

I think the bottom line is that he didn't want me to have too much fun or he didn't want to pay for my trailer but me own it...

[SStar]

It's a very common practice out here in the oilfields for companies to pay an individual for using their trailers or RVs on the job site. The drilling consultants, directional drillers, fishermen, and gate guards are some that benefit from this policy. I originally bought my Airstream to use in the oilfield but after consideration bought an SOB for the job. The environment in the oilfield can be very detrimental to travel trailers.

[Pillow]

SStar, housing for the roughnecks in ND is crazy $$$! From an employer perspective they are way better off having people in trailers than spending for hotels or apartments. I spent some time in Minot ND and that was a unique experience seeing a modern boomtown.

... I don't think I would drag anything I cared about for an extended stay up north either!