Overnight allowance for paking?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

since when did your subsistence living allowance (overnight money) be allocated to you for overnight parking?
well this is what has been spouted off in the magazines for the past few months by truck stop owners.
they obviously don’t do their homework before setting up in business.
your agreed subsistence living allowance is to cover things like an evening meal and breakfast, washing facilities, and your upkeep of bedding.
at no time has hmrc said that the money is to be given to an msa or truckstop owner to cover parking fees.
parking fees are a legitimate business expense and deductable from your comapnies tax bill and nothing to do with a drivers subsistence.

truckstops and msa’s should be state owned and free to park. after all we’ve already paid for the roads with our road tax and fuel tax.

2

I may be naive here, having never done a night out but I always thought that any payments were for you to buy things for yourself as phil says. The cost of any parking fees should be borne by the company not the driver.

3

yep couldnt agree more with both of you. parking is exactly that, night out money is for food and whatever else.

4

I believe parking fees are tax deductable (I THINK) so they dont cost your boss anyway.

Park in a few laybys and dodgy places get the curtains slashed or a bit of damage to the truck then tell your boss if he wasnt so ■■■■■■■ tight and paid for parking his repair bill, might b e less.

5

All the time that Bosses and the Goverment have holes in thier backsides things will get steadily worse… All and sundry are now out to screw as much money for themselves as they can, one firm I know pays £32 a night out, out of that driver is expected tp pay parking if he needs it, fine park in a layby and pocket it, BUT the drivers are not allowed gas in the cabs, so cooking and brew making is out, as is a toilet and showers…

MSA locations amount now to extortion, and its legalised, as is the fixed penalties from VOSA for a blown bulb, to speeding fines from the scamera partnership…

Seems the work is starting to pick up, what I am interested to see is these Companies whose employees all agreed to a 10 - 15% paycut to avoid redundencies and help the Company through the hard times. How quickly will the reinstate the wages to the loyal workers, or will it be years of ‘Not out of the woods yet lads’…

Sooner we can get cut off from the EU is better in my book…

6

Coddy:
Seems the work is starting to pick up, what I am interested to see is these Companies whose employees all agreed to a 10 - 15% paycut to avoid redundencies and help the Company through the hard times. How quickly will the reinstate the wages to the loyal workers, or will it be years of ‘Not out of the woods yet lads’…

exactly my sentiments as well coddy. i bet it will take years for the money to go back up.

7

JD, I reckon you’re getting your years mixed up with decades.

8

from a tax point of view money given to you for parking is no more a benefit than diesel or oil to make it go. Any money given for food etc is a beneft and you should declare it for tax & NI if over £5 per night - i think on a P11D■■?

Of course for all this you should have receipts.

I normally stop at the services that give you a £10 food voucher with the cost of the parking - well, its about £2 more than standard parking but all it says on the ticket is parking so noone really knows any different. But for this to be above board do you have to declare £2 as the cost or £10 as the benefit?

Tax is rubbish!

9

Night out money is an allowance not a benefit. You can be given up to £22 per night without paying tax on it. The last time I was tramping I got £40 per night, so only £18 quid (per night) got taxed, and I didn’t mind paying my own parking. If I was only getting £20 then I would ask for parking tickets paid. Have been there and been repaid when I asked. In fact a lot of firms have prepaid MSA tickets or contract secured parking, all you have to do is ask before you leave the yard.

10

jammymutt:
I believe parking fees are tax deductable (I THINK) so they dont cost your boss anyway.

Park in a few laybys and dodgy places get the curtains slashed or a bit of damage to the truck then tell your boss if he wasnt so [zb] tight and paid for parking his repair bill, might b e less.

with the massive profits your boss makes im suprised you dont get £50 night allowance.
with that sort of attitude towards your company i for 1 will be glad to hear the day you are out of work. im pretty sure you must realise that most companies are scratching a living and i would expect that most bosses at presant feel all they are doing is keeping drivers in jobs with no or little profit to make the hassle worth it. to pay for the parking, regardless of if he can claim it back your boss must firstly have the money. 1 vehicle X 4 nights per week at £20 = £4160 per year. i know that its unlikely that a vehicle does 4 nights every week but even with 4 weeks taken off it still totals £3840. thats more than i pay for a new trailer per year.
if only some ‘professional’ drivers could see both sides the job may be a little better for everyone involved

11

jammymutt:
I believe parking fees are tax deductable (I THINK) so they dont cost your boss anyway.

Tax deductable the same as the Vat on the diesel, so each quarter when the Vat return is filed the Vat spent is deducted from the Vat payable on income.

Only council owned car parks dont charge Vat so even the parking fee costing £10 gives the employer a £1.50 rebate so really its only costing him £8.50 not the full £10.00 charged.

12

yorkshireborn:

jammymutt:
I believe parking fees are tax deductable (I THINK) so they dont cost your boss anyway.

Park in a few laybys and dodgy places get the curtains slashed or a bit of damage to the truck then tell your boss if he wasnt so [zb] tight and paid for parking his repair bill, might b e less.

with the massive profits your boss makes im suprised you dont get £50 night allowance.
with that sort of attitude towards your company i for 1 will be glad to hear the day you are out of work. im pretty sure you must realise that most companies are scratching a living and i would expect that most bosses at presant feel all they are doing is keeping drivers in jobs with no or little profit to make the hassle worth it. to pay for the parking, regardless of if he can claim it back your boss must firstly have the money. 1 vehicle X 4 nights per week at £20 = £4160 per year. i know that its unlikely that a vehicle does 4 nights every week but even with 4 weeks taken off it still totals £3840. thats more than i pay for a new trailer per year.
if only some ‘professional’ drivers could see both sides the job may be a little better for everyone involved

I dont recall my boss EVER saying look mate we made an excessively large profit last year so heres a bit extra ha sthis happened to anyone? !!!, but when they start to struggle they ask us to help out FFS swings and roundabouts come to mind for most employers its all take take take and with the littel bit of recession weve had they seem to as usual take the mick out of the bottom crust, I can see you being like the BA employees and working for free for a week but when your boss goes out to buy his brand new ■■■■■■■ car next year make sure you let him know about it will ya?

13

yorkshireborn:

jammymutt:
I believe parking fees are tax deductable (I THINK) so they dont cost your boss anyway.

Park in a few laybys and dodgy places get the curtains slashed or a bit of damage to the truck then tell your boss if he wasnt so [zb] tight and paid for parking his repair bill, might b e less.

with the massive profits your boss makes im suprised you dont get £50 night allowance.
with that sort of attitude towards your company i for 1 will be glad to hear the day you are out of work. im pretty sure you must realise that most companies are scratching a living and i would expect that most bosses at presant feel all they are doing is keeping drivers in jobs with no or little profit to make the hassle worth it. to pay for the parking, regardless of if he can claim it back your boss must firstly have the money. 1 vehicle X 4 nights per week at £20 = £4160 per year. i know that its unlikely that a vehicle does 4 nights every week but even with 4 weeks taken off it still totals £3840. thats more than i pay for a new trailer per year.
if only some ‘professional’ drivers could see both sides the job may be a little better for everyone involved

What a feed of ■■■■ you are on about yorkshireborn! Would you pay to put diesel in the tank to run it just because the boss wants to save a few quid? I doubt it very ■■■■■■■ much!

If the parking fees aren’t forth coming the company vehicle gets parked in a lay-by, if they pay the parking then all well and good it gets parked in secure parking. There is no way I am going to pay for secure parking out of my own pocket to protect a company vehicle from theft or damage. It is the company’s interest to pay for this not mine. I will keep an eye on it and not leave it unattended if I can help it but if someone has a pop at it and I’m not there or I’m asleep then its not my fault. Too many drivers pay for parking out of their own pocket to save their bosses £1000’s a year. Just think how much they would owe you over a year. 4 nights out a week at secure parking = 4 X £22 (using the lower parking price I have found) = £88 a week. £88 X 48 = £4224. If you are on a salary of £22,000 you are in earnest taking a pay cut of over 4 grand. Are you stupid? your boss should factor this into teh job when pricing it up. simple!

At difficult times everyone takes a pay cut and drives a lot more cautiously to save fuel and hopefully save the company quite a wedge of money but as it has been said when will the wages go back up. I bet you a penny to a pinch of ■■■■ they wont go back up for a very long time, not until the boss is sitting very comfortably again.

Get a grip!

14

British Airways staff have been asked to work for a month for free to help the company.As quoted on BBC news.

15

jammymutt:
I dont recall my boss EVER saying look mate we made an excessively large profit last year so heres a bit extra ha sthis happened to anyone? !!!, but when they start to struggle they ask us to help out FFS swings and roundabouts come to mind for most employers its all take take take and with the littel bit of recession weve had they seem to as usual take the mick out of the bottom crust, I can see you being like the BA employees and working for free for a week but when your boss goes out to buy his brand new [zb] car next year make sure you let him know about it will ya?

i maybe should make my point a little more clear, i never ask any driver to pay for parking, i pay when the load dictates its required,i do ask they park where ever is safe and suitable when empty,and if they choose secure parking they pay, i have never asked anyone to take a pay cut or to work for free, as we all have bills, familys etc. i have given drivers bonus’ when they have done a good job or gone out of there way to help, however with the statement you made and the attitude it puts across im sure you are the perfect employee, the one all your local companies are desperate to employ, i think not.

oh and i am my own boss and will drop you a pm if you wish to know when i buy a brand new [zb]car. however i dont think it’s going to be any time soon.

16

Giblsa:
What a feed of [zb] you are on about yorkshireborn! Would you pay to put diesel in the tank to run it just because the boss wants to save a few quid? I doubt it very [zb] much!

If the parking fees aren’t forth coming the company vehicle gets parked in a lay-by, if they pay the parking then all well and good it gets parked in secure parking. There is no way I am going to pay for secure parking out of my own pocket to protect a company vehicle from theft or damage. It is the company’s interest to pay for this not mine. I will keep an eye on it and not leave it unattended if I can help it but if someone has a pop at it and I’m not there or I’m asleep then its not my fault. Too many drivers pay for parking out of their own pocket to save their bosses £1000’s a year. Just think how much they would owe you over a year. 4 nights out a week at secure parking = 4 X £22 (using the lower parking price I have found) = £88 a week. £88 X 48 = £4224. If you are on a salary of £22,000 you are in earnest taking a pay cut of over 4 grand. Are you stupid? your boss should factor this into teh job when pricing it up. simple!

At difficult times everyone takes a pay cut and drives a lot more cautiously to save fuel and hopefully save the company quite a wedge of money but as it has been said when will the wages go back up. I bet you a penny to a pinch of [zb] they wont go back up for a very long time, not until the boss is sitting very comfortably again.

Get a grip!

who said anything about putting diesel in the tank?
who said that the driver should pay for parking from his own pocket?
i pay when load dictates it, but not for every night,
is who ‘stupid’ ? i think you have missed the point.
if you read my post you would have picked up i am my own boss

so back to the question is who ‘stupid’ ?

17

yorkshireborn:
who said anything about putting diesel in the tank?

No one that was just an example of what drivers shouldn’t pay for

yorkshireborn:
who said that the driver should pay for parking from his own pocket?

you did but not in quite a blunt way and I quote

yorkshireborn:
to pay for the parking, regardless of if he can claim it back your boss must firstly have the money.

yorkshireborn:
i pay when load dictates it, but not for every night,

why didn’t you say that in your original post then, the way I read it was that you wouldn’t pay parking as it was too expensive!!!

yorkshireborn:
if you read my post you would have picked up i am my own boss
so back to the question is who ‘stupid’ ?

so you run your own wagon/s (who knows how many you run) but you wont pay parking for your wagon to be secure if the load doesn’t warrant it? but expect it to return untouched by the filthy hands of thieving scum if its empty? So are you willing to pay your driver for his driving then when he clocks off as a driver pay him as a security guard for the rest of the night! I think not!

yorkshireborn:
to pay for the parking, regardless of if he can claim it back your boss must firstly have the money.

so if you cant afford to reimburse drivers for parking they should pay out of their own pocket! I get it, you can afford to run a business (and I hope it is a successful one, as these are getting fewer and further between nowadays) but you cant afford to pay for parking for your wagons but expect your drivers to afford it if they aremnt carrying anything and they want to be safe!

Also I thought you had to have good financial standing to operate on an o licence? Or have I read this wrong and as long as you have £10 in your wallet to pay for your espresso’s and red bull that’s all cool! ■■■■ the driver that has to sleep in a lay-by and ■■■■ in a carrier bag!

yorkshireborn:
if only some ‘professional’ drivers could see both sides the job may be a little better for everyone involved

if only some bosses would think about the welfare of drivers and try to keep them as safe from crime/kidnappings/beatings instead of penny pinching! And put the wages back up when the work picks up again!

This is not aimed at the few that run single or a couple of wagons, this is aimed at the larger companies that don’t give a ■■■■ about drivers as they are just a pay number!

18

yorkshireborn:
i never ask any driver to pay for parking, i pay when the load dictates its required,i do ask they park where ever is safe and suitable when empty,and if they choose secure parking they pay,

So basically if your drivers want to park up where they can have the use of a shower or toilet facilities they are expected to pay for parking■■?

Are you for real? or just winding folk up?

If you have 2 trucks on the road your costs surely include an average parking cost? which of course you would obviously include in your pallet or tonnage rate :unamused:

Is it any wonder the transport industry is in the state it’s in if employers are choppping the rates by cutting out neccessary costs? :open_mouth:

19

I often ponder why a load is valuable, but the drivers basic needs of toilet, food and shower, as well as his/her own safety and welfare is worthless to your multinational companies as well as small fleet owners.

Sorry to go slightly off topic folks.

20

Who is in charge of this priceless load, whether on POA or on a night out ? If I’ve got the keys it’s my responsibility, and if I work for you, it’s YOUR responsibility ! pay yer ■■■■■■■ dues !