what to do about My vechicle

[jmarcin]

Hey all,

I am looking for some feedback from all of you if you dont mind.
I work for a small family owned remodeling company. We do very well and have managed to stay pretty busy throughout these tough times. Thank god

Currently, i receive a 400 dollar a month auto allowance. When given this allowance, my boss said this is to cover fuel and wear and tear since i also carry and use all of my personal tools. The allowance does not cover my fuel. I use about 520 dollars a month in fuel driving.

Recently they have asked me to letter my truck with vinyl stickers (not totally permanent but more so than magnets. They told me that by giving me an auto allowance, this entitles them to letter my truck.

Am I crazy for allowing them to letter my personal vehicle? I plan to ask for more money from them to let them do so. My wife thinks I should ask them to purchase the vehicle from me. Any thoughts? I really appreciate any advice from anyone on this topic. Thanks

[Albion]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Howdy great time to inquire what a truck leases for . Then consider talking to your boss about the Company leasing one as you- They can utilize the tax deduction and need to have a business auto insurance policy covering you and them. Letter the whole darn thing on "their" lease vehicle. Have you put the millage #s together for what is tax deductible compared to the monthly allowance to see how in line the # is. Knowing these #s then talking to the boss with insight to what is reasonable for the use of you private vehicle. Oh do you have an endorsement for your own auto coverage for the use in business? You have a liability exposure that you need to address so you are not amusing risk that might harm your$$$. - great time to talk to you insurer too....... Is it an old truck?

[jmarcin]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Its a 2004 with 143k miles on it. hoping to get to 200k miles with it. thanks for the info. i will for sure look into it. I know it is not as cut and dry as they think it is. liability on and off the job, possible new work from where i live compared to them and work area. i appreciate it

[GaryJR]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Once the company name goes on the vehicle they own it. They pretty much own it now.

How did your pay raise work out?

[Dancing Dan]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Seems to me the company has liability they may not know they're taking on as well.

[Dutchman]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

If you're an employee, I'm not sure why you're asking this...if you're a sub, same thing.

[hdrider_chgo]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Am I crazy for allowing them to letter my personal vehicle?

Yes.
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[jimAKAblue]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Be careful about how you answer the request. It will be easy for them to think you don't have any loyalty if you flat out refuse to allow the lettering. It might not be true, but they might get a bit emotional about it.

Personally, if it was my work truck, I probably would care. When I worked for the man, I was so gung ho that he could have lettered my truck and I'd have been proud. Now, I'd be wondering about legal issues. Would I need commercial insurance? A commercial driver/s license?

Your wife might be on the right track: ask them to buy the truck. That comes with risk too. If they fire you, you walk home LOL.

Again, I'm a gung ho company man if I'm working for you so I might even offer to sell it on ez terms: $100 per month or something like that.

Remember, it will benefit you to have your company advertising all day every day. You are working for a small company and y'all will benefit from the additional exposure.

[Ottoman]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

I think Jim's advice is spot on. The right thing for them to do is provide you a company vehicle or pay you the going rate for mileage reimbursement. How you handle the owner is another matter. You need to decided what is right for you. In many respects the fact that they have kept you employed is quite a benefit itself. There are many very good carpentrs who haven't been so lucky.

[Andrew R.]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Just be a team player and ask to be involved n all the advertising meetings in your company. Putting flyers on neighbors doors if the co. has a yard sign is a thought, inviting neighbors to look at the jobs while you're working there is another. Being a working and selling machine, possibly compensated for your guerilla marketing could be an alternative to your trucks paint job.

[worthy]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

You do realize that the $4,800 per year allowance is taxable income, though it may be offset by the mileage driven. It might be simpler if you were just given a mileage allowance, which doesn't count as income as long as it doesn't exceed IRS guidelines.

The difference between their monthly allowance and the tax benefit you would get by deducting your mileage expenses directly from your taxable income is likely a lot less than $400 a month. IOW, you're not that far ahead by getting the allowance than by not getting anything and deducting your travel and vehicle expenses directly from your taxable income.

So asking to letter your truck sounds like a lot of nerve to me. But maybe I'm not catching the tone right. And certainly check on the licencing/insurance issues.

Of course, I'm self-employed not an employee in an uncertain economy.

[Ted S.]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Let them letter it, put some gun racks in it and park it at the bar. That will fix the cheap bastards,
,
.

I'd never ask that of an employee. I'd buy another truck first.

[dgbldr]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Many issues here besides the lettering.

First issue is money and taxes.If they currently pay you less than what you're spending on it (including maintenance, fuel, insurance, etc.) FOR COMPANY USE, then you're losing money and should deduct that from your income. And you have to document everything very carefully, otherwise the IRS will say the $400 a month is income. That means you have to keep track of every mile driven for personal vs. business use, every receipt, etc. For them it's much easier, the $400 is a deduction and that's the end of it. No recordkeeping.

This is a bad arrangement for you, and I would avoid it altogether. A better arrangement is for them to pay you the standard per mile amount for business use of personal vehicle but that has some issues also. At any rate, it's absurd to lose money on the vehicle, you're just working for lower wages than your paycheck shows.

The second issue is insurance. Does your insurance know that you're using it for business? Do they charge you extra for it? (Yes they do if they know). Are you reimbursed for that?

The lettering is worth something to the company or they wouldn't ask you. How much is that "something"? Are they going to pay you that "something"?

Sounds to me like the company is squeezing the employees and you let them. If you're OK with that, fine, don't complain. If not, negotiate something.

[Tom Bainbridge]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

check with your insurance company and vehicle licensing authority

in the mean time the guy is trying to renegotiate your contract of employment. if he wants to negotiate? and you are "up for a laugh" do what i did :)

i said "yes" to his company's color scheme and lettering fonts, but with MY name and contact details and he paid for the vehicle wrap ..... i didn't utter the word "no" to him

an update.......... i don't work for him anymore and the insurance company wanted more money. so if it had ever got to "push and shove" my insurance company would have said the word "no"

edit, this is said with hindsight, i would have gone a bit further down the road with him on the negotiation but i'm glad i didn't, now i will never even contemplate such a move again

[BThomas]

Re: what to do about My vechicle

Vinyl letters can not be taken off and on if you should want to do a side job. Something for the company you work for to think about.
Some towns do not allow lettered trucks to park overnight in a residential neighborhood - Better check.
Listen to the wife.
BillT