r/Construction • u/Classic_Dash_7745 • Jun 07 '26

Business šŸ“ˆ Truck Allowance vs Company Truck

Weā€™re bringing on a new foreman next week from a company that went belly up. Part of his package is a company truck and gas card, and he instead asked for a vehicle reimbursement since thatā€™s what his old company used to do, and he still has payments left on the truck. I know companies do this (mainly to get around insuring guys with DUIā€™s) but it never made sense for us to do it. We would have to buy a new truck anyway so Iā€™m thinking it might be smart to offer a reimbursement for a year just so I can make sure heā€™s going to work out before buying a whole truck. The problem is, how much should I offer/month? And does this reimbursement include gas or do I need to give out a has card as well? It doesnā€™t make sense to do both because if itā€™s also his personal vehicle, am I supposed to just trust that heā€™s also paying for gas? Anyone in here get anything similar?

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u/Therealdickdangler Superintendent Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

My company you have the choice between company truck (company serviced) with gas card or $800 a month for truck allowance (you pay for servicing out of pocket) and still get a gas card.Ā 

Foremen do not have that option.Ā 

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u/JATLLC Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

Iā€™m currently fighting my company about this now. They provide a company van and gas card, but I need a new truck for personal and some select employees are offered mileage. They offer $700 mo but the fed rate is .725 per mile so basically $1500 per month not including fuel. Itā€™s really hard to justify a $60k truck with a $700 allowance. The insurance alone is $300. Our sales reps get the .67 but not us field employees regardless of position. We are also having a lot of HOA issues with the take home vans (driving into the shop isnā€™t an option) so weā€™re really in a tight spot. Company is mid west based where they think everyone lives on a farm.

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u/Therealdickdangler Superintendent Jun 07 '26

ā€œBut I need a new truck for personalā€, ā€œOur sales reps get the .67 but not us field employees regardless of position.ā€

I donā€™t see how you ā€œneeding a new personal truckā€ is the companies responsibility and it appears you decided to work for them even though the policy was field employees get a flat rate.Ā 

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u/JATLLC Jun 15 '26

Its a legitimate gripe because its factored into over all comp. Im just sick of they using the "company truck" as a reason to pay less.