Trying to gather some info regarding the industry standard for (US) mariners… If your company/contract/collective bargaining agreement provides travel to and from the vessel, I’d appreciate the feedback on a couple questions:
Are you paid full day rate door to door? If not, what is the arrangement? (Half pay? Or some fixed amount?)
What fare class are you flown? Are there any situations that you or a member of your crew would be flown in an upgraded class? (Flights over a certain duration, officers, etc)
Are expenses during travel reimbursed or covered? (Baggage fees, meals, etc)
Travel expenses door to door are covered by the company. Most personnel are hourly and are paid up to 8hrs from leaving home, but if travel runs over 8hrs there is no OT paid. Typically we’re flown economy, on occasion for international long haul flights we’re allowed premium economy. Expenses for travel are paid by the company, generally in line with GSA per diem, though we can exceed that with approval from the boss.
I know some companies require mariners to pay their own travel expenses and I think it’s nuts. Any serious company in this day and age should pay for travel expenses.
work for a large tug company, expenses are paid door to door including your normal day rate. company books flights and hotels for you, ubers/cabs, and meals are reimbursed (have to submit receipts), up to 50 bucks per day for food. never heard of a receipt for cabs/ubers being rejected so i dont know that there is a daily limit. My previous company was the same set up but they also had a business account with lyft which was nice and everyone had an access code for it so you never paid ride expenses out of pocket
It is not only nuts they are reaching for the bottom of the barrel and deserve who they get. To obtain any license or certification to work on a ship now costs a lot of money out of the mariners pocket if the employer will not pay for training. For the same or less money a motivated person could become a certified welder capable of welding on nuclear vessels and make very good pay. That same welder would not be subject to the feast or famine of the maritime trade. That same welder would not have to buy a plane ticket or pay for a hotel room. Although the maritime industry served me well I never looked on it as a stable source of income. Bank the money during good times and ignore any company that wants you to travel half way across the country just for the honor of working for them.
My previous (Gulf Coast) tug company did not pay travel, and even with a massive day rate increase this year still does not. It really limits the pool of prospective mariners.
My current (NY) company pays licensed mariners’ airfare (mariners book their own flights through company contracted travel agent, choose your airline and airport, keep the miles), train, or actual fuel, half day on crew change day, and up to $60/mo car service reimbursement. I think if crew change goes more than four hours past noon, the off-signer gets a full day.
Could be better, especially with regard to unlicensed, many of whom are spending a couple days’ wages to get to and from work.
Mine pays for travel fare – flight or train fare, or mileage reimbursement if you drive over a certain distance. You can book your own travel and get reimbursed or have the company book it for you, either way you get to keep your miles.
They book officers in premium economy and unlicensed in economy – just domestic flights involved, no international. Not quite door to door; you have to get yourself to/from the airport or train station or whatever but the main bit of it gets covered.
They’ll reimburse baggage fees, and have storage on site for guys who want to keep things on site rather than haul work gear back and forth each time.
For overseas positions, my employer pays 1/2 day rate for one day of travel going to the vessel, 1/2 day embark day, 1/2 day disembark day, and 1/2 day for each day traveling home. (ie - Not quite door to door for some living far from their vessels).
Travel is booked in Economy class for all mariners.
Baggage fees are reimbursed for one extra bag above the base ticket. If the fare included one bag free, a second bag will be reimbursed.
Meals are reimbursed up to $10 for breakfast, $15 for lunch, and $20 for dinner.
Up until last year, most boat companies in the GOM paid little or no travel; I don’t know how long it had been that way (I had returned to the GOM after years overseas). From what I observed, when the competition for mariners got large, some started stepping up. Working now for a company (not in GOM) now that provides door-2-door travel.
We need to start naming and shaming companies that don’t pay travel.
My company pays full airfare with upgraded seats, if available, baggage fees, Uber, meals, etc. to anyplace I want to go (within reason). Full pay on crew change day. No travel pay yet, but we are working on it. (That’s not as much of an issue for either the company or Mariner with 70 day plus voyages. I’m only losing about four days per year.)
I am currently working international. I am paid door to door. Transportation also provided.
Full pay for travel, Per Diem for food, Hotels provided. I truly do not have to spend a penney of my own unless I want souvenirs, etc.
Domestic vessels I have not worked on in a while, but I believe they still pay 1/2 day travel to vessel plus mileage. Full day off. They put you in hotel night before and transport you to vessel. Also, paid transportation is pretty easy to request.
We are not a supply boat company nor a drilling company, somewhere in between. You make your own deal overall, so do not go in with a king high, make sure you have at least a full house.
Good luck
These bayou companies would get a lot more interest from all over if they’d just do company paid travel instead of “travel pay.”
Having seen some of the receipts from tickets they’ve bought on short notice for crewing up boats, they’d probably save money for the most part too with the discounted fares they can get. (Example, when I do my own travel I get a one time, $400 [before taxes] “travel pay” stipend for the hitch. When they flew me last time to my boat the bill was $198. Going home from the same place, the cheapest flight I could get was $290.)
I personally don’t think the bayou companies care too much about the employees. They will always do the bare minimum and will only do something about pay or benefits if they are having trouble filling positions. Here we are in 2024 and are making the same wages we were in 2012 -2013. After years of suppresed wages during the downturn, we finally got our day rate back up in 2022. We never got our 401k match back it’s still at 1.5%.
I can’t believe there are still companies that don’t pay for travel in this day and age!
Who the hell works for them?
Are they hiring people that are even licensed to work? the USCG should audit them lol.
I have never worked for a company that didn’t pay for travel. Travel is a basic, if you want me to show up and show up on time and at the right place - pay for my travel.
Although, I have worked with companies that like to book impossible connections and then freak out when their crew is stuck in an airport and the ship can’t leave but that’s a whole different story.
When I worked the oil field and driving to LA for a GOM supply or seismic boat/ship short term rotation two weeks to one month equal time on/off or 28 on/14 off and coming from the FL panahandle I was not paid, no one was even those traveling from the midwest or even further. It was understood travel was not compensated. We are talking mostly short GOM jobs. Overseas oil field was paid for obvious reasons. Am surprised they are still doing the same now.
Salaried here, paid the same year round. Travel is a neutral day, dont earn or use a vacation day while traveling. Its all booked by corporate travel office: flights, rental car, hotel (travel the day before joining). Meals, personal car mileage, baggage, and passport renewal are all reimbursed. Economy in the states and business class for all when flying international.
Hard to complain about but someone will find a way!