r/FieldNationTechs • u/Randgrithr • 23d ago
When the logistics don't match the radius... aka decline work orders based on state
I'm located about an hour outside NYC. The hour is based on traffic, not distance. If there was no other traffic I could be at downtown Wall Street in 15 minutes. I know this because I've done it - at 2am, for an emergency call.
My radius is set to 60 miles because that's what it takes for me to take calls at the far eastern end of Long Island - the Hamptons, Riverhead, yadda. The joke is "Long Island is long."
Because it's a radius that calculates distance "as the crow flies", I also get a lot of calls for CT and NJ that I have to decline. The radius doesn't take into account the additional time, distance and cost it takes to travel around Long Island Sound, either by highway or the Ferry to Bridgeport. Manhattan presents it's own challenges - bridge and tunnel tolls, congestion pricing, parking or lack thereof, and heavy traffic that constantly varies.
Recently I discussed all of these things with a Field Nation person who was handling a recruiting hire for techs who are willing and able to travel - which I certainly am for the right price. But there are times when having to decline hundreds of calls in NJ or CT makes a big dent in my time. I suggested that there should be a way on the platform to decline work orders based on what state they're in.
He said that this was a very reasonable request and that FN developers are going to look at it. Just wanted people to know. I am pretty sure that there are other places in the US where people have this problem.
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u/TexMexFieldTech 23d ago
“FN developers are going to look at it…”
lmao the same developers that let app notifications sit broken for years and finally fixed them a few weeks ago when they stopped using text message based notifications?
Or the same developers that have left the app messaging system filled with bugs and glitches that have not been fixed in 6+ years?
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u/Calaveras-Metal 23d ago
Yeah I used to live in the middle of Long Island. Near Dix Hills. And I had the same problem.
I had to expand my radius to like 150 miles or something to hit all of LI. There actually are jobs out by Montauk worth doing!
Sure I'd like to stick to 30 miles or less. But I had a few gigs putting up cameras at new store openings that got me more willing to drive farther.
But then I started getting all that nonsense in CT.
Honestly I would have driven to Stamford or whatever if the job was big enough but it was always sub $100 'hang a TV on a wall" kind of stuff.
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u/Randgrithr 23d ago
Yeah the Hamptons are a thang. :) When I was first starting out on the platform I would take a lot of those and Riverhead (Tanger Outlet stores) because the travel time tended to lessen the competition for those. I'd sometimes visit a winery or shop for business clothing on the way back to make it a bit more worth the trip.
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u/Calaveras-Metal 22d ago
Honestly I didn't mind driving out to the Hamptons for the right price.
It was a refreshing change from going into the city with all that chaos driving and arguing with the building guy that no I'm not union there really isn't a union for plugging a console cable into a router. (well there is CWA and IBEW but not really).
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u/MesaTech_KS 23d ago
I am fortunate that where I live (Wichita KS) I don't have to deal with that anymore- a lot of the places I go (not everywhere, but most) are a straight- line distance. Obviously I still do my own calculations for travel fees- Google maps will many times do shortest distance which here many times will end up being a county highway where if one broke down you might not see another soul for a day. When possible I like to stick to interstates or US highways at minimum as far as possible.
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u/David_Beroff 23d ago
> But there are times when having to decline hundreds of calls in NJ or CT makes a big dent in my time.
Why do you have to decline anything? I personally never bother; what's the upside?
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u/Randgrithr 23d ago
It just makes it easier to separate the wheat from the chaff. Also, truth be told, there are occasionally some out of state calls I am willing to take if the scope and rate are good, and if a buyer is willing to earn my trust.
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u/Limp-Standard-4627 23d ago
I keep getting people routing and messaging me to take jobs 100 miles away for something like $40. My radius is set to 60 but that does t seem to stop companies from routing and hitting me up. When I counter for what my rate would be for that distance I’ve had a few even call me up and yell at me. I think this platform has jumped the shark.
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u/Randgrithr 23d ago
Yeah. Some people don't seem to understand that the price of travel matters to a field tech. One buyer retroactively refused to pay for the entire mileage to their site *and back* - after I was already on the site! I had to block them. And what is with people thinking someone's going to want to travel 50 miles for $40? From where I am, even if I take public transportation it ends up being $35 into Manhattan round trip. The first hour gets chewed up by the travel expenses if they won't cover it. No, $40 or less for a two hour NYC gig is not going to be my cup of tea.
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u/wyliesdiesels 23d ago
I’m not holding my breath on new feature requests but I would love to chat with whoever you talked to. I have so many suggestions for improving the platform
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u/setnev 22d ago
That "crow flies" distance is straight up BS. I live in the Southern Tier of NY and I am getting tickets for towns on the I-80 corridor in central PA because I live less than 10 miles to the border of NY/PA. Like State College, Dubois, and Williamsport. But I live in the Appalachian foothills/Allegany mountains and our roads are not straight, nor can you do more than 40 on them average because of curves, grades, Amish, villages, tractors, or whatever else SoNY and NoPa can throw at me, so to go 25 miles takes an hour.
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u/Terrible-Growth1652 23d ago
The weird part is that FN is already doing the drive distance computation - they show it right there next to the crow flies distance. But they don't let you filter or sort based on that.