Just got scheduled on an IO that is over 150 miles or 2.5-3 hours away. The in charge expects me to drive there and back in one day. Is that reasonable? The IO will be "short".

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Reasonable as long as the count isn't horribly early in the morning. I live about that same distance from my home office, so I do that kind of drive one-way all the time and round-trip on rare occasions. It isn't the easiest thing waking up early, driving a lot, and then working, but it's not as bad as it sounds on a one-off basis. Anything more than once a week is a totally different story.

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I agree with you on two points: where I live and where I work is a personal decision, and that a "short" count living up to expectations is usually a crapshoot.

That said, I have to disagree with you on a couple of other things: no compensation and I'm being obnoxious. OP should be eligible for a huge mileage reimbursement, close to $200. Some of that will be eaten in cost of mileage, but I have yet to meet a colleague who doesn't experience at least some profit from mileage reimbursements. As for obnoxiousness... What is obnoxious about saying "I do this more than 90% of people in this bowl, and I can attest that it's doable?" I never forced OP to do the drive; I simply pointed out that people do this all the time, they don't die, and the work gets done well. OP could have some extenuating circumstances, like bad weather, odd hours, or driving anxiety, that would make a hotel reasonable if not necessary. But there was no such information in any of OP's posts. Because of that, if I have to choose "yes hotel" or "no hotel" with the information I have, I lean towards "no hotel".

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If the IO is actually short it’s relatively reasonable, on the crap end of the spectrum. If the IO takes longer than expected, I’d make sure on the front end that you can bill your overnight costs to the client - no exceptions.

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Leaving early in the morning to catch a flight or drive to a client is absolutely part of the job and expected. It is one day! Seriously I don’t get all the drama. I think some of you got into the wrong profession......

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This is my view. I could get a hotel for under 100 which is half of what the client is charged for an hour of my time

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Never heard the IO acronym used before.

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That’s definitely reasonable. Done it plenty of times. But if it’s like a 5am count, then that would justify a hotel stay the night before.

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No. I think up to 50 is ok..

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Nobody uses it! We call it inventory since we do test counts too- more than just observing!

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Everybody (that follows standards) does test counts too, beyond just observing inventory, where appropriate. This is ridiculous and a lil ocd.

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How did it go last year? Was it actually short, start on time, etc

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Having to leave at 5am is not reasonable. And every single “short” inventory I’ve gone to has still been at least 6 hours.

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Incorrect senior manager. If you want to be awake all day, go ahead but there are some BU that will not allow it. For example I just scheduled a count in northern Alabama and I was told by my BU folks that it is up to the counter to stay in a hotel or not.

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SM1: its not either or with hotel or mileage! It becomes both if op stays at a hotel.

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Check your firm policy. Most have a set number of miles above which you can expense a hotel.

Policy dictates a hotel is an option it necessary but the senior said it isnt

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Depends on if it's a cycle count or a full wall to wall PIO. I've had counts that lasted 3-4 hours and if that's the case, I don't think a hotel would be necessary. You are also earning a lot from the mileage reimbursement with perhaps an hour over the standard 8 hours including driving time (if the count is short enough).

That being said, if the count ends up being a full 8 hours (or even longer), I would book a hotel that night and expense all my meals.

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