Long Days on the Road? 8 Ways to Travel in Comfort

When you work in the trades, a long day doesn’t always start when you arrive on site. Sometimes, you’ve already been up since 5 am, loaded the van and spent two hours on the motorway before the actual work has even begun. Then, once you’ve finished for the day, you’ve got the journey back to think about.

If you’re doing that once, you can probably put up with a slightly uncomfortable van or a cab full of clutter. When you’re travelling to the same site five days a week, or working away for a few weeks or months, it’s a different story.

At Intack Self Drive, between our range of daily hire and flexi hire vehicles, we know a thing or two about spending plenty of time behind the wheel.

So, we’ve pulled together a few of our favourite ways to make those long days on the road that little bit more comfortable!

1. Get comfortable before you set off

You know how it goes. You’re running five minutes behind, your tools are loaded, you jump in the van, and you’re off. But if somebody else drove the van yesterday and the seat is an inch too far forward, you’ll probably know about it by the time you get to the other end of a two-hour journey.

Before you leave, give yourself a minute to get properly set up. Adjust your seat, steering wheel, and mirrors so you’re not stretching for the pedals, leaning toward the wheel, or sitting awkwardly for the next hundred miles.

It sounds like a small thing, and it is. But when you’re doing the same long journey several times a week, those small things start to matter a lot more.

2. Don't let your cab turn into another toolbox

If your van is your workplace, it doesn’t take long for the cab to start looking like one too. There’s Monday’s coffee cup in the door, a hi-vis on the passenger seat, invoices shoved in the glovebox, a tape measure somewhere under the seat and three charging cables that have somehow tied themselves together.

For a ten-minute drive to your next job, you might not care. If you’ve got another two hours on the M6 ahead of you, having some actual space around you is much nicer.

Try to keep the cab for the things you need while you’re travelling and put tools, materials and equipment in the load area where they belong. Even spending five minutes clearing everything out at the end of the week can stop the cab becoming increasingly cramped as a job goes on.

And if you regularly find that your tools are spilling into the passenger area because there isn’t enough room in the back, it might be the van rather than your organisation that’s the problem.

3. Don't try to do every long journey in one go

When the sat nav says two hours and 45 minutes, it’s tempting to think, “I’ll just get there.” That might feel fine at the beginning of the journey. It can feel very different when you’ve already been driving for a couple of hours, particularly if you were on site all day before you set off.

The Highway Code recommends taking a break of at least 15 minutes after every two hours of driving. If you know you’ve got a long trip ahead, factor a stop into your journey rather than waiting until you’re desperate for one.

Get out, stretch your legs, grab something to drink and give yourself a few minutes away from the driver's seat. You’re probably not going to be thrilled about adding another stop when all you want to do is get home, but arriving 15 minutes later is better than spending the last hour of the journey wishing you’d pulled over.

4. Pack for the journey, not just the job

You’ve remembered the drill, batteries, PPE and everything else you need once you get to site - but what about the three hours before you get there?

If long-distance travel is becoming a regular part of the job, it’s worth keeping a few things in the van specifically for the journey. A bottle of water, a flask and something to eat can save you from paying motorway service prices every time you stop.

A decent charging cable or power bank is another one worth having, especially when your phone is doing double duty as your sat nav and the person on site keeps ringing to ask where you are.

If you’re working away, throw in a spare layer, waterproof and change of workwear too. Jobs overrun, weather changes and plans have a habit of changing at exactly the wrong time. Having a few basics with you means one less problem to sort out when they do.

5. Think about the journey when choosing your van

It’s easy to choose a van based on what you need to fit in the back. But when a new contract means an hour or two on the motorway each way, the time you’ll spend in the front matters too.

Think about what those journeys are actually going to look like. Are you travelling on your own or taking a couple of the team with you? Will you be carrying your usual tools, or loading up with extra equipment because you’re working further from home? And, importantly, are you going to be comfortable doing that journey day after day?

If it’s just you and your kit, a Transit Custom could give you the space you need without going bigger than necessary. If a few of you are heading to the same site every morning, a crew van gives you room for the team as well as your equipment, rather than having everyone make the journey separately.

6. Give your tools enough space too

You don't want to spend three hours with a toolbox where your passenger's feet are supposed to go.

If you’re working away, you might be carrying more than you normally would for a local job. You may need to bring additional tools, materials, PPE, and equipment, especially if popping back to the yard isn't an option.

That’s when having enough load space becomes about more than simply getting everything through the back doors. Your equipment should be appropriately secured in the load area, while you and anyone travelling with you have the cab space you need. If the amount of kit you're taking has suddenly increased, a larger van could give you the additional room you need rather than letting bags and equipment gradually creep into the front.

After all, nobody wants to spend Monday morning playing Tetris with a week's worth of tools before they can leave.

7. Make sure your van is ready for the extra miles

Doing 20 miles to local jobs is one thing. Suddenly adding hundreds of motorway miles every week is another. Before a long project starts, make sure your van is ready for what you’re asking it to do. Check things like your tyres, lights, fluid levels and screenwash, rather than discovering something needs attention when you’re miles from home and supposed to be on site.

It’s also worth thinking a little further ahead. If your own van is already busy with local work, or you don't want to put all of those additional miles on it, using another vehicle for the contract could be an option.

With one of our flexi hire vehicles, servicing and maintenance are included, along with the manufacturer's warranty and 24-hour breakdown cover. So if you need a van for a project lasting several weeks or months, you've got support in place while you're away rather than another vehicle to manage entirely by yourself.

8. Make long days on the road easier with Flexi van hire

If the work is there, sometimes you’ve just got to travel for it. A good contract isn't suddenly going to move 100 miles closer to home because you'd rather have an extra hour in bed. When you're spending hours getting to and from site, the journey becomes part of your working day too, and it’s worth treating it that way.

Get yourself comfortable before you leave, keep the cab somewhere you actually want to sit, give yourself a break on longer journeys and make sure the vehicle you're using suits the job you're doing. And if you've landed a contract that means plenty of travelling but your current van isn't right for it, you don't necessarily need to buy another one.

At Intack Self Drive, our flexi hire service gives you a middle ground between short-term van hire and committing to buying or leasing another vehicle. Hire starts from a minimum of 28 days, so if you’ve picked up a contract that means several weeks or months of travelling, you can have a van for as long as the work requires it. If the job gets extended, keep the van for longer; when you no longer need it, you can return it!

You can browse our available flexi hire vans online, or if you need help finding the perfect van, just give our friendly team a call on 01254 57811, and we'll help you find a vehicle that fits the work — and all those miles in between.