How the vehicle predates work-from-home by decades—and why it’s time for a modern approach
While remote work has shifted from novel to normal in corporate America, millions of employees have been working remotely for decades—not from kitchen tables or home offices, but from the driver’s seat of their vehicles. For the 33% of the American workforce who spend significant time driving for work, the car has always been their primary workspace.
New research from Motus reveals a striking reality: Driving employees spend an average of 13 hours weekly working from their vehicles—roughly equivalent to one-third of a standard work week. Yet despite this massive workforce of field teams and driving employees, most organizations continue to treat vehicle programs as an afterthought rather than recognizing them as critical workplace infrastructure.
The Original Remote Office Revolution
Long before Zoom calls and standing desks, field teams were conducting business from their cars. Healthcare professionals driving between patient visits, sales representatives traveling to client meetings, construction managers moving between job sites—these workers have been proving for generations that productivity does not require a traditional office.
The parallels to today’s work-from-home movement are striking:
- Flexibility over rigidity: Just as remote workers prefer flexible schedules, driving employees report 43% higher satisfaction when they can choose vehicles that match their personal preferences
- Technology as an enabler: Modern mileage tracking tools save workers more than 21 hours annually on administrative tasks—like how collaboration software streamlines remote work
- Results over attendance: Companies implementing automated vehicle reimbursement tools report 23% faster expense processing and 17% fewer disputes
Beyond Productivity: The Driver Satisfaction Factor
The data reveals something fascinating about employee preferences in personal vehicle use for work. When former fleet drivers transition to personal vehicle reimbursement programs, 68% report increased job satisfaction. The reason? Choice and control.
Just as remote workers value the flexibility to design their home office, driving employees want to choose vehicles that serve both their professional needs and personal lifestyle. The top benefits they cite include:
- Lifestyle fit: The ability to drive a vehicle that matches personal preferences
- Ownership comfort: Feeling more comfortable in a personally-owned vehicle
- Maintenance control: Choosing preferred service providers
- Tax advantages: Receiving tax-free reimbursements
This preference for personal choice over corporate-controlled options mirrors broader workplace trends toward employee empowerment and autonomy.
Regional Challenges in the Mobile Workspace
One area where the mobile workspace faces unique challenges is geographic equity. Unlike remote workers who primarily deal with internet connectivity variations, driving employees face dramatic cost disparities based on location.
Fuel costs in Western states are significantly higher than in the Midwest, yet many companies use uniform national reimbursement rates. This creates a situation where identical work generates different net compensation based purely on geography—a fairness issue that forward-thinking organizations are addressing through region-specific reimbursement models.
Companies implementing regionally-adjusted programs report up to 32% higher employee satisfaction, linking fairness directly to retention.
The Future of the Mobile Workspace
As the broader workforce continues to embrace flexible work arrangements, it’s time to extend that same innovation to America’s field teams and driving employees. This means:
Investing in mobile workspace technology: Automatic mileage tracking, streamlined expense processing, and integrated platforms that make administrative tasks as seamless as possible.
Embracing choice and flexibility: Allowing employees to select vehicles that match both work requirements and personal preferences, just as remote workers customize their home offices.
Addressing regional equity: Implementing fair, location-aware reimbursement that accounts for real-world cost variations.
Recognizing vehicle-based work as legitimate work: Understanding that the car is a workplace that deserves the same attention to productivity, comfort, and efficiency as any traditional office.
Conclusion: It’s Time to Modernize America’s Original Remote Office
The mobile workspace is not going anywhere—if anything, it’s growing. As businesses expand geographically and customer expectations increase, the need for field teams and driving employees will only intensify. Organizations that recognize this reality and invest in modernizing their mobile workspace infrastructure will gain a significant competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent.
The era of treating car-based work as a second-class workplace arrangement is ending. Companies that embrace the car as a legitimate workspace—and support it with the technology, flexibility, and fairness that driving employees deserve—will unlock the full potential of America’s original remote workforce.
After all, they have been proving that work happens everywhere for decades. It’s time the rest of us caught up.
This analysis is based on survey data from 4,258 driving employees and operational insights from Motus platform data representing millions of business miles driven annually. For the complete findings, download The State of Corporate Driving in America: 2025 Benchmark Report.
