Film crew hire/Travel, hotels and vans
Travel, hotels and vans for a UK shoot. Mileage, licences, clean air zones and where crews stay.
A crew working away from home needs paying to get there, a van someone is licensed to drive, a route checked against the clean air zones, and a bed near the call. Here’s how each works across the UK, from the APA terms to Glasgow’s low emission zone, and how it goes on our quote: at cost, each item on its own line.
Mileage · APA terms
50p a mile
Travel-only day · APA terms
5-hour minimum
Car licence · category B
Vans up to 3,500kg
Older van · Bristol
£9 a day
On this page
01 The APA terms
How crew travel is paid
The clearest published rules are clause 3 of the APA’s recommended crew terms, an agreement with Bectu, effective from 1 September 2026. They’re a recommendation for commercials, not law, and don’t automatically apply to corporate or documentary work, but they’re the benchmark the trade quotes.
Travel time
Paid at single time, the basic hourly rate (a tenth of the day rate), whatever the day. On a working day it’s the time spent travelling less the first hour each way, and none is due if travel and work together come to less than 11 hours.
A travel-only day
Paid by the hour at the basic rate, with a five-hour minimum. The next working day is then counted base to base: hotel to hotel.
Mileage
50p a mile for crew who drive to a location. For a London company it’s measured from W1F 9SE, the APA’s Soho postcode, and nothing is due to a first location inside the M25 or for a studio shoot. Windsor Castle, about 23 miles out, comes to 2 × 23 × 50p: £23. A company outside London uses the same formula with a 20-mile radius from its own address.
Flights
On a scheduled passenger service, with meals on the way. More than four hours in the air means no shooting that day; more than eight, none for 24 hours after landing, except in exceptional circumstances.
Collecting kit
Picking up equipment or people from somewhere other than home is working time, base to base, unless it’s kit the crew member is hiring to you.
Meals
A free meal or a £7.50 meal allowance (clause 6.2). Breakfast isn’t compulsory.
What it leaves out
Clause 3 doesn’t apply to production managers, production assistants or runners, and the terms have no clause on hotels or per diems: those are agreed job by job.
How we quote it
We crew from the city the shoot is in where we can. When someone travels, their travel, mileage and hotel go on the quote at cost, each on its own line, before anything is booked, with our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance on top, as on everything we book. How the day, overtime and the APA card work: film crew rates in the UK.
02 Vans and drivers
Vans, licences and drivers’ hours
Most crew vans are under 3.5 tonnes and drive on a car licence. Above that, the licence and the rules on hours change. From GOV.UK, checked October 2026.
Category B
A car licence covers vehicles up to 3,500kg, or up to 4,250kg for a zero-emission van.
Category C1
From 3,500kg to 7,500kg. Licences issued before 1997 normally include it: GOV.UK goes by when the licence was issued, not when the test was passed.
Drivers’ hours
Goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes come under the stricter drivers’ hours rules. A van up to 7.5 tonnes carrying equipment for the driver’s own work, within 100km of base, is exempt, as long as driving isn’t the driver’s main job.
Into Europe
From 1 July 2026, vans over 2.5 tonnes on international hire-or-reward work between the UK and the EU are covered by the rules too. Check before a UK van goes to a shoot abroad.
What jobs have taught us
The crew’s own vans
Gaffers and grips usually bring their own kit van. On a four-day job in London in 2025, putting the crew and the kit in one van saved the client about £1,000.
Who drives
On a small job, often the production assistant. For Swanson Studios in 2023, our own production assistant drove an eight-seat van for the team, with a kit van alongside; on a studio day in Woolwich in January 2025, our van did the kit collection and drop-off.
Know the height
A 2.02m van was too tall for the car park under One Canada Square in October 2024, and a gaffer’s Transit on a City of London job in 2026 stood 2.8m. Five of Birmingham City Council’s seven city-centre car parks stop at 2.1 metres or lower. Ask the location about loading and height before the van is booked.
03 Road charges
Clean air zones, city by city
England’s charging zones run round the clock, midnight to midnight, and charge older vehicles that miss the standard, usually Euro 6 for diesel and Euro 4 for petrol. Scotland’s fine them instead. Check the registration on GOV.UK’s vehicle checker before a van is booked.
| Zone | Older van, a day | Cars | HGVs and coaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| London ULEZ, every borough | £12.50 | Charged, £12.50 | Over 3.5 tonnes pay the LEZ instead: £100 or £300 |
| Bristol | £9 | Charged, £9 | £100 |
| Bath | £9 | Not charged | £100 |
| Bradford | £9 | Not charged | £50 |
| Sheffield | £10 | Not charged | £50 |
| Tyneside: Newcastle and Gateshead | £12.50 | Not charged | £50 |
| Birmingham, inside the Middleway | £8 | Charged | £50 |
| Portsmouth | Not charged | Not charged | Charged |
| Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen | No charge, but a £60 fine (£30 within 14 days), doubling for each repeat within 90 days, up to £480 | Fined the same way | Fined |
| Greater Manchester | Not on GOV.UK’s list of charging zones | Not on the list | Not on the list |
Central London on top
In the daytime a van in central London also pays the Congestion Charge, £18 a day from 2 January 2026, the same as a car. An older van in the zone on a weekday pays both. Our London logistics guide has the hours.
Birmingham
Every road inside the A4540 Middleway, not the Middleway itself, round the clock. Production Central WM says the charge applies to a production that’s in the city only to film; a missed charge is a £120 penalty, £60 within 14 days. More in our Birmingham logistics guide.
Glasgow
Enforced since 1 June 2023, 24 hours a day, to Euro 4 petrol and Euro 6 diesel.
Manchester
GOV.UK’s list of England’s charging zones, updated 12 February 2026, doesn’t include Greater Manchester.
On a quote
We check each van against the zones on its route before it’s booked. If an older van is the only one that will do, its charge goes on the quote as its own line, for each day it’s in the zone.
04 Trains and flights
Trains, planes, and kit on board
A camera operator with a bag of batteries, cards and drives can go by train. Lighting, stands, track and carts go by van.
GWR
No more than three pieces of luggage each: up to two large items of 23kg or less, and one small one. The racks at the end of each carriage take bags up to 25 x 40 x 75cm, and staff can’t help with extra-large bags. Nothing in its rules covers professional kit.
The Tube and TfL
From 24 September 2026, only what you can carry yourself, stairs and escalators included, and nothing over 2m long. Setting up a tripod or any camera support on the network needs TfL’s permission, and so does commercial filming.
From Euston and Manchester
Avanti and CrossCountry set their own limits: our Birmingham logistics guide has both.
Flying in
Plan the jet lag into the schedule. Swanson Studios landed at Heathrow from Oregon at midday on 27 November 2023, two days before their first shoot day. Our London logistics guide has the rail links from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City.
05 Hotels and unit bases
Where crews stay, and where the vans go
The APA terms say nothing about hotels or per diems, so they’re agreed before the booking, job by job. Here’s how we book them.
Near the call
On a stage day, stay near the studio; on a location day, near the station everyone arrives at. In London that means Park Royal, Acton, Hayes or near Heathrow for the stages; at the NEC, seven hotels sit on the campus, within walking distance of the halls.
Ahead, in each city
For a shoot that moves, book every city’s rooms before the first day. For Swanson Studios we booked our crew’s hotels in Portsmouth, London and Oxford; Swanson’s own team stayed where their client suggested.
Two locations, two hotels
For four days split between Cannon Street and Uxbridge in 2025, the visiting team stayed by Hyde Park and in Uxbridge, and we booked the rooms so the VAT could be reclaimed.
Unit bases
A base on council land goes through the council or its film office: Production Central WM in the West Midlands, the Parking Team in Cornwall, Westminster’s filming team for Berkeley Square and St James’s Square. Parking suspensions are always the council’s call: filming locations and permits in the UK.
Food
The APA terms give crew a free meal or a £7.50 allowance. On a small crew, lunch is a delivery to the location; for Swanson’s three days, we booked breakfast and lunch.
06 Swanson Studios · Portsmouth, London and Oxford · November and December 2023
Three cities in three days
Swanson Studio flew in from Oregon to photograph and interview surgeons and the people around them for Intuitive, the surgical robotics company. They brought the cameras. We brought everything else: lighting, sound, the crew, two vans, the hotels, and the drive from Portsmouth to London to Oxford, one city a day.
01
Portsmouth · 29 November
Swanson landed at Heathrow at midday on the 27th, and we met them and drove them south. Call at 09:00, about three hours to build a stills set and an interview set, interviews and portraits through the day, a planned wrap at seven, then on to London that night.
02
London · 30 November
The same two sets in a new room, in the same order. Then both vans packed, and the drive to Oxford.
03
Oxford · 1 December
The last build of the week, at Intuitive’s office at Oxford Science Park, then back to London. The sound recordist sent the week’s audio and reports the next day.
What it took
Vans
An eight-seat van for the team and a kit van, driven by our own production assistant.
Hotels
Our crew’s, booked in each city. Swanson stayed where their client suggested.
Kit
Lighting, grip and stills kit from two London hire houses. Swanson’s two REDs, lenses and drives came as carry-on, in three cases.
Notice
19 days from enquiry to the first shoot.
07 On the quote
What goes on the quote, line by line
Travel is quoted at cost, each item on its own line, before anything is booked. On a crew hire, everything we book carries our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance.
Travel time and mileage
For crew travelling in from outside the shoot’s city, agreed before the booking.
Trains and flights
At the fare we pay.
Vans
A hire van, or the crew’s own van with its mileage.
Road charges
The Congestion Charge, clean air and low emission charges and tolls, each on its own line, for each day they apply.
Parking
Bay suspensions and car parks, at the council’s or the operator’s price.
Hotels and food
Rooms in each city, and meals on the day.
As a production
If we’re the producer of record, travel, hotels and vans are lines in a production budget, with our 15% production fee and 5% insurance and contingency on the whole: UK production service company.
Want the travel sorted?
Send the dates, the locations and who’s travelling. We’ll check the vans against the clean air zones and book the vans, hotels and trains with the crew, each on its own line. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Quick contact form
08 Questions
Travel, hotels and vans in the UK: questions
How is crew travel paid on a UK shoot?
On commercials, the APA’s recommended terms (from 1 September 2026) pay travel time at the basic hourly rate, less the first hour each way on a working day, and nothing if travel and work total under 11 hours. A travel-only day is paid by the hour with a five-hour minimum. Corporate and documentary work isn’t covered by the terms, so travel is agreed job by job. On our quotes it’s at cost, each item on its own line.
Do crew get paid mileage?
Under the APA terms, 50p a mile. For a London company it’s measured from W1F 9SE in Soho, with nothing to a first location inside the M25 or for a studio shoot; outside London, from a 20-mile radius of the production company. On our quotes, mileage is at cost, on its own line, before anything is booked.
Can a crew member drive a 3.5-tonne van on a car licence?
Yes. A category B licence covers vehicles up to 3,500kg, or up to 4,250kg for a zero-emission van. From 3,500kg to 7,500kg the driver needs category C1, which licences issued before 1997 normally include. Goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes also come under the stricter drivers’ hours rules. Checked on GOV.UK, October 2026.
Which UK cities charge older vans to drive in?
In England: London’s ULEZ (£12.50 a day), Bristol (£9), Bath (£9), Bradford (£9), Sheffield (£10), Tyneside (£12.50) and Birmingham, inside the Middleway (our Birmingham guide has its charge). Portsmouth charges HGVs, not vans. Scotland’s zones in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen fine instead: £60, or £30 within 14 days. Checked October 2026.
Is there a clean air zone charge in Manchester?
Greater Manchester isn’t on GOV.UK’s list of England’s charging clean air zones, updated 12 February 2026. We still check every van against the zones on its route before it’s booked.
Can crew take kit on the train?
Some. GWR allows no more than three pieces of luggage each, with up to two large items of 23kg or less, and its staff can’t help with extra-large bags. On the Tube, only what you can carry yourself and nothing over 2m. A camera operator with a bag of batteries and drives goes by train; lighting, stands and track go by van.
Do the APA terms cover hotels and per diems?
No. There’s no clause on overnight accommodation or per diems, only a free meal or a £7.50 meal allowance, and after a travel day the next working day is counted hotel to hotel. Hotels are agreed job by job; on our quotes they’re at cost, city by city, on their own lines.
Can you move a crew between cities on consecutive days?
Yes. For Swanson Studios we shot Portsmouth, London and Oxford on three consecutive days in November and December 2023, striking the sets each evening and driving to the next city that night, with two vans and our crew’s hotels booked ahead in each city.
Can you book the travel, hotels and vans with the crew?
Yes. Send the dates, the locations and who’s travelling. We check the vans against the clean air zones and book the vans, hotels, trains and parking with the crew, each on its own line at cost, with our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance on top. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
Around the crew
More for UK shoots
01
Crew rates
Day rates for every role, the APA/Bectu card, overtime and turnaround, and what goes on the quote.
02
Insurance
Employers’ and public liability, kit cover, who asks for what, and how a shoot ends up uninsured.
03
Kit and equipment hire
Rental houses across the UK, wet hire and dry hire, and the crew’s own kit.
04
Locations and permits
Film offices and councils, landowners, railways, drones and roads, nation by nation.
