Long distance travel charges?

mshu7 · 06-26-07, 11:11

Hey guys, I have what I hope is an easy, quick question for some of you. Recently, I've been getting calls to do details that are outside of my normal ~15 mile working radius. My pricing is based on customers being inside that ~15 mile radius but I'm not sure what/how to charge for stuff outside of that.

For example, I just got an email to detail two vehicles that are almost 50 miles away. How would you/do you charge for mobile details that are out of your area?

Since I'm still new into the business I need to take all the work I can get but I almost think this is too far away, unless they want to spend the extra money it will take to bring me to them.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I really appreciate any help!

HMAD · 06-26-07, 11:14

I would charge per mile past the 15 mile radius that you work in. If at all possible I would try to book more than one detail in that area or at least a couple of wash and waxes on top of your full detail.

CHAOS · 06-26-07, 11:15

perhaps some sort of surcharge is in order maybe tack on $10-20 for the extra distance...

lecchilo · 06-26-07, 11:34

I have 3 charges when doing mobile... so far it's worked fine

1) $4/gallon @ 20mpg... so if I'm driving 20 miles, it would be a $4 charge... in your case 50 miles would be $10
2) travel time @ an hourly rate of $30... so if I drive for 30 mins, charge is $15
3) $15 load/unload supplies... considering it takes about 30 mins to pack up everything into little bins, put it in the car, etc.

Just remember to charge double for #1 & #2, since you're going to drive back home as well

GregCavi · 06-26-07, 12:09

I have done quite a bit of traveling for details. Typically it is 50-80 miles. I charge an extra $100 to drive there and back to do the detail. It is a lot of money, I know, but if they say they don't want a detail because of the travel, that is fine by me because I don't enjoy the drive anyway.

Greg

mshu7 · 06-26-07, 12:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregCavi

I have done quite a bit of traveling for details. Typically it is 50-80 miles. I charge an extra $100 to drive there and back to do the detail. It is a lot of money, I know, but if they say they don't want a detail because of the travel, that is fine by me because I don't enjoy the drive anyway.

Greg

Thanks for everyones input.

Greg, I kinda feel the same way you do about traveling. I'd really like to keep the vast majority of my work w/in 15-20 miles max. Obviously, if I think some one is going to be a great repeat client w/lots of work for me I'd go farther.

Again, thanks for everyones input. Keep it coming!

SIR WAXALOT · 06-26-07, 12:37

I charge .50 cents per mile and have traveled as far as 160 miles!

Perfectionist · 06-26-07, 01:06

I would add at least $100 travel fees. You get stuck in traffic and the enire day could be messed up.

mshu7 · 06-27-07, 11:38

Ok, I think I've come up with a plan.

My standard prices will include my travel charges up to 20 miles round trip. Outside of 20 miles round-trip, I'll charge $.80 cents per mile.

Example
50 miles round trip
50 - 20 = 30 miles (since the first 20 miles are already figured into my pricing)
30 x .80 = $24 travel fee

Edit: I took a small business class back in February and the instructor had previous worked for the IRS for 30 years and had a nice resume of other things he had done previously so he seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about what he was teaching. Anyway, he said that the federal mileage reimbursement rate is fine for an older car, but he said for a new car it's around $.80/mile to operate (plus or minus depending on the vehicle). I'll be working out of an '07 Tacoma (see sig) so that's why I decided to go with $.80/mile

Thoughts?