Please forgive me if I'm doing this wrong. Complete newbie to this. I'm looking for an average amount & "any policies" that everyone charges for travel fee's to a customers location with a service vehicle or equipment. With the cost of fuel rising and everything else for that matter I'm at a loss for market pricing. As my business has grown I'm having to travel up to 3 hours away to do an install, application or service. I primarily run a pick up or van with the occasional trailer. Additionally looking to gauge for local travel too. My "local" travel is even up to an hour in the Tri-State area. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thx in advance!
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Travel Fee for Sign Services?
- Thread starter RNJ3_ABS
- Start date
Scotchbrite
No comment
We charge our hourly service rate for travel. If we can group jobs together in the same location, we'll split that cost up between the jobs.
Thank you for the feedback. I purpose to split costs when grouping same day/location services as well. With your hourly service rate, does it include a fee for the vehicle and equipment or just the service tech(s)? Any ballpark on the amount you charge? I'm in a competitive but wildly sparatic market so there doesn't seem to be a consistent price as most shops do something different. I'm seen from $25 to $150 pending vehicle type, service, # of tech's, etc.
not long before the last election, i was still paying $1.87/gal.
ups, fedex and all my larger clients add fuel surcharges (in fact, ups will not let you log into worldship without downloading the daily fuel surcharges)
i never have applied a fuel surcharge, but i do not get the feeling prices will be dropping much, after fuel practically doubles, it annoys the hell out of me that last week one of the "news items" was a story about the average fuel price dropping by $0.01 (i felt like i won the lottery)
i think it is time that i add a line item for fuel surcharge
ups, fedex and all my larger clients add fuel surcharges (in fact, ups will not let you log into worldship without downloading the daily fuel surcharges)
i never have applied a fuel surcharge, but i do not get the feeling prices will be dropping much, after fuel practically doubles, it annoys the hell out of me that last week one of the "news items" was a story about the average fuel price dropping by $0.01 (i felt like i won the lottery)
i think it is time that i add a line item for fuel surcharge
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
It shouldn't be "shop rate" when you consider the added cost of running a vehicle.
If a job is large enough, I don't really add a separate line item for travel because my feeling is I'll go where there are bigger fish are biting.
If it's a small job, I charge $175/hr. (to and from) which pretty much brings you down to your shop rate once you figure in vehicle costs (gas, insurance, depreciation and maintenance.)
I don't combine jobs to give discounts because I never know how my schedule is going to shake out. I don't like one job depending on another to make it financially work. If I get to group two and save travel time, that's for my benefit.
If a job is large enough, I don't really add a separate line item for travel because my feeling is I'll go where there are bigger fish are biting.
If it's a small job, I charge $175/hr. (to and from) which pretty much brings you down to your shop rate once you figure in vehicle costs (gas, insurance, depreciation and maintenance.)
I don't combine jobs to give discounts because I never know how my schedule is going to shake out. I don't like one job depending on another to make it financially work. If I get to group two and save travel time, that's for my benefit.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
And the upkeep (or really the lack of ability thereof) for said vehicle as well.
Fuel and the products derived from petro based inputs (which tires is one, gotta love the prices for Load E tires (all 6 of them)) are being stressed from quite a few areas (not just the typically supply and demand, but also policies against ICE vehicles in general, but I digress).
I usually don't if it's a certain range from the shop, if it goes outside of that, there is a charge.
On my deliveries, I try to group them together as much when I'm actually doing the deliveries to help mitigate wear and tear.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
I would tend to think your hourly shop rate would include everything from utilities, insurances, rent/mortgage and just about every other cost, so I doubt thr upkeep on your truck is really that excessive. Your vehicles' overhead are most likely already in your initial overhead costs of just doing business. However, while your truck is gone, at least one or two people are missing from production, too. Therefore, their wages and all costs involved for them should be added on. Doubling an hourly rate should work. If you have a bucket ya add more and if a crane or whatever is needed add accordingly. On-site work doesn't come cheap. It's a luxury for your customer...... and they pay for it.
Pauly
Printrade.com.au
This.
We don't do installs. But having to having a line item for "fuel levy" or "travel fee" it gives your client a reason to shop more local where they think they don't charge a surcharge for travel.
Any surcharges should be in the product price.
You can be cheeky and have a line item "travel fee -
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
You would be quite surprised, considering that most manufactures are making it harder to do one's own vehicle upkeep (yes I do that, on a diesel DRW it is quite expensive to take it in to the shop (and have to wait etc for it to get done on the smaller stuff)) or actually able to take it anywhere outside of whatever OEM your vehicle is for repair. That's what I was really getting at. It's not just vehicles either, I remember quite a few threads on people not being able to get into service mode on their printers etc.
This actually goes into a lot of other industries as well (I keep on getting very high offers for an 80s tractor that I have and I'm not getting rid of it for the same reason that people are offering high amounts for it).
Anyway, that's what I was mainly getting at.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
But wild, if you put that into your monthly, quarterly or yearly vehicle maintenance, along with the hydraulics for the buckets and cranes, inspections and all the other stuff....... it should already be accounted for in normal usage. Now, if you only use your truck once a week or every other week for service calls or installations, that's different. Then, the cost might be spread out over a shorter time, but that is not your customer's fault. Between all of our few vehicles, it's about 83 qts of oi, too. Things add up, but it's better to make everyone pay for it, rather than look like a sorry sop and tell someone your woes of being in business.
Scotchbrite
No comment
The hourly rate depends on the truck and the number of people. We don't add on a huge amount for the truck versus the "shop rate" but it does matter. The big trucks don't get great fuel mileage and they will typically use more fuel traveling down the highway versus idling. At one point I figured out we were losing money on our hourly truck rate driving an hour away for a job.
For example, right now diesel here is around $4.50/gal. Our Elliott gets about 8mpg. Figure you can get about 50 miles traveled in an hour, that's a touch over 6 gallons consumed. An idling diesel typically consumes less than a gallon an hour. So fuel costs alone for travel versus working on site can have a significant impact.
I'm not one for the surcharge either. If prices go up and hold there long enough, we just change the hourly truck rate.
So you charge the same hourly rate whether you are in the shop or working on site in a pickup or a crane/bucket truck?
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
Tell your employees to drive faster and you won't loose money sending the truck out.
Bradley Signs
Bradley Signs
We have a trip charge for everyone, except in our own county.
We give a price for the work and tell them there is a trip charge added.
We have traveled from North Texas to the Southern Border.
If they will pay, we will go.
Nothing better than a paid weekend away.
You will not please everyone every time.
Our regular customers pay a trip charge every time we do work for them.
I have been in this trade all my life.
I finally reached a point and an age where I charge what I want.
If someone doesn't like it, there are a brazillion other sign people that will work for next to nothing.
I still eat and I still pay the bills and support my hobby.
Not as well as I used to, but good enough for me.
Believe me, we lose a lot of work for not budging on price, but who needs those type of customers anyway.
I'm not about to sell a sign for say, a thousand duckies, then drive a hundred miles for 15 minutes of work to stick it in the ground at $4.00 a gal.
We found our niche.
We give a price for the work and tell them there is a trip charge added.
We have traveled from North Texas to the Southern Border.
If they will pay, we will go.
Nothing better than a paid weekend away.
You will not please everyone every time.
Our regular customers pay a trip charge every time we do work for them.
I have been in this trade all my life.
I finally reached a point and an age where I charge what I want.
If someone doesn't like it, there are a brazillion other sign people that will work for next to nothing.
I still eat and I still pay the bills and support my hobby.
Not as well as I used to, but good enough for me.
Believe me, we lose a lot of work for not budging on price, but who needs those type of customers anyway.
I'm not about to sell a sign for say, a thousand duckies, then drive a hundred miles for 15 minutes of work to stick it in the ground at $4.00 a gal.
We found our niche.