I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?



--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

Stormin Mormon wrote:

I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

Add a fuel surcharge based on the change in cost per mile since you
calculated your rates, multiplied by the service call mileage.

If you set your rates based on $2.50 /gal gas and a 15 MPG van, cost per
mile is $0.167 (rounded). If the gas is up to $2.75, cost per mile is
now $0.184 (rounded), a difference of $0.017 per mile, so a surcharge
for a 18 mile service call is $0.306.

Of course these surcharges make sense for trucking companies driving
thousands of miles, but for a service guy doing local calls, it is
probably better to just absorb the $1 variation in the trip cost.

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:14:49 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

It makes perfect sense if you accept gasoline as payment.

--
Ned Simmons

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

I run a service business and I just set my hourly rate in my home coverage
area so that it can cover it. If I go to one site that's billable hours,
but only one fuel cost. If I am doing quicky service calls I organize them
by distance from each other when preactical. Outside my home coverage area
I charge a price per mile one way from my shop that varies based on the
price of fuel.

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:14:49 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?
No

db

I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

Yes, no, absolutely, I don't know, and maybe. Some businesses charge based
on mileage if their clients are different distances from the service point.
Others roll all their calls together, average them, then set the price for a
service call. It is dependent on your business. If your business is one
where you can go to the client's home, perform the job with minimal running
around time, and perhaps have a stocked truck to guarantee that, then you
would go with service call plus labor, or some compilation thereof. If the
job consists of going to the client, going to get parts or to fabricate the
job, and return, then mileage would have to figure in there somewhere unless
your total price covers it.

I drove to Las Vegas yesterday, a total of 135 miles from my house. I drove
about 40 miles in Vegas, then drove back. I left at 8AM, and got home at 6
PM. I made right at $800 for four hours work time there. My total day was
10 hours, but there were other personal errands conducted during that time,
including an in-office procedure at my doctor's. I do not charge my boss
mileage because the hourly figures out to $60 an hour or a lot more.

You just have to average in the variables, decide if your market can bear
it, see what the competition is doing, and adjust accordingly.

Steve

On 01/22/2011 03:14 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

I think that depends on whether you want to make a point or whether you
want customers.

Confused customers are cranky customers. Cranky customers take their
business elsewhere. Quoting prices in gallons of gas will confuse your
customers and make them cranky.

If it made a difference to me I'd charge 20 x G (or whatever), but I
wouldn't quote it that way -- I'd quote it as so many bucks/hour or
bucks/mile. If I quoted a job that the customer has to think about
before they proceeded, I'd say "so many $/hour, so many $/mile, good for
so many months" (three at least, six would be better). If someone says
"that's more than you charged last year!" then go ahead and explain that
it's pegged to gasoline prices.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Stormin Mormon wrote:

I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

Well, if you're asking for input, my input is that you can
charge whatever N * G that you can get away with, but
_NOT_ for work once you get there and are no longer
in transit.

But be _sure_ that the customer understands that your trip
fees are dependent on the current price of gas, and is ready
to sign off on it.

Personally, I'd just pick a flat rate ($X.00/mi) and eat
the difference. The customer is always right and all that
yada yada.

Actually, the customer isn't always right; but right or
wrong, the customer is always the guy who puts food on
my table! :-)

Good Luck!
Rich

Pete C. wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:

I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

Add a fuel surcharge based on the change in cost per mile since you
calculated your rates, multiplied by the service call mileage.

If you set your rates based on $2.50 /gal gas and a 15 MPG van, cost per
mile is $0.167 (rounded). If the gas is up to $2.75, cost per mile is
now $0.184 (rounded), a difference of $0.017 per mile, so a surcharge
for a 18 mile service call is $0.306.

Of course these surcharges make sense for trucking companies driving
thousands of miles, but for a service guy doing local calls, it is
probably better to just absorb the $1 variation in the trip cost.

I think for this sort of thing you're allowed to add a certain amount
based on how many $/mile it costs, on average, for car maintenance.
You need oil periodically, washer fluid, wiper blades, tires, and so
on. Take the yearly average for these expenses, and keep track of the
car's mileage over the year, and get numbers for each of these.

Maybe even car washes, because your car represents your business! ;-)

Have Fun!
Rich

Ned Simmons wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:14:49 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"

I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

It makes perfect sense if you accept gasoline as payment.

These days, that might actually be the smart thing to do. ;-D

Cheers!
Rich

Bob La Londe wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

I run a service business and I just set my hourly rate in my home coverage
area so that it can cover it. If I go to one site that's billable hours,
but only one fuel cost. If I am doing quicky service calls I organize
them
by distance from each other when preactical. Outside my home coverage
area I charge a price per mile one way from my shop that varies based on
the price of fuel.

I've only been on a field service call one time, and it was on contract
with some military operation. They offered me such an astronomical amount
of money I had to pick my eyeballs up off the floor and stick them back
in their sockets. It was $1000/week, for working from late Monday moring
'til fairly early Friday afternoon, 8 hours a day between them, of course.
Plus they bought the round trip airline ticket from LAX to Salt Lake City,
they paid for the car rental, hotel room, food, PLUS over a hundred bucks
_A DAY_ per diem.

The job turned out to be a joke, but that's a story for another thread
hijack. ;-P

(there's not a lot to do in the evening in Tooele, Utah, but it's only
an hour or so to Nevada, and the Bonneville salt flats have highway
frontage on the way. The border town, whose name I can't remember,
is half in Nevada and half in Utah, with some restaurant that's bisected
by the state line, There's a clock on the east wall with MST, and one on
the west wall with PST.

I went into the casino there with like $20.00, and walked out when I
was up like $30. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

Rich Grise wrote:
Bob La Londe wrote:
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
message ...
I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

I run a service business and I just set my hourly rate in my home
coverage area so that it can cover it. If I go to one site that's
billable hours, but only one fuel cost. If I am doing quicky
service calls I organize them
by distance from each other when preactical. Outside my home
coverage area I charge a price per mile one way from my shop that
varies based on the price of fuel.

I've only been on a field service call one time, and it was on
contract with some military operation. They offered me such an
astronomical amount of money I had to pick my eyeballs up off the
floor and stick them back in their sockets. It was $1000/week, for
working from late Monday moring 'til fairly early Friday afternoon, 8
hours a day between them, of course. Plus they bought the round trip
airline ticket from LAX to Salt Lake City, they paid for the car
rental, hotel room, food, PLUS over a hundred bucks _A DAY_ per diem.

The job turned out to be a joke, but that's a story for another
thread hijack. ;-P

(there's not a lot to do in the evening in Tooele, Utah, but it's only
an hour or so to Nevada, and the Bonneville salt flats have highway
frontage on the way. The border town, whose name I can't remember,
is half in Nevada and half in Utah, with some restaurant that's
bisected by the state line, There's a clock on the east wall with
MST, and one on the west wall with PST.

I went into the casino there with like $20.00, and walked out when I
was up like $30. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

That would be Wendover . Have some fond memories of a motel room there when
we were young .
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !

I doubt it. No.

If you have any return customers, they won't appreciate the labor rate
bouncing around all the time.
Maybe, if you are the only show in town you could get away with it,
but even then, unhappy customers will figure a way to get it done
without you.
There are two methods of pricing that come to mind:
Cost-based: Based on your actual (FULLY burdened) costs, plus a
reasonable profit

Market- based: After doing appropriate research on what the competition
charges, figure where you fit price-wise.
(You should go through both exersizes. If the answers vary too much,
you are either gonna go broke or you won't have any customers.)

You are offering neither approach.

Pete Stanaitis
--------------------

Stormin Mormon wrote:
I've been toying with making my business trip charge
dependant on gasoline. For example, choose a gas
station. My trip charge is 20 x G, with G being the
price of galon of gasoline. Labor rate is also 20 x G.
I'd have to figure out what's fair. But, the cost of
service would go up and down with gasoline.

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

Rich Grise wrote:

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

It makes perfect sense if you accept gasoline as payment.

These days, that might actually be the smart thing to do. ;-D

Stuff doesn't store well. IIRC, the ethanol makes it deteriorate even quicker than
straight gasoline.

Wes
--
If it makes you feel better, your government fears you as much as you fear it.

On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:53:21 -0500, Wes
wrote:

Rich Grise wrote:

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

It makes perfect sense if you accept gasoline as payment.

These days, that might actually be the smart thing to do. ;-D

Stuff doesn't store well. IIRC, the ethanol makes it deteriorate even quicker than
straight gasoline.

I hear all these horror stories about bad gas, but I've almost never
had any go bad. I've stored cans for a couple years and used them in
the mower without trouble. I prime and start it the first time, every
time (except that second year with my newest mower and I followed the
instruction instead of my head and didn't prime the **** out of it
until it started.)

The only time I've had any trouble with gas is when it sat for 5+
years in an unused tool's tank and carb, especially 2-strokes, where
the oil turns to thick grease.

As to the ethanoled gas deteriorating, try the un-diluted stuff.
http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp Click on your state for a list.

Everybody repeat after me: ETHANOL SUCKS! BAN ETHANOL!

--
"I probably became a libertarian through exposure to tough-minded
professors" James Buchanan, Armen Alchian, Milton Friedman "who
encouraged me to think with my brain instead of my heart. I
learned that you have to evaluate the effects of public policy
as opposed to intentions."
-- Walter E. Williams

On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:28:03 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:53:21 -0500, Wes
wrote:

Rich Grise wrote:

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

It makes perfect sense if you accept gasoline as payment.

These days, that might actually be the smart thing to do. ;-D

Stuff doesn't store well. IIRC, the ethanol makes it deteriorate even quicker than
straight gasoline.

I hear all these horror stories about bad gas, but I've almost never
had any go bad. I've stored cans for a couple years and used them in
the mower without trouble. I prime and start it the first time, every
time (except that second year with my newest mower and I followed the
instruction instead of my head and didn't prime the **** out of it
until it started.)

The only time I've had any trouble with gas is when it sat for 5+
years in an unused tool's tank and carb, especially 2-strokes, where
the oil turns to thick grease.

Same here. I don't treat the lawnmower or chainsaw gas and have no
problems with gas at least 2 years old. The only time I had a problem
was with a '65 Volvo that a friend gave me around 1977. I don't know
how long it had sat before I started fixing it up, but it wouldn't do
a thing with the gas left in the tank, and purred to life with fresh
gas.

Anything really suspect goes in the '53 Farmall Super A snowplow --
it'd probably run on olive oil if it was warmed up first. g

--
Ned Simmons

Wes on Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:53:21 -0500
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
Rich Grise wrote:

Has anyone does this? Does it make sense?

It makes perfect sense if you accept gasoline as payment.

These days, that might actually be the smart thing to do. ;-D

Stuff doesn't store well. IIRC, the ethanol makes it deteriorate even quicker than
straight gasoline.

And the gasoline is "blended" with the ethanol in mind, so
removing the ethanol reduces the gasoline's octane.

Wes
--
pyotr filipivich
We will drink no whiskey before its nine.
It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!