Travel Time

[Jeffrey Abrams 14]

I was wondering how some of you charge for travel time for jobs not in your normal working area? If you have employees do you charge travel time per person?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Hi Jeff,

Here in Maryland, you have to pay employees for the time as they travel to and from jobs. If you go out of town to work, they are on the clock then too. What we do, is take all of that into consideration and it is a part of the price estimated. We have in the past had to explain to folks why our price may be higher, and that's fine. Most folks when you explain it to them, understand and then have a way to compare the estimate they are looking at. If contractor A is higher than contractor B, but B is in their town and A is an hour away, it's easy to see the costs are higher. Bottom line then becomes is your service worth the additional expense in the mind of the consumer?

Hope this helps. Think sunshine! Enough rain already. :sunshine:

Beth

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Jeff,

We also have a mobilization fee for trips over an hour in duration and as Beth mentioned, we have to pay for the employee's time from the shop and back.

Not to mention the fuel, insurance, tags, maintenance...it adds up.

Set up and break down time are not considered job production so this time is eaten up by the clock in necessary procedure relevant to the project. We calculate 15-30 minutes on each end that needs to be covered as well.

As a rule, $75-$150 mobilization fees pertain to the number of crew sent per vehicle to a site. This is listed as a line item for our commercial projects and no one has ever balked about it. It is common in commercial contracting when hiring long distance contractors from a home location that they prefer to use. I guess it saves them time in trying to find another contractor more local to the project that is reliable.

Hope this helps.

Rod~

[Jeffrey Abrams 14]

Beth,Rod Thanks for the info

[Aplus 525]

I like the term 'mobilization fee'. Cool.

I do factor in extra dollars for travel and expenses, just never broke it out separately with such a descriptive name.

[Ron Musgraves 240]

My stuff is all contract and has already been added. I suppose if you do one timers you might need to charge for long distance.

[Chappy 138]

man talk about timing. I just got a call from a Fac Mgr with 6 bank locations from clearwater to venice, (about 125 miles apart.) wanted to see if I was interested in doing regular maintenance, PW, window cleaning, etc. Dont usually travel that far, but I told him Id put some #s together and see if it made sense for both of us. This will be a good way to cover travel time.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Ron,

Some residential jobs are quite large and are of course one time, so yes you need travel factored in.

Beth

[Ron Musgraves 240]

Jon Chapman,

I think i would sub the distant locations, I dont think you'll be able to compete with local PW.

[Mike Williamson 198]

Jon Chapman,

I think i would sub the distant locations, I dont think you'll be able to compete with local PW.

If you could get them done quickly enough, the travel time/expense wouldn't be as large a factor....maybe 3/night. Worth looking into at least.

[PressurePros 249]

I sometimes get the impression that commercial is more profitable then residential from some posters. Let me put that myth to rest having experienced both sides. In the past six months I'm fairly certain I could match balance sheets with anyone that does business 12 months per year.

[Ron Musgraves 240]

Ken,

I'm alway interested in hearing more, feel free to call me. always want to make more and do less.

do you charge a trip charge? how do you handle that. I believe that was what Jeff was asking.

[CCPC 26]

I sometimes get the impression that commercial is more profitable then residential from some posters. Let me put that myth to rest having experienced both sides. In the past six months I'm fairly certain I could match balance sheets with anyone that does business 12 months per year.

I agree here. I do however think that the folks that boast about the're commercial contracts, are those that live in areas where the market for residential cleaning is pretty poor (West Coast). I don't do hardly any commercial work, and I don't seek it out for the simple fact that the profit margins for residential work are much higher. Sure, I don't have the full schedule a year in advance, but that has more to do with my personal prefferences for now, rather than lack of demand. I could easily be doing 5 to 10 times the amount of work I'm doing now if I chose to go after it, but I'm happy with the way things are going right now. I barely advertise and still get busier by the day.