Vehicle charge out rate...

I charge a hourly rate to cover the vehicle plus the wages (+some) of who ever is inside. It's somewhat lower than the rate for field survey time. I know some just charge the crew rate portal to portal so I guess I'm giving the client sort of a break but I don't have a crew other than me. Some jobs are lump sum so travel is just included. I had a job this last summer that was about a three hour round trip and I made about ten trips so I just established a trip rate and charged that each time, then I did some sightseeing a few times.

I'm completely on my own, do things my own way so I may not be any thing standard, this is just what I do.

We charge for the vehicle mileage

We also usually charge travel time for the surveyor and/or crew

Most of my jobs are lump sum. I use yahoo maps to figure mileage and travel time. I then use the standard government rates to figure the mileage charges and travel time for the billable travel time.

I have a basic spreadsheet I use for figuring up a rough cost for a job's estimated cost. It has places for entering estimated research time, travel time, mileage, lodging, per diem, field time, etc. I will then look at the estimated costs, and adjust as necessary.

The standard mileage rate for 2014 was $0.56 per mile. It has increased to $0.575 for 2015. Time to modify my spreadsheet.

We bill out our hourly rate, whether we are driving or on site.

Since I charge portal to portal, the vehicle (and mileage) is just part of the hourly rate.

Really just depends on distance and time. If I have to spend most of the day traveling, then there is a hourly travel charge along with vehicle mileage. But if it is locally or within say 90 miles, I will just charge my hourly rate to survey and let it cover those extra expenses. But everything is figured into hourly rate. Cost for rebar, lath, flagging, replacement equipment, etc, etc.

Cost of vehicle and operating expenses is in overhead to be replaced every 5 years. This goes toward a minimum hourly rate whether fees are fixed or hourly. For tax purposes it may be different. One of the problems leading to fees too low for the service required is a lack of separating best business practice from tax accounting. One can write off a vehicle and operating expenses in differing ways for the year, but it doesn't mean it paid for itself from a business standpoint.

I charge out my time at the same rate, regardless of whether I'm working in the office, hiking in the field, sitting in the courtroom, standing in the county clerk's office doing research, or behind the wheel of my truck listening to Lucinda Williams on a 6-hour drive to West Texas.

In addition to my rate, I also bill for mileage and other expenses.

For vehicles we use a rate schedule similar to most rental companies. Trucks have a charge out rate for half-day, full day or week. First 100km per day is included, then $0.55 / km after that.

Crew gets charged at their hourly rates no matter what they're doing.

> Because surveyors desperate for work are now working for less than cost and making other surveyors appear as profit gougers.
That certainly isn't unique to South Australia.

The GSA (General Service Administration) and the IRS set allowable rates for vehicle mileage ( http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/100715 ).. That's a very commonly used source for mileage charge rates. A quick google turns up an Australian government rate of 77 cents/km. Your gov't is a bit more generous, it seems.

But drive time is usually charged as work hours and if so, mileage is not charged.

We review our costs and develop our hourly charge for field times at least every six months, sometimes every three months. Keeps the business model fresh and at least looked at. From there, if the crew is on site, regardless, that number is used, portal to portal. We have developed a standard charge for small jobs that seem to cover all costs.

Then, using that number, we bid the job. Sometimes you eat the job, sometimes the job eats you. Either way, I only have a handful of clients that I can charge hourly on so I never lose. For those projects, there is a mileage charge but not one for the vehicle itself.

Tracking and evaluating the costs are the biggest chore and realizing when you can go up or down. I may be lower on costs now, but my bid "attempts" to reflect the percentage of profit I like to see.

Kent - you should be charging far more when you are in the courtroom. Seriously far more...

Seriously far more

Why "seriously far more?" Is that to say expert testimony costs more than expert research or expert field procedures?

You can charge import prices for domestic beer but that won't make it an import.

I understand Jim's point, but how do we know that Kent isn't charging out at $300/hr all the time?

I, too, work on a fixed fee 'most of the time', but when I do work that is going to end up in court my court time and preparing time are figured on a daily rate that is higher than my basic field/research work. Really just because it requires a whole different level of effort on my part, and it impacts me in a very different manor. I live the project at that point 🙂

Dtp

Seriously far more

> Why "seriously far more?" Is that to say expert testimony costs more than expert research or expert field procedures?

Nothing to do with costs.

Expert testimony require me to be in close proximity to attorneys. I dislike being in close proximity to attorneys. If you want me to do something I find odious, you have to pay me more.

All of that is sort of smushed out into determining our rates. Just a cost of doing business. I have never tacked on special fees for mileage, supplies, bars, etc. although I know many others do. When I tell a client $XXX per hour that is what they see on the invoice. My opinion of add on fees reminds me of all the deceptiveness used in mass advertising to make something appear to be far less expensive than what it really is by the time it arrives in your hands. Only 17 easy payments of just $19.99 plus shipping and handling ($90) and tax (more than just simple sales tax)plus the teeny tiny small print that says using the 17-payment plan incurs an additional one-time fee of $85.

Seriously far more

I'm with you on that one James. Me, I try and find out what the attorney charges for their time, and I charge at least that. They don't like that, but I don't care much for their company either.

I had one guy depose me and only want to pay me the standard witness fee of something silly like $15 per day. He asked me a surveying question about the project and I didn't answer him. Then he realized I was in fact an expert witness and he would have to pay my rate

In terms of RADU's original question I think the $0.56 to as much as $1.00 per mile is normal. At the job I just quit we worked out a rate of $25 per hr for use of my truck and all my gear. In addition to a pretty good pay rate for me. Seemed ok, but I found I was beating the bejeebies out of my truck.

> Kent - you should be charging far more when you are in the courtroom. Seriously far more...

No, if someone wants me to give a professional opinion about some surveying or land matter, they are going to pay me for every hour that it takes to investigate the question and develop what I consider to be a sound opinion. The few hours in court that may be required to tell the story to a judge or jury are the smallest part of the whole undertaking.

:good:

Whether or not a project may wind up in court should have no bearing on how the project is executed. One should assume the need to defend every decision in court.