Posted by Mindy_WA on 4/29/05 10:26pm
Msg #34977

Fee Schedule based on Milage

Does anyone have a fee schedule based on milage (ie: base fee includes 30 mile radius and is $ ?.?? per mile after)? My husband (Brijoe) and I have been just pulling the fee out of thin air, and want something more concrete to go off of when figuring a travelling rate. He has been doing this for a while but we are getting more and more calls for remote areas and would like to make sure that we are getting compensated appropriately. Please help!

Reply by Reggie on 4/29/05 10:58pm
Msg #34980

My rate is $ 0.50 a mile round trip after the first 40 miles.

Reply by Mindy_WA on 4/29/05 11:15pm
Msg #34982

Ok Reggie...

So the round trip is...say 100 miles, you take off the first 40 miles (call it included) then calculate 60 miles at .50 per mile? You don't take off 80 miles (there and back), Right?

Thanks!

Reply by CaliNotary on 4/29/05 11:56pm
Msg #34985

Mine is $1.25/mile. I think you're way way too low Reggie.

Reply by BrendaTX on 4/30/05 12:46pm
Msg #35068

FWIW, Reggie and Cali, Reggie is in Kansas and it's more like Texas than LA.

If I go 45 miles away, my usual fee these days is $145. It takes me about 45 min to get there as it's rural travel. I get 31 mpg on rural travel - 25 mpg when it's around town mileage. Not sure what that breaks down into as far as mileage, etc.

When you cover rural counties you just learn what to charge for a job based on what you need to get to cover expenses.

Reply by Lee/AR on 4/30/05 3:30pm
Msg #35122

Isn't just mileage...

TIME it takes to cover the mileage is a factor. In my area, it's a HUGE factor. Nobody has the answer for your area... you'll just have to push a pencil/calculator/whatever and figure it out for yourself.

Reply by Big B on 4/30/05 12:50am
Msg #34991

My fee is based on 50 miles round trip. I charge$2.00 per mile for each mile after that. I base this fee on gas price, time to/from destination, and wear and tear on my vehicle. It adds up, believe me.

Reply by ssnotary on 4/30/05 9:54am
Msg #35025

I charge 40 cents per mile after the first 20 miles, I'm in California. It may be lower then one would expect but to tally in vehicle wear and tear which is part of the business we are in, I don't feel I should charge extra for that. Everyone has a different view of a glass of water, is it half full or half empty?

Reply by CaliNotary on 4/30/05 12:28pm
Msg #35059

" It may be lower then one would expect but to tally in vehicle wear and tear which is part of the business we are in, I don't feel I should charge extra for that."

It's not charging extra for that, it's charging an appropriate amount to cover all of your business expenses and still make a profit. To do otherwise is extremely foolish unless you just consider doing signings a hobby.

Reply by To CaliNotary from ssnotary on 4/30/05 1:40pm
Msg #35088

You may charge what you want, however when one's employed by others, they don't pay your daily mileage to and from work or wear and tear on your vehicle. So lets not take advantage of someone simply because we have chosen to work for ourselves. However I suggest each person do as they please, the notary board offers different ideas, it isn't set in stone.

Reply by CaliNotary on 4/30/05 7:21pm
Msg #35156

The difference is that we're not commuting to work, the driving is a huge part of our jobs. I spend more time traveling than I do actually signing docs. If that distinction isn't abundantly clear to you already, I sure as heck don't know how to explain it any better. You need to get out of your employee mentality and start using a business owner mentality.

Every business builds the costs of ALL of their expenses into their prices. When you buy a can of coke you can be sure that they've already factored the wear and tear and daily mileage of their delivery trucks into the price you pay.

If you want to think that charging enough to cover all of our travel expenses is "taking advantage of someone", I'd seriously suggest you find another line of work because you obviously don't have the business sense that you need to be self employed.

Some things ARE set in stone and covering all of your business expenses with your pricing is one of them. That is one of the most basic laws of business.

Reply by BrendaTX on 4/30/05 7:33pm
Msg #35159

I'd say that our cars are part of our equipment. Thus, they have to be accounted for when setting up job prices.

Reply by To Calinotary fromssnotary on 5/1/05 12:28am
Msg #35201

Charge away my dear, set your ways in stone. It's called a choice, I perfer to be what I feel is more flexible and open to change. Sorry this rattled your cage.

Reply by SarahBeth_CA on 4/30/05 10:56pm
Msg #35189

**You may charge what you want, however when one's employed by others, they don't pay your daily mileage to and from work or wear and tear on your vehicle.*************************** My husbands job requires him to go from branch office to branch office to work on computer systems. The gas and wear and tear on his vehicle are a part of his job. His employer provides his vehicle, fuel, and upkeep. As our own employers we need to do the same thing by charging for mileage, wear and tear.

Reply by David Helmer on 4/30/05 10:27am
Msg #35032

I have a schedule based on various miles from my home, broken down every 25 miles, and using a circle to determine what fee rate the city falls into. So the total fee for 0-25 miles is $100, and increases $25 for each 25 miles. ie 26-50 the fee is $125, 51-75 is 150, and 76-100 is 175 Hope this is helpful. I struggled in the beginning and now feel this is something I can start with and not just pick a number out of my head for each order. It gives me a baseline to use - maybe it is higher or maybe lower depending on a variety of factors.