Hello, I'm starting to get more customers that ask me to go pickup logs with my f800 knuckleboom truck, and I'm wondering what a typical rate is for this work. I imagined a per mile rate to get to the site, then an hourly rate to load up to account for situations where the logs aren't neatly stacked by the driveway. How do yall charge? FYI I'm in hilly western north carolina.
I recently raised my mileage rate from $2.25/mile round trip to $2.75/mile. Diesel prices have gone nuts in Texas. So whatever you were charging, probably better raise it. The price of motor oil has also gone up. $72 for a 5gal pail of T4 today at Tractor Supply. It used to go on sale for $49. So I bought their house brand instead for $54/pail. I chased down the supplier on the phone and made sure it's good stuff, comes from the same refineries as the name brands. Commercial insurance was going to go up 60% but my agent shopped around and cut my costs by 55% from last year. I don't know how he did it. Because he managed that, I decided to add a dump truck. Instead of $7300, I'm paying about $2k, a miracle if you ask me. If your insurance is going up, change insurance agents. A good agent makes all the difference. If you can't avoid rising insurance costs, you have to raise prices. A good general rule on pricing is to raise it until some customers, but not all, start to complain about price. I don't want every customer. For most single women, unless they are widows, I just say I'm really busy, because they change their mind all the time and don't know squat about building good driveways. A customer who is already griping when you estimate their job is more likely to complain later behind your back about your work. I see this time and time again, so now I'm selective about who I accept. Also guys who are unreliable about comms, never call back unless to rush you, or use a lot of F bombs for no reason all tend to be worse customers. A good customer is worth taking good care of, he'll give you good references and let you put up a yard sign. I don't advertise except for yard signs and word of mouth.
It has been several years ago, but I owned a 22’ dumper with barn doors and a 30’ reach grapple crane on it. I charged $100.00/ hour from time leaving shop until time returning to shop. No mileage fee. That price would sometimes be cut to $75/hr for a big job or a good customer.