Service calls and prices of gas.

[Besoeker]

It would be even more efficient as a diesel or LPG conversion (extremely rare and expensive in the US), but ever since I can remember diesel has cost more than gas here (unlike on your side of the pond) and the higher price has been a real psychological barrier to buying diesel vehicles.

Don't know when you were last here, but Diesel costs more than petrol (gas) here. But the better fuel consumption more than makes up for the difference.

Come to think of it, there are a lot of psychological barriers to becoming more fuel efficient in the US

Yes, uncool.

 

[Besoeker]

And I'd love to use Obama's advice (as well as another poster across the pond) by using a "more fuel efficient" vehicle.
problem with that is, ladders don't fit well in a prius, neither do 200-300lbs of copper

Well, I don't drive a Prius - I wouldn't get the fuel economy that I do and their performance is pedestrian to say the least. The car I have is much more practical. The back seats fold down and I can get a ladder in it, conduit in 2.4m lengths, I've carried 3 bags of compost, each 70kg (multiply by 2.205 to get pounds) pieces of furniture etc.
And it isn't even the estate car (station wagon?) version.

 

[jmellc]

As some here will know, I'm from the other side of the pond and mostly in a different business sector but there are some similarities - we respond to service calls 24/7. Some near. Some far.
One big difference, I think, is vehicle fuel consumption here. Fuel prices are more than $8.50 per US gallon (about $10 per UK gallon!). One consequence of this is that we generally drive more fuel-efficient vehicles. I drive a fairly decent car - it's a five seat four door with all the gizmos - and I routinely get better than 60 mpg and have recorded over 70 mpg. Sure, it isn't as quick as my wee blue Jag was but, with a top speed of over 130 mph, it's as quick as I need it to be.

So, as a thought, maybe one way to help keep your costs down would be to improve fuel efficiency.

You said you drive a car? How do you do service work from a car? Most cars available here do not have ladder racks. Some have luggage racks that may suffice for a short ladder, I doubt them for a taller one. I could possibly work from a mini van if I had to, but a truck or van is largely needed for this work. Any normal passenger car I know of would be very difficult to work from.

Are we off in terminology? Is your car actually a van or minivan? Small truck? Please give us your manufacturer, model, make & year so we can look it up.

 

[jmellc]

Ha!

Exactly. The last ground fault I just did was a 26 story high rise. Umm yea, flat rate, that will be $5000!?!?!!

We actually did "flat rate" them. Two men 8 hours a day, 16 hour billing increments. It took 2 days finished around 1pm on the second day. Billed 16 hours x 2 men.

Of course that would be an exception. I cannot troubleshoot for T&M. I could repair only flate rate.

I generally tell people I have to charge repairs T/M, as there is no way to accurately guess what may be in the walls. With a familiar house, I will sometimes give flat rate to replace a light or fan, etc. Any unknown troubleshooting has to be by the hour. Too often, I remove a box & find corroded wiring, open splices, etc. hidden away.

I flat rate most of my new work and usually get that pretty close. Trouble is, I still don't get a lot of the work, as we have so many handymen and illegals here doing it much cheaper.

 

[PetrosA]

Don't know when you were last here, but Diesel costs more than petrol (gas) here. But the better fuel consumption more than makes up for the difference.


Yes, uncool.

Yesterday's prices where I lived in Poland (prices in US dollars):

98 octane - $1.96/liter; $7.45/gallon
95 octane - $1.88/liter; $7.14/gallon
Diesel - $1.84/liter; $6.99/gallon
LPG - $0.89/liter; $3.38/gallon

I'm guessing your MPG stats are calibrated to Imperial gallons, not US gallons. That would make it around 54 US MPG (4.3 l/100km) which I think some vehicles here are achieving. That's pretty good considering the (ahem...) "dynamic" style of driving so common in Europe

 

[Besoeker]

I'm guessing your MPG stats are calibrated to Imperial gallons, not US gallons. That would make it around 54 US MPG

Yes Imperial.
For 70.7 UK MPG it is about 59 US MPG.
At 69.6 UK, it is 58 US.

I have had over 60 US MPG on some trips - just over 72 UK.

 

[Besoeker]

You said you drive a car? How do you do service work from a car?

As I posted earlier:

I'm from the other side of the pond and mostly in a different business sector but there are some similarities

This the sort of thing we make and support:

It's a variable frequency drive (330kW) with, in this case, an active front end.

And this is the sort of stuff I routinely carry around:

The black box is general tools, a multimeter, leads, clip on CT, torch, and things of that nature. The grey box is a fairly comprehensive socket set, and the blue box has a scope, PPE, and a few other useful items. The green box is a first aid kit, and the red thing is a fire extinguisher. I usually take my laptop too. All strapped in and all eventualities covered...

Service work comes in many flavors. I imagine if I were servicing photocopiers or vending machines I might need different things.

That said, I don't do a lot of service work. Just now and again, if the guy on call is in the wrong part of the country, or even in the wrong country, or various other circumstances, I'll take the call.
It isn't my day job.

 

[jmellc]

Its easy to perform service and dispense with all the headache of rising gas prices.
What you do is drive a VW bug to your service calls, and "borrow" the customer's ladder. I learned this from somebody in San Francisco, but I'm dumb so I never tried it myself..........

Works OK if the customer has a ladder. A lot of people will have a 6 foot ladder around, usually aluminum. Not as many will have a taller one or an extension ladder. Most ladders any homeowner will have will be aluminum. Not a good habit to get into, using AL ladders for electrical work. They will usually be light grade too. A light grade ladder of any length will wobble and tremble the higher one climbs.

 

[jmellc]

As I posted earlier:

This the sort of thing we make and support:

It's a variable frequency drive (330kW) with, in this case, an active front end.

And this is the sort of stuff I routinely carry around:

The black box is general tools, a multimeter, leads, clip on CT, torch, and things of that nature. The grey box is a fairly comprehensive socket set, and the blue box has a scope, PPE, and a few other useful items. The green box is a first aid kit, and the red thing is a fire extinguisher. I usually take my laptop too. All strapped in and all eventualities covered...

Service work comes in many flavors. I imagine if I were servicing photocopiers or vending machines I might need different things.

That said, I don't do a lot of service work. Just now and again, if the guy on call is in the wrong part of the country, or even in the wrong country, or various other circumstances, I'll take the call.
It isn't my day job.

But a lot of us on here do service calls out & around, need to carry at least a couple of ladders. Few cars have a suitable rack for long ladders & if they did, the ladders would stick out at eye level to many people. Accident waiting to happen. If I work for someone else, new work and drive to job every day, then go home, I could drive a small car with no trouble. Only need to carry my personal tools, stash in trunk. Whole different story.

 

[Castrovinci]

Rising Costs

Rising Costs

I look at it this way..... If after figuring out that all your expenses (insurance,vehicles,maintenance,etc) you need to "really" raise your prices then just add it to the back end??meaning place that in the material cost. When submitting a cost to a customer and they review the quote I believe that they see it in two parts.....

$150 Materials
$200 Labor

If your labor looks reasonable, but you have to add more to the materials the customer says there is not much I can do about materials "it is what it is". So if you have to add an extra $10 or so into the materials but keep your labor rate the same then you MAY find it to be a better selling point for yourself while still getting compensated for the gas prices. Remember that getting those materials involves gas so the markup can be justified. Too me it?s just another way to write the contract like any great sales guy buy this car for $199 (tax tages and other "fees" apply). The $199 catches your eye. Just don't be deceptive and lay everything out up front

Of course everyone situation is different so this may or may not be good for you.
T&M

 

[jerrysounds]

Here in San Diego I charge $47 service and $67.50 per 1/2 hour troubleshooting, then I give them the price to fix the problem. If they except that price, I drop the $47 service charge. If they don't, I walk away with $116 witch pays for the hour that the whole transaction took me. Seems to work for me.

 

[Chamuit]

I charge $10 more for the first hour. That way I can keep my hourly rate the same for the rest of the job. Lot of people don't mind or even notice.