How do you bill out ladder/bucket truck?

[TexElectrician]

We have a 1971 Ford ladder truck that will go up 50' I am wondering how do other companies bill out their lift equipment on lighting jobs. For example, a 1000w metal halide in a parking lot that is 45' up. Should we increase the labor rate or do a one time charge for the truck or a per pole charge? In the past we have just charged $100 to bring it on the job. Should that charge be by the hour, should it be based upon height? Just curious how others do it. It seems that maintenance and gas is costing us a couple of grand a year. This is assuming a time and material setting.

 

[GUNNING]

yup

yup

I charge for the equipment rental. What ever the local equipment rental place is charging I charge 150% of that.

If you are bringing specialized equipment to the job charge for it.

Labor rates should be charged accordingly also. You need a ground grunt and a climber. Labor rate should be at least 20% more because of height.

 

[StreamlineGT]

The company I used to work for billed it out as a man hour. I would love to do the same, but that gets expensive for the customer quickly. I put my markup on the rental, and charge for the time to pick it up and drop off to the rental company. I wish I had more lighting work, I love buying trucks.

 

[zbang]

If I had to rent something, that cost is passed through with a markup. If it's something small that I own, there's a daily charge if it gets used but not if it sits in the car/truck. OTOH, if it's bigger (like, say, a load bank on a trailer) and there's a reasonable assumption that it'll get used, there's a daily charge if it goes to the job. Don't think about how how high, how many, etc, that way lies madness.

Look at it this way, the charge is to cover your costs (including depreciation), and it doesn't matter whether the pole is 20' or 30' high. It costs about the same to take the bucket to the job site and let it sit as it does to use it. And it costs about the same if you can re-lamp 10 or 20 poles a day with one of them.

Now, if you want to charge more for the labor of working 60', that's a different animal.

 

[bullheimer]

a sign co i worked for charged $75/hr for man and truck both.........ten years ago. i thought it was cheap even tho they charged for travel to and from

 

[Strathead]

We have a 1971 Ford ladder truck that will go up 50' I am wondering how do other companies bill out their lift equipment on lighting jobs. For example, a 1000w metal halide in a parking lot that is 45' up. Should we increase the labor rate or do a one time charge for the truck or a per pole charge? In the past we have just charged $100 to bring it on the job. Should that charge be by the hour, should it be based upon height? Just curious how others do it. It seems that maintenance and gas is costing us a couple of grand a year. This is assuming a time and material setting.

You ahve given a base cost for one year. Check with your accountant for a more accurate figure. i bet it is at least double what you think (deprectiation, storage, inventory taxes, etc.) Then do the math. At x dollars per trip I need y trips to pay for my cost. Then figure out how many trips you are booking in a year. Next get the rental fees, and/or call around to sign companies or lighting companies and get an idea what they are charging. If you can't make a profit and be competitive, sell it! Except, remember there is value in bragging rights.

 

[Joethemechanic]

I just bill out hourly with the forklifts, other material handling equipment. Although anything that travels over the highway is hourly + a fuel surcharge. No way I'm eating fuel costs. I pay the first $1.50 a gallon for fuel used, the customer pays the rest.

BTW, the hourly rates are from portal to portal, from the minute I roll out my gate, until I roll back in.

 

[Joethemechanic]

This is actually a ladder truck, with a ladder you have to climb?

 

[maghazadeh]

Equipments is best to be charged hourly, IMO.

 

[TexElectrician]

Thanks for all the great responses. Yeah it has a ladder that you have to climb. Depreciation is a great thought, because it will have to be replaced someday.

 

[masterinbama]

Thanks for all the great responses. Yeah it has a ladder that you have to climb. Depreciation is a great thought, because it will have to be replaced someday.

Never mind, bad URL