It depends on the situation (duration of trip, mileage from home, etc.) but since I do this kinda thing (my winter drive back to St Louis) here's how we have worked it.
All mileage reimbursed per the IRS mileage deduction, i.e: my trip was 3,000 miles round trip which meant $930 for travel expenses, they rounded it up to a nice even $1,000. Daily commuting to the office from where I was staying was not included, that's part of the per dium.
$35 per dium for meals and entertainment - in my case I was staying with family and sharing meals so for the 80 days in the office I made out like a bandit on this. Chances are you could do pretty well too cause $30-35/day for food is pretty generous and I think that's a standard rate amongst most professional services.
Hourly rate applies to all hours physically on the premises, and NOT on travel time. You'll have to determine the hourly rate on this one, but depending on the duration of the trip, the longer you go generally you cut a little break. Something like a week, full rate. Two, three, four weeks maybe you cut $10 off the hourly rate, it's up to you.
Hotels - you can work this a couple ways. You can make them pay for the hotel, which depending upon the contractor they could either put you up in a dump or a pretty reasonable place. You could also bargain for a higher hourly rate and you pay for the hotel. In reality they're still paying for it but you get the choice of pocketing more $$ and living cheap, or staying in a nice place.
In my situation, I stayed with family I have in St Louis so we bargained for a higher hourly rate which works fine for me. Note: It wasnt much of a challenge cause the guy I was dealing with is someone I used to work for and we were on excellent terms with each other.
Are you going to use a rental vehicle? Add that to the bill or again, use it as a leverage tool for higher hourly rate.
Also keep in mind these things like hotels, rental cars, etc.. the contractor might want you to pay for out of your pocket up front, then submit receipts and expense reports so he can then cut you a check for reimbursement. This is OK as long as you can trust him to pay, but you might want to do like I mentioned before, include those things in your price and hourly rate so you know they are paid for and on time. It puts a little more control into your hands.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
For flat delivery rates I use $.45 per mile with a 100 mile minimum charge. I only deliver to places I want to do a mini-vacation. My trips so far have been to: Thompson, CT, Yorktown, VA, (2) Birmingham, AL and Orlando, FL. This delivery fee includes all packing and crating of the signs, meals and lodging. Similar to rates of the common carrier. Other than that, I crate and ship via UPS or common carrier for the actual shipping costs. This rate does not apply to jobs that have to be done on site like painting storefronts, billboards, installs, etc. Just a one way delivery and dropoff service.
-------------------- John Smith Kings Bay Signs (Retired) Kissimmee, Florida Posts: 822 | From: Central Florida - The Sunshine State | Registered: Jan 2000
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I do a little traveling with the water towers. These are all bid jobs, no T&M.
I charge $45 to leave the shop, plu $1 per mile(round trip)[100 miles there, 100 miles back = $145.] I then estimate how many days to complete(and usually add one to be sure) and add $150 per day to cover meals and hotel.
Hope this helps.
-------------------- Don Hulsey Strokes by DON signs Utica, KY 270-275-9552 sbdsigns@aol.com
I've always been crazy... but it's kept me from going insane. Posts: 2315 | From: Utica, KY U.S.A. | Registered: Jan 1999
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