What are acceptable charges from a diesel mechanic?

[mikfin]

I had a mechanic come to my boat to work on the engines and generator. The guy did a really good job and was very personable. When I got the bill though, I was not pleased. It seems he charged $85/hr to drive to and from my house, and also to eat lunch on my patio. in addition, he charged $2/mile to drive to/from my house twice, which came out to $300 bucks. Is this for real? I don't know of anyone who gets paid their mechanic rate to drive to provide a service, AND charge a stiff mileage fee. Am I behind the times on this?

Cheers

 

[krush]

When I was fixing boats: If it was a long haul, I would tell the customer I'd have to charge him travel time. However, I was upfront with the cost and made sure this was ok with him.

 

[Boatsb]

We charge either or not both.

 

[Glory]

Have an auto mechanic, plumber, or any other trade come to the house, see if they have free time to drive over. If you don't think their travel time is fare, that means you likely expect them so spend time traveling to tour location at no charge. That isn't a good busines plan.

As for the $85 an hour, that's a good deal for a quality mechanic.

JM

 

[jim rosenthal]

I think charging for driving time AND mileage is not fair. It ought to be one or the other- not both. And I believe that is how it is done most of the time, at least in my experience.

 

[rmatt]

I think charging for driving time AND mileage is not fair. It ought to be one or the other- not both. And I believe that is how it is done most of the time, at least in my experience.

I worked for a major diesel engine dealer. The hourly charge is for the mechanic. If he was not driving to a job he would be pulling wrenches in the shop, thus making revenue. The mileage is for the vehicle expenses,purchase, fuel, maintenance and insurance. There is no money made for the company in the mileage charge.
Bob

 

[rsmith]

$2/mi is not unreasonable for a service truck. Now if the guy pulled up in a Yugo and had to go back to the shop everytime he needed a wrench then I'd bitch.

 

[magnawake]

This is a sore subject for me as well. I used to own a carpet cleaning service. I couldnt charge people mileage, they would laugh me out their house. I had a big heavy van W/ alot of equipment. Gas prices ate me up. Carpet cleaners, lawn maint, carpenters, roofers, bug sprayers all do not charge extra. I cant figure why a diesel mech with a small bag of tools think they can charge for the trip. The only reason is because people are willing to pay up. Same goes with tipping. The above meantioned dont get tipped. I got very few tips, and thats doing extra work for the customer (like a door mat) for free. But a hair beautitian, you need to tip. She didnt even do anything extra. I guy thats a dock hand, ties your boat up and we tip him. Well, heck thats his job. The Marina pays him well. But, if he helps you pump out, flush your waste tank, helps you hook up cable, electric, water, thats going above and beyond. He deserves a tip. I'll get off my soap box now. Oh yeah, another thing. The diesel Mech I have now came 25 miles one way and didnt charge me anything extra. He is a very popular Mech and stays booked up with work.

 

[saltshaker]

Interesting thread. I have a hard time paying for travel time or mileage unless the distance is significant. None of my clients pay me travel time unless it's over 50 miles each way. If I have to fly to a location then they pay my day rate. My mechanic is less than 15 minutes from my regular slip so I don't pay for travel. I don't think there should be a mileage charge either unless they are making parts runs or travel other than the normal to and from the job. I had a great AC guy that spent summers on his boat not too far from me. He moved an hour further south and then asked for a $300 travel fee. I understand this when you want him for a 2 or 3 hour service but not major work. The last time he was on my boat I spent over $5000. I had a dock neighbor who was billed $1100 for travel for 2 mechanics. The first time they showed up they pulled out the laptop, diagnosed the problem and then left. They were on the boat for less than 1/2 hour. Every time they come to the boat they never have the parts they need so another service call gets added to the bill. I think that's BS. When I had work done on my boat in Fl, the only travel pay I paid was for parts runs that were about an hour away. That's seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

[Bugsy]

I am hourly paid. My confreres and I charge 50% of the agreed hourly rate for travel time plus the actual cost incurred for transportation.

 

[Canuck Dennis]

Detroit Diesel in Vancouver charges full mechanics rate from the shop and back, 3 hrs total and then if the job requires some "lifting" the apprentice is charged out at full rate also..some of the boats at my dock pay up to 1500.00 + for an oil change

 

[Boatsb]

So what's wrong with paying someone for their time? I charge for travel if its over about a 15 minute run unless its a full day job then I just work it into my day. Mileage is probably more if you figure about 50the miles are average for an hour.

The point about the mechanic billing time at the shop is pretty much on target. Why do something for free when you would usually get paid for that time.

 

[Canuck Dennis]

The issue ..many of these mechanics live closer in to Vancouver DD is out in the bondocks...cheap realestate, even when they were doing a one week job on my boat, the guy drove out to his shhop every morning and ten drove all way in to town, not very customer accommodating cost wise.why also should I pay 120.00/hr for a first or second year app..??

 

[Steve Mannshardt]

Field mechanics are typically considered fully recoverable, hence the travel time and in most cases mileage to cover vehicle wear, tear etc.. In some rare cases travel time is at a reduced rate depending on local conditions.

High levels of productivity and labor recovery justifies more mechanics for the shop.

What is appropriate is if expected to pay full nut for a top tier tradesman, that if an apprentice is sent along to help that you pay a lesser rate for that person. You shouldn't be on the hook at full rate for apprentice OJT and skills development.

What you are seeing isn't exclusive to the marine customer. A service call is a service call.

Steve

 

[saltshaker]

So what's wrong with paying someone for their time? I charge for travel if its over about a 15 minute run unless its a full day job then I just work it into my day. Mileage is probably more if you figure about 50the miles are average for an hour.

The point about the mechanic billing time at the shop is pretty much on target. Why do something for free when you would usually get paid for that time.

The hourly rate in the shop includes the shop and other overhead. The marine mechanic coming to my boat is not incurring shop fees. Like I said before, how many of us get paid to travel to and from work? I agree with your thinking that if it's a full days work and not too far away, then there shouldn't be additional travel fees. I have no problem paying someone to travel to my boat if they aren't within 20-25 miles or if I only need a couple hours of work done. When I had my engine overhauled, my mechanic had a helper with him who was a competent mechanic. I have no problem paying full rate for each of them. When the boat was repowered, I had an argument with the yard because they were charging me $110 per hour for everyone who did anything on the boat. That included the guy who didn't speak English and spent an hour each day cleaning up after the mechanics. They also wanted me to pay for 9 hours of labor each day, 8 work and 1 hour lunch. Considering the fact that these were employees of the marina and the marina normally didn't pay them for their lunch break, I thought that was unreasonable. When someone is working on my boat at my location, I gladly pay them for their lunch brak and if I'm there I'll buy them lunch as well.

 

[George]

I think the 85/hour is reasonable, but I would sure like to get paid to go to work every day
I have a 65 minute in to work and 80 min drive home.

 

[Avenger]

You're not supposed to be paying these guys for their commute from home. Their employers don't, the IRS doesn't allow you to deduct company car expenses for it etc. Maybe that's why they're going to the shop first and then to the job. Of course, if they live five minutes away from the job and have to drive 1/2 hour to the shop and then back to the job that ain't too bright. However, it is not unreasonable to charge for their trip from the facility to you if it's more than a minor distance.

We've been on service calls on commercial ships and charged full rate from the time we left the shop until we got back. That includes time spent waiting because the ship was late, time spent waiting for them to hook up hoses and start offloading because they don't let anybody on a product tanker until they're offloading. Time spent waiting for the Chief Engineer to show up. Time spent waiting for the CG inspector to sign of on the work, etc.

All the time spent away from the shop is productive time lost that has to be compensated. We have literally billed 10 hours labor to walk onto a ship, turn a screw, and walk back off. It's comic if you phrase it as "turning screw $5.00, knowing which screw to turn, $995.00" but sometimes that's the reality. Unfortunately most jobs are a lot more complicated than that. But either way that time has to be paid for. The property taxes don't stop because the technician isn't in the shop that day, and now you've added the expense of a vehicle as well.

And no, I wouldn't charge for lunch. Employees don't get paid for it, the customer shouldn't have to pay for it either. Fraudulent billing is a whole other issue as well. If you're there for five hours and bill for a full day when you've gone down the dock to another job, that's just stealing. OTOH, time I spend on the phone is lost to me. I'd love to get set up like an attorney so I can bill for answering questions when I'm not of producing product because I have to stop what I'm doing to answer the phone.

 

[Tim Powell]

UH There is one thing to learn here just as dealing with the guys in the Orient ask befor you get the service. Just think of it as a bordello always ask the price before.
HERE IN NC Gregory pool charges millage and ride time covington wares the same hat The volvo boys fit that mole also. The indivigals or the back yard boys who are just as good in some cases do not charge for millage or ride time. Most of them drive a van and carry some parts but put the regular charges on the bill as if they were at a shop sutch as rags disposal fees and sutch.
I belive the hourely rate is usually much less than the coperate boys in some cases. If the drive is less than 25 miles usually there is no millage charge. If you get broke down out of town you better have a good buddy in the business cause it gets expensive if you call him. Millage motel and charges 8 to 5 in other words limp home! Tim

 

[Walter P]

The real reason for these outrageous charges is because most people are willing to pay them. I think it's an outrage and the practice has spread simply because no one, or very few folks have the ba__s to protest for fear of not getting service in the future. Well I refuse to be held hostage to these pirates disguised as businessmen. There are many honest hard working service techs in all fields, but most folks are either too lazy or intimidated to leave the so called big guys. BS........ I owned several service companies over my almost 75 years on this planet and I would have been out of business in short order if I tried to pull that crap. The real answer is competition .... there needs to be more of it. The example given in an above post of charging $1,000 for a $5.00 turn of a screw by claiming that the knowledge is what is being paid for is obscene. If you claim to be a professional, you are expected to know what screw to turn.

Why you ask am i so fired up about this.... I have been screwed many times by so called professionals who had to learn their job on my dime. Many years ago they had an apprentice system which was designed to prepare the future professional technician to do his job in a reasonable amount of time, which was then billed in accordance with a "Flat Rate Book". The client was assured that the technician really knew his job and if he was not up to snuff, the rate for the specific job was listed and adhered to and the tech was brought to task by his superiors for taking too long. The customer was not the victim. I recently had a small job done on one of my cars by a so called professional auto repair facility. The car had an engine miss. The owner of the shop told me that their was a minimum diagnostic charge of $100 and may be much more because it could be caused by many things, but he said clearly that seldom does the diagnosis cost more than the $100.00. I agree...... Three days later I finally got a call that the car was ready and it needed a new coil for cylinder #3 and while he was at it he replaced the spark plugs.... Get ready for this........ My total bill was $1,200.00. $800.00 for diagnostics and the other $400.00 for parts and labor. I hope the thief rots in hell. I paid for it but I am taking an ad in a local newspaper warning the public about his practice. Hell, I know medical doctors who don't charge such outrageous rates. Conclusion...... get a firm price up front in writing... If the so called professional can't or won't give you that price, then he is either plain stupid and has no experience with the work you requested or has an ulterior motive and you should run like hell out of his shop and find an honest guy... There are many honest legitimate service providers out there, just don't be lazy or assume that they are all knowledgeable and honest. Just ask yourselves, would you walk into most service shops of any kind and hand them a signed blank check with instructions to just fill in the amount? It's the same thing.

Walt

 

[saltshaker]

A few months ago I brought my car to a "high end specialist" The car was running flawlessly then suddenly died. Started right up and then would die once you put it in gear. I was right near a gas station so I pulled in to see what was going on. Car would now stay running but the idle was hunting drastically. When I drove the car it was shaking violently like a transmission or very bad axle or bearing.
I had the car towed to the shop and they said the symptoms were gone but I had a bad fuel pump and a bad seal on the air flow meter. They claimed the vibration was from incorrect fuel delivery. $1000 later I got the car back. One month later the exact same thing happens. They claim it is unrelated and are 70% sure it's the transmission but won't now for sure until they replace it for almost $8000. This is a 6 year old car with just over 50K miles that up until now ran flawlessly. Meanwhile they moved the shop over 50 miles away from where they were. It was time for a new car anyway so I traded it in. Turned out the problem was fixed with a $250 software upgrade.