Do you charge for gigs that are beyond a certain distance? If so, how much more and how far away does it kick in?

Only if I have to travel by boat to get to the job..

For the past few years I've been adding transportation charges for jobs farther than 50 miles from where I live. I add $1 a mile for each additional mile. No one has ever griped about this, and it's specified in the contract.

Gary

I include (in my performance fee) travel to anywhere within 15 miles of where I live. The 2004 Federal IRS automobile per diem allowance is currently 37.5 cents/mile, so I simply charge this same rate for anything BEYOND 15 miles. If the gig location is 50 miles away, then I simply charge $26.25 (35 miles x 2 = 70 miles) as travel expense. My clients never have a problem with this arrangement, even commending me for my fairness & honesty, especially after they realize I'm charging NO MORE than the IRS standard auto mileage allowance.

On another note, I want to stress how CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT it is to maintain & document an accurate log of all business travel miles made with your car.

Scott

So, Gary, if my math is correct, if you travel a total of 60 miles you get $10, which is about 16 cents per mile ... if you travel 90 miles, you get $40, which is about 44 cents per mile ... Gotta love those far away gigs ....
t.

The longest drive-time jobs often pay the highest. Kinda' like the expert from out of town mentality. I have performed for crowds as far away is 250 miles (5 hours drive-time), for which they dished out another $500 for the performance. A few days after the job, they sent me a thank you card and expressed their gratitude for me taking the job and making a 10-hour round trip drive. For the past 6 years, and until this year, I performed at the Ocean City Tuna Tournament's captains meeting. That's 160 miles each way. This year, however, the tournament changed ownership and the youngsters that booked the music hired a DJ who played hip-hop and rap all night long. A few days later they called and wanted to know if I was available for next year's tournament. Ya' just never know!

Gary

This brings to mind the days when I played with the band in NYC ... All the guys lived on Staten Island, and before the Verrazzano Bridge was built (1964) the only way to get to a gig in Brooklyn was via the Brooklyn Ferry ... Especially during the summer, the wait to get a vehicle on board could be 2 - 3 hours !!! ... So we would pack the van, and one of us would get in the ferry line at about 2:30 - 3:00 in the afternoon ... the other guys would leave home much later, park there cars at the terminal and meet the van on the other side of the bay ... there were times when the guy in the van would be on the same boat as the other guys who left home a couple of hours later ... At that time, union scale for a 4 hour gig was about $25 ... Considering the time spent waiting for the ferry, the van driver probably made about $2.50 an hour for the gig !!! ....
The things we do, to do the things we LOVE !!!
t.

The cream always rises ... that's great to hear ...
t.

Not that it's right or wrong, but I don't calculate the mileage. I just charge what it's worth for me to to the job and take the distance into consideration. Probably the way Scott does it is best though.
Generally if someone likes you enough to book you a long distance away, the money isn't that big a problem.
Ten years ago I once booked a wedding reception in Dallas (150 miles) for $1000.00 plus a motel room.
When the guy paid me, he asked if I needed more money for the travel expense.
Somehow I told him no!!
DonM

A BIG problem for corporations who pay the government allowed .37.5 cents to employees who travel for their company in their own vehicles is that Runzheimer and other travel consulting firms say that the actual cost to drive a mid-size vehicle under 4 years old is over 50 cents a mile.

37.5 cents a mile won't cut it. I charge $75.00 an hour for travel time. That gets me 50 cents a mile for vehicle expense and $35.00 an hour for the hassle. No-one has ever complained, and seem to understand that
it's going to cost more for someone from out of town to come to their location.

You're right...there is an element of "the expert from another location" happening.

Here, people from little towns come to my regular job, and I travel to their town as much for PR for the place than anything else.

It's an honor to be invited.


Russ

Gary

Is this the same place you had a post here a number of months ago where new young management came in that didn't want to use you anymore?

If so, I guess the laugh is really on them.

Scott

But for tax purposes, you cannot deduct mileage to and from work.

Starting next year, I'll start adding some arbetrary amount for anything over a 30 minute drive. Scott, your way seems very fair and logical, I just like to keep things simple whenever I can.

Glenn

Wow, 50 cents sounds like a lot. I'd like to see their math. Of course, it would depend enormously on what kind of mid-sized car you drive - a Kia, a Toyota, or a BMW.

But let's say you spent $25,000 on your car and you drive it 20,000 miles per year for 4 years. At 50 cents a mile, you would have gotten back $40,000. Let's say you then sell the car for $9000. So you've spent $25,000 and got back $49,000. That's a $24,000 difference. I don't think four years of gas, maintenance, and insurance for a new car could come out to $24,000.

I think the 50 cents a mile figure might be appropriate for higher end cars but not for low to mid-priced cars.

Beakybird

I questioned the 50 cent per mile total cost, too, but then talked to a fellt mamager at Pepsi Company. They use Runzhiemer
to estimate their annual cost of maintaining a fleet.

Insurance costs, property taxes and maintenance charges vary a lot across the country.

Using your example, If you paid $25,000 for a vehicle and sold it for $9,000 four years later, you would have a net purchase cost of
$14,000. Add to that $7,500 for gas, $4,200 for insurance, $2200 for properety taxes and liscensing, $5,000 for interest, $3200 for maintenance and repair and $1100 for miscellaneous (toll fees, parking, etc.).
that brings the total for this example to
over $37,200, or 46.5 per mile.

The variables are business insurance with greater coverage and cost which is required
for employees who use their vehicles on business, the residual value of some vehicles
You may not get $9,000 for the unit, etc.

Runzheimer and other companies are fleet managers and are in the business to know these things.

Kind of makes you rethink those casual 100 mile plus Sunday drives,dosn't it?

Best regards,

Russ

The reason I stick with the 37.5 cent/mile IRS approved figure is because it's easily understood by all my clients, being taxpayers themselves. Any auto travel expense over this is included in my performance fee as just part of the cost of doing business. If clients really feel I deserve more, they'll express it with a generous tip. - Scott