How much to charge for travel time?

[vvcarpio]

If I am being asked to travel, say, 4 hours away for a shoot, should I charge the client 100% of my hourly rate for the 8-hour roundtrip?

I have a feeling everyone here would say 100%. But since I'm not working while traveling, and possibly riding in the client's car, should I charge less than 100%?

Any thoughts appreciated as I'm very new to this.

 

[Nevermore1]

I'm not a pro but I would think it would only be a portion of your hourly rate. The charge should be based on time/distance, price of gas and wear and tear on your vehicle. You need to find a fkat rate where you won't be losing money as the price of gas changes. You could also have a base charge based on miles such as $10 for every 30 miles or portion of (I just pulled those figures out of no where as an example, didn't really calculate anything). Most professions do not charge the regular hourly work rate for travel and usually do it by miles since if you do hours there really isn't anything sropping you from taking a 2 hour lunch then claiming you were sitting in traffic. If you were to need to stay overnight then I would request for the room charges to be covered (within reason).

 

[Nevermore1]

Sorry about all the typos, tired and on my phone...

 

[DGMPhotography]

Personally, I kinda charge what I want to make hourly, since that is based on my time. Driving is work. But the way I market it is more of it being part of the total package and not separate, and it's still paying for the shoot in a way. I do $2.00/mile.

 

[CameraClicker]

The competing concepts are:
What will the client put up with?
and
What does it cost you to drive for 8 hours instead of working for those 8 hours?

If you could be shooting other clients that come to you, you have 8 billable hours. If you drive for 8 hours, you are not billing someone else for those 8 hours, and you burn a tank of gas, or two, while adding 500 miles to your car's odometer. Really, you should be billing your hourly rate plus expenses.

If transportation is provided, you are still out the 8 hours you spent riding.

 

[DGMPhotography]

The competing concepts are:
What will the client put up with?
and
What does it cost you to drive for 8 hours instead of working for those 8 hours?

If you could be shooting other clients that come to you, you have 8 billable hours. If you drive for 8 hours, you are not billing someone else for those 8 hours, and you burn a tank of gas, or two, while adding 500 miles to your car's odometer. Really, you should be billing your hourly rate plus expenses.

If transportation is provided, you are still out the 8 hours you spent riding.

I totally agree. I forgot to add that I actually charge $5 extra for travel to account for opportunity cost, and wear and tear on vehicle.

 

[sm4him]

I have nothing to add beyond what CameraClicker and DGM already said, I just had to state that I'm so tired I read this thread title as "How Much to charge for time travel."

I would charge a BOATload for time travel.

Travel time, not nearly as much.

 

[tirediron]

I charge travel at 50% of my hourly rate. I understand the school of thought which says I could be working/earning during that time, BUT... my experience has been that most people (large, corporate clients aside, and not even all of those) feel that charging full rate for travel is gouging. I would rather get half-rate and not lose a job. Geography however works in my favour, and a two-hour travel time for a job is a long-haul for me.

 

[vvcarpio]

Thank you, all. I find Nevermore1's comments, um, conscientious (did I spell that right?) and good to keep in mind at all times. Tirediron's was kind of what I was hoping for so it's what I'll go with, with maybe slight revision(s) to fit my case. I, too, see the logic behind losing potential billable time but I'm gainfully employed (knock-on-wood) and so not really losing billable time so at this stage I am more concerned with hurting the -- our -- industry with too low a price. Thank you, again.

 

[KmH]

The current IRS deduction for vehicle business use is $0.56 per mile.

 

[KmH]

. . . I, too, see the logic behind losing potential billable time but I'm gainfully employed (knock-on-wood) and so not really losing billable time so at this stage . . .

That is not information the customer needs to know.

 

[vvcarpio]

. . . I, too, see the logic behind losing potential billable time but I'm gainfully employed (knock-on-wood) and so not really losing billable time so at this stage . . .

That is not information the customer needs to know.

Hi, Keith.

Thank you for the comment.

In my case, the customer (an architectural firm) found me through photos I posted online and asked me to become their architectural photographer. We are in good terms so we know each other's backgrounds pretty well.

But I understand about the customer not needing to know and will do so for future customers.