How to price a job that is far from town

What a far-away job adds to the price

A job a long way from your shop costs more than the same job next door. Think through each extra before you quote, and write it down.

• Travel time, there and back. It is your time even if you are only driving.
• Kilometres driven. Use your own cost per kilometre.
• Freight or delivery of materials.
• Lodging and meals if you cannot go home each night.
• A spare trip for the part you forgot, or for weather delays.

Worked example: a cabin deck (made-up figures)

Two days on site. The drive is 3 hours each way. You make one trip out and one trip back.

Travel time: 6 hours at $50 is $300. Driving: 600 kilometres at $0.70 is $420. Freight for the lumber is $250. Two nights away at $120 is $240.

The far-away extras come to $300 + $420 + $250 + $240 = $1,210. A customer near your shop would not have these costs. Show them as separate lines on the quote so the customer can see why. Tax A and Tax B come on top, from the official source.

A short season changes your yearly sums

Some costs run all year, such as insurance, a truck payment or a shop. If you only work part of the year, those costs have to be covered by fewer weeks.

Example: yearly costs of $24,000. If you work 40 weeks, each working week has to cover $600. If you work 20 weeks, each working week has to cover $1,200. Your price has to carry that, or the busy weeks will pay for the empty ones.

Check it with the break-even calculator

Type your own yearly costs and see how many jobs it takes to cover them. The break-even calculator is free to start. You type every figure and nothing is sent.

For the price of one job, see the guide on what to charge for a job. For trip records, see the guide on mileage and expenses.