Maritz Petrol Shop

December 27, 2012 10:44PM

Good evening all.

I have managed to screw myself royally this coming Saturday. I have 4 petrol shops for Maritz. I was on the road when the scheduler called and it was "urgent that she get these lined up today". I agreed to do them for the regular rate, but I got an extra $5 because one of them is in a "you can't get there from here" town. Seriously, it will add about 70 miles to the trip. It seemed like I was trying to pull hens teeth to get that extra $5. The total mileage looks to be around 225, and I'm looking at 7-8 hours behind the wheel--it's almost all country roads.

I realise I've sold myself short on this one. I'm still kind of new so it's the price of tuition. Realistically, and I hope no one takes offense, but what number should I have had in mind? The IRS reimbursement works out to about $125.

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Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
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December 28, 2012 12:36AM

I always take my transportation costs and add 15% and let the MSC know that I need that amount, plus a bonus. The latter part is when I let them throw out a number first, and then the negotiating begins.

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December 28, 2012 12:44AM

In your example, I would have divided the total mileage of 225 by the miles my rig gets per gallon, which is 17. That computes to 13.25 gallons of gas I would have to purchase. I would multiply that by $3.50, which rounds off to about $46.00. That's just to break even on fuel costs. Add 15%, which would be about another $7, and that totals $53.00.

Only after you have ensured that your transportation costs are covered should you begin to discuss bonus. For something taking up the better part of your day, preventing you from taking on other assignments, that lost income needs to be considered in the final number.

December 28, 2012 12:54AM

Good job, shopgal, I can't improve on your answer. I will say Maritz is notoriously cheap... it's difficult to get a commitment to $5, much less what it's really worth.

December 28, 2012 12:59AM

Thanks, Austin. You are oh so right about Maritz. That's why I rarely do long-distance assignments for them unless I can fit them into a route I already have planned.

And James, we've all paid the kind of tuition you're talking about. That's why I keep a cheat sheet taped right next to the computer with round-trip costs to outlying areas so I can quickly negotiate with schedulers. Like you, I learned the hard way, too.

December 28, 2012 01:18AM

Here is how I handle it. I set what I consider a reasonable price based on time expended and distance. If they say no,(And they usually do), Stated you cannot do it for less and say good bye. (They almost always call back and accept your offer),,,

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.

December 28, 2012 02:09AM

Shopgal, AustinMom & Mrcomputer, thanks for all your advice. I'm getting a bit over 30mpg and petrol is about 3.25 here, so I've covered my fuel costs and then some. Won't make minimum wage Saturday but it is the price of tuition.

I love the cheatsheet idea Shopgal. That's why I've got highway maps on the back of my office door, although I think I'll do some of the more common locations onto an excel spreadsheet and have one here and one in the car, for when I'm called on the road.

And you're right Mrcomputer, time and distance also enter into the equation. The fact that my Saturday will be totally devoted to the one msc, I should have figured a comfortable price for my time...and I need to learn that if they don't like what I feel is a reasonable value for my time, wear and tear on my vehicle, etc. then I'm better off not taking the job.

Again, thanks so much for your advice and counsel.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2012 05:50AM by James Bond 007.5.

December 28, 2012 06:45AM

I have kept them talking while I mapquest it for myself. I have been able to negotiate a higher bonus, but have always been very clear that I need $$$ per shop and I need to get all the shops to touch it for that amount. They always need to hang up and talk to a supervisor. This summer one of the bundle I was negotiating for got picked up. They did split the bonus money up that would have been on that shop, so I ended up with one less shop , but the entire bonus I had requested.

December 28, 2012 07:22AM

$100 per day and double my gas is what I try to get for out of town routes. I can't really commit to less than that because once I've locked in a route, I would have to turn down sub teaching if they called me, and that pays $100 a day. So that's how I set my threshold.

My best score was $125 bonus to go to the Grand Canyon (about 350 miles away) and Flagstaff plus another $40 for doing Sedona and Cottonwood on the way -- 7 shops were $9.50, one was 12.50 and I got a lunch shop on the way for another $10 (don't think it had ever been shopped before). So I made my $100 plus almost tripled my gas cost. And . . . that was a Maritz run, so they'll pay if they want it done badly enough.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

December 29, 2012 08:17PM

Just got home from these shops, looking at the pictures and one is missing

I've got a FF shop tomorrow in the general direction, so I'll get the missing shot then. Normally I take 2 of each required, took 1 and it's so bad I can't even fix the exposure in Photoshop.

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