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Consider Charging Service-Call Fees
Esco Buff, CF, PH.D., says a flat or variable service- or barn-call fee can cover vehicle costs from fuel to registration to replacement.
Tracking vehicle expenses allows you to more accurately separate these expenses 
from other shoeing expenses. It makes it easier to determine if you need to increase your service fee when costs begin to rise. By charging a call fee, you do not have to consolidate clients to specific areas on certain days.
Another reason to charge a service-call fee is as part of a contingency plan for a new vehicle. Too often, when a farrier’s vehicle dies, there is no cash on hand to purchase a new or used vehicle and it’s necessary to seek a loan. Charging a service-call fee will help you set money aside for this situation.
To determine what to charge, consider the cost of your vehicle, how often you replace vehicles, the cost of yearly maintenance, insurance and registration.
It does not matter how you charge the fee, as long as it covers all of your vehicle expenses. You may decide to charge from the last client stop, from your home, by regions or a simple flat fee. Determine what works best for you.
Read more about how service-call fees in "The Hoof-Care Bottom Line" in the November 2009 issue.
I started consolidating customers but it was too hard to reschedule customers when a rescheduling needed to occur. Therefore, I enacted a barn call fee. My barn call fee pays for the truck useage, fuel and my time traveling. I charge $2.50 a mile barn call fee. To break that down, if I travel 30 miles to a barn and back home, that would be a charge of $75. I probably used, at worst, 4 gallons gas or $14.00 gas. My truck cost divided out would of cost me $20 a/day. Now lets just say that is your only stop for the day, so you now have spend $34 and remember you charges $75, a difference of $41. Now much do you want to charge, per hour, for your time in the truck? Let say 30 miles takes you 45 minutes times two is 1hour and 30 minutes. If you charge $27 a/hour labor then 90 minutes would be $41. If you only want to charge $10 a/hour, then your barn call fee should be $14 plus $20 Plus $15 for a total of $49. I have lived in several parts of the US and have not had a problem finding the customers who want to pay for your service. I do not add the barn call into my regular price as I travel all over and someone 5 miles down the road would end up paying more than someone 40 miles down the road. So I set one fee for my sercices and charge a barn call fee. Now the customer needs to decide if it is worth paying me (or You) the barn call fee to have you in the barn.
To figure what you need to recoup your payment for a vehicle, figure how much the vehicle cost, divided by the numer of years you want it (perhaps four or five), divide by number of weeks you work, divide by number of days you work....... and you will come up with how much the purchase of your vehicle costs you. Obviously I could go on and write a book on this topic alone. Please be free to ask more questins if I have not hit on all of yours.
Thanks for posting a comment.
Esco Buff, PhD, CF
