# Labor rates.



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

What's a fair and decent labor rate to charge for servicing a AF loco?? Through word of mouth a person dropped off 4 locos, and 4 cars for work.The locos were 2 282's, a 283, and a very nice Royal Blue.. None of the engines ran, draw bars were separated, some needing brushes, brush springs, smoke unit rebuilds, re-tap holes,etc, just the normal stuff. I have one 282 purring like a race horse, and the Royal Blue is definitely a hot rod. My concerns are the costs involved. Of course I charge for parts, using Doug Pecks prices as a guide, and I set my labor rate at $10 bucks an hour, which I feel is fair.Our one local shop charges $25 per hour plus parts, and the other shop charges a flat $55 bucks for service, not including parts. When it's all said and done, the total for the 4 cars and the 4 locos is going to be $140 bucks.The 283 is/was the worst, requiring $32 bucks worth of parts to make it run .Comments are appreciated...


----------



## rkenney (Aug 10, 2013)

Why are you pricing your services so low?

You should also make money on parts you either stocked or had to acquire. Margin on cheap parts can be significantly higher than more expensive parts so a sliding scale can be used. Surcharges should apply to any and all customer supplied parts. You wouldn't take your own steak to a restaurant would you?

Labor should reflect what the market will bear not what you think your worth. Why do people always think its easier (and thus costs less) to fix a car in a driveway than on a lift (for example).

Pick-up or deliver? Charge.

If you are not a licensed dealer or store front does not mean your services are worth less!


----------



## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

My guess is Flyernut is doing this as a favor for Flyer enthusiasts and not for money-making purposes. However, he'll be the first to correct me if I erred. As far as pricing, you are the judge since you know the work you neede to perform and the costs involved. I'd say $10/hour is more than fair provided it puts a big smile on the owner's face when all said and done. $140 for 8 items seems very reasonable. I assume you also cleaned and lubed each engine as well, new fingers, new wiring if needed, adjustments, etc. I'm tempted to give all mine to you and save myself the aggravation....


----------



## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

There is a guy doing engine servicing on the AF Facebook page for about $21.00 per engine labor charge. Parts are of course extra as is to be expected. He also offered a discount to Facebook page members of 20% I believe. I was lucky to have 7 of my diesels done by him with that discounted rate. It cost me much more than your charge, but some of them needed much more extensive work too....new fingers, rebushings, etc. But they all run like new now and I was pleased to pay his price....and I'd do so again in a heartbeat.


----------



## Kwikster (Feb 22, 2012)

Labor charges should be what ever you're comfortable with. Since it's you hobby you can get away with less if you choose to. Most shops charge more due to overhead costs, so take that into account.

Carl


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Nuttin But Flyer said:


> My guess is Flyernut is doing this as a favor for Flyer enthusiasts and not for money-making purposes. However, he'll be the first to correct me if I erred. As far as pricing, you are the judge since you know the work you neede to perform and the costs involved. I'd say $10/hour is more than fair provided it puts a big smile on the owner's face when all said and done. $140 for 8 items seems very reasonable. I assume you also cleaned and lubed each engine as well, new fingers, new wiring if needed, adjustments, etc. I'm tempted to give all mine to you and save myself the aggravation....


Hi Don..You're right, I like to do the work..I did mess up on something though. I just noticed that one of the draw bar wheels has a small chunk out of the rim. It doesn't affect the tracking, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This AFTER I received my parts order from Doug Peck!! Go figure.. The cost of the draw bar is $8, and the shipping will be about $6, so there's a problem with passing that on to the customer. We'll see.:stroke:


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Nuttin But Flyer said:


> There is a guy doing engine servicing on the AF Facebook page for about $21.00 per engine labor charge. Parts are of course extra as is to be expected. He also offered a discount to Facebook page members of 20% I believe. I was lucky to have 7 of my diesels done by him with that discounted rate. It cost me much more than your charge, but some of them needed much more extensive work too....new fingers, rebushings, etc. But they all run like new now and I was pleased to pay his price....and I'd do so again in a heartbeat.


I saw that, and I believe he's also on ebay.$21 bucks for a look see, plus the shipping to get it there, and then another $6-8 bucks to get it back, without any work being done, if chosen, is too rich for my blood. I made the decision years ago if I was going to stay in this hobby, I'd better learn how to fix these things.And so I have...And speaking of that, I just purchased Tom Barkers book, volume 1, and discovered this guy is only about 8 miles away from me!! Small world.:smilie_daumenpos:


----------

