More on Texas' 85-mph speed limit

[Ralph Mowery]

My time is worth more to me than the ammount of extra gas cost. I try not to go more than 5 mph over the speed limit because I do not want a ticket. However if the speed limit was 100 mph I would drive it.

There may be less accidents if the speed limit was around 100 mph or more. People would have to pay attention to what was going on and not have time to read books and put on makeup while driving.

Saw a TV show about the Autobond (however you spell it) and then seem to monitor most of it by remote TV. If you are doing something wrong, they just send you a ticket in the mail.

[gfretwell]

He is saying the saved time may be worth more than the cost of the extra energy you use. I can make the same argument about a hand saw vs a skill saw but if your time is worthless, use a hand saw.

[The Daring Dufas]

If it costs me $20.00 more to get to a client paying me $100.00 per hour, I'll spend the $20.00 to get there so I have more time to make money. Folks who don't work for themselves will never grok the concept of spending money to make money. O_o

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

It's "Autobahn" by the way but I think we here in The U.S. should consider what the German requirements for a driving license are and copy some of it. It would definitely keep a lot of morons off the nation's highways but of course, the P.L.L.C.F. would scream bloody murder because it would require that applicants have SOME intelligence to obtain a driver's license. ^_^

TDD

[Harry K]

Do you see you error? You are assuming that 'driving longer' uses more gas. Clue: the engine will turn over in high gear the same number of times at 30 mph as it does at 150mph over the same distance.

That is another common fallacy along with the "two cars crash head on at 60, is the same as crasing into a wall at 120".

Higer speed is what costs more because you need more fuel to force the vehicle through the air and rolling ristance.

Harry K

Harry K

[Harry K]

He aslo forgets that those few minutes saved canot be put to any useful purpose (as far as actually earning any money). I used to argue that with an idiot at work. He could save a couple minutes easch trip by speeding. I asked just where he is banking those few minutes until they added up to a useful amount of time. No answer.

Harry K

[Harry K]

So you bill your cliant for the amount of time you have available rather than how long the job takes?

Odd.

Harry K

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Harry K:

I don't think that has tb the case.

If I'm working at my home office on Client A's job and I get a call from Client B about something that requires me to be at Client B's site, I drive up to Client B's site, do what has to be done, and then drive back to the home office to resume work on Client A's project.

Since I don't get paid for transit time, any time saved on the trip to/from Client B's site is then available for me to work on Client A's project and I earned that much more for the day.

Repeat that day after day, and there really could be a difference.

Having said all that, on the routes I drive with any regularity there does not seem tb enough diff between trying to drive faster than traffic and just going with the flow to influence my driving habits.

Also, it's entirely possible that I would choose to bike to Client B's site instead of drive - which takes a good 45 minutes longer in each direction....

[gfretwell]

It really depends on how far the trip is then doesn't it. This is Texas, not Connecticut. Towns can easily be 80-90 miles apart.

Even here in SW Florida, I had lots of calls that were 30 miles or more apart. If you spend more time driving than actually talking to the customer in your day, an increase in speed means you can talk to more customers.

[gfretwell]

A lot of people can only bill for the time they are actually on the customer's site and travel time may be capped at a certain amount or not compensated for at all..

[G. Morgan]

I live in Houston and 85 MPH is normal even on the regular freeways (if they are not jammed up). I'll be on beltway-8 often and just keep up with traffic, glace down at the speedo and see I'm going 80+ quite often. Cops don't care if you're in a "pack" keeping up with the rest of traffic. They just single out the lone driver going over the posted limit when no one else is around. Hell, I've passed police cars that were driving too slow (60 MPH) or so on the beltway.

If you've even taken a "Smith Driving Course", they will tell you that police vehicles are a safety hazard because everyone slows down suddenly when they encounter one. Me, I just go with the rate of flow - it's safer that way.

[The Daring Dufas]

Simple failure to grok. I actually get travel time depending on distance. I have more than "one" client to take care of. Perhaps if you understood the service business you would realize what I must go through. ^_^

TDD

[Vic Smith]

I expect a contractor to include his travel time to a job in what he charges to do the job. I mean, that's common business sense. You charge more than your expenses to make a profit. Time should always be included as an expense. Thought everybody knew that. I don't want a guy working for me breaking the law, speeding through construction zones, school zones, etc., I should be paying him enough so he doesn't have to turn to crime. This speeding stuff might apply to jitney cab drivers and independent truckers. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense when talking about business. I worked 4 years at UPS. Pretty sure they're still successful. They don't have to speed to do it. Drivers get fired for speeding. Now when I drive 1200 miles to vacation in Florida, if I do 80 it's 15 hours of driving. If I do 70 it's 17 hours. I relax, and do 70-75. Others choose 80 as their minimum. Pretty safe as far as tickets, but puts them in the left lane tailgating and being tailgated. It mostly gets down to safety and a more relaxed drive to me.

[Larry W]

Suppose that the contractor has a job that will take say 80 hours to complete. For the sake of argument let's say that this contractor limits his workdays to 8 hours. Now suppose that by driving 85mph rather than 55, over a week or so he is able to spend enough extra work hours on the customer's job so that it will be done in 9 days instead of 10. Now he's eliminated a trip altogether, saving fuel cost and time that will likely more than pay for the reduced fuel mileage of driving at 85mph.

[clare]

Going to my "client B" is about 20 minutes faster by car than by bike - but If I'm coming back between 4 and 5:30, the difference is less than 5 minutes.

[clare]

For a service call I bill from the time I leave MY door until the time I leave THEIR door. So I get paid for hald of the transit time.

For contract time it is time on site.

[gfretwell]

You can end up pricing yourself out of that contract tho if the next guy drives faster and charges less.

For most people who live in places with long drives it is just the time out of their lives that they want back. This may not make sense to people in the North East who have never driven much in the West. They can't even comprehend a place where towns are 50 miles apart and a whole lot of nothing in between.

[clare]

You missed it. CONTRACT is time on site. SERVICE CALL is door to door. When something goes south, they want it done NOW - and they expect to pay more. I charge the same rate, but they pay my travel time. No complaints so far.

I likely don't charge ENOUGH, but I make a living.

[HeyBub]

Exactly. Most don't realize that Houston is closer to Florida than it is to El Paso and El Paso is closer to San Diego than it is to Houston. Between Houston and El Paso, you'll pass through counties that are bigger than some states.

What this means is that there's a whole lot of nothing out there.

I'm surprised there aren't more private pilots !

[gfretwell]

Yup by a like token it is farther by road from Pensacola Florida to Key West as it is from Portland Maine to Raleigh North Carolina.

Right before I left IBM they wanted me to commute from Ft Myers to Ft Lauderdale. (125 miles one way) I put in my papers and told them to f*ck off.