Re: Bulding a trailer?-Metalworking Content-Warning <G>

On Sun, 06 Aug 2006 20:17:41 -0700, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:


Going to the bank for the money for one..aint gonna happen.
When a persons credit score is in the double digits..no one wants to
talk to you.

_Double_ digits? When did yours increase? <g>

Wishful thinking on my part. Shrug


This is the reason I drive a truck with 421,000 miles on it.

Last year..I invoiced $18,000. With about another $6k in cash sales,
commissions etc. Figure $24k gross before expenses and taxes and so
forth.

I figure that you should be (but currently are NOT) invoicing for your
travel and parts picking time, too, dude. What's your hourly rate?

I charge $65 per hour on site, $25 per hour travel, portal to portal
from Ontario California, and .50 a mile, portal to portal.

Average service call is 1-2 hours, average driving time is 1.5 hours,
with 66 miles as average mileage in my service range in So. Cal.

Figure $65+ 37.5+ 33. = $135.50 average service call. Not bad money huh?
Now try living on 3 of those a week. 3 a Day would be sweet.

I spend on average..30 hours a week on the road. physically behind the
wheel, with about 4-8 of those being billable. $20 in the gas tank per
day, Mondays and Fridays...$30-40 each day, as I come south or go north.

Much of the rest of the unbilled mileage etc is generated in cold calls,
welfare checks, etc. Looking for work etc. Somethings cant be done over
the phone. If a customer has a small problem..and I call him..he may
defer it to another time or fix it himself. If I walk in on a cold
call..he often will be willing to pay the 1 hour minimum, no
travel/mileage (since I went to see him..he didnt call me)

I average 65,000 miles a year. And there is NO way I can move to So.
Cal. My gas, RV space rent, maint costs and mortage are still less than
a 1 bedroom walkup apartment nearly anywhere in So. Cal.
Plus..frankly..if I moved down there, no one could take care of the
ex..as she would lose most of her county medical assistance..and she
WILL die if that happens. I cant afford to keep her alive by myself.

Going home on the weekends and coming aback south is about 300 miles a
week total, on average. with 8-10 hours of wheel time.

I also do NOT charge for learning time. If I get called on a machine Im
not familiar with..I dont charge him for the time I spend learning the
ins and outs of the machine etc. I only charge him for the time it
actually took to FIX/diagnose the problem, once Ive determined how and
why things are supposed to happen. If I cant find the problem..no charge
of any kind. And I will find someone who can, with the provision I can
look over his shoulder as he diagnoses/fixes the machine. This gives me
education on the machine and a big leg up on the next machine of this
type I encounter.

Fanuc for example charges $8000-15,000 for their schools. Something I
cannot afford to attend, not to mention the sheer numbers of guys in So.
Cal who are Fanuc specialists Id have to compete with. But now I can at
least diagnose some Fanuc issues and even fix some.

Keep in mind, that until 2001, when OmniTurn laid off all their support
staff (me included) Id only had experience with OmniTurn CNC equipment.
Period. I had never laid hands on any other machine tool of any kind
other than the simply drill press, etc etc. So Ive had to cram OJT and
books into the last 5 yrs, on my own. And with a slow but strengthening
economy..I didnt have many chances to learn much until recently.
Until I went to work for OmniTurn, my idea of machining, was to chuck it
in a drill motor, hold it between my knees, and hit it with a file. My
previous careers gave me some skills that transfered to the machine tool
REPAIR biz..but only some. So I lived, breathed and *** books on
machining, repair etc. My bathroom has a huge bookcase filled with
machining books.

Now..frankly..Im pretty good with a lot of different machines, mostly
manual of course (one needs a huge network behind one or company
experience) to fix other brands of CNC equipement. So I dont do much
with CNC other than OmniTurns.

And Ive broadened my services. I do electrical, air, compressors,
infrastructure, networking etc..so Im doing far more than Ive ever done
in this business. And getting referals.

My network..composed of other poorboy/bottom feeders like myself is
getting pretty good sized..and folks are calling me weekly to have me
find them a machine, or sell one for them. And I get 10-15% off the top
of each sale.

I recently brokered, after everybody told me it was unsellable..a 1949,
King-Cincinatti, 6' vtl (vertical turret lathe)..all 65,000 lbs of it.

The BUYER sent me a nice little check for finding what he thought was
unfindable in So. Cal. The seller gave me a Bridgeport (needs some
minor work) A win win for everybody. You havent seen all my machines.
Ive got stuff stored all over So.Cal. Lots of junk..some sellable
stuff..lots of fixeruppers waiting for me to be able to afford the
repair parts.

During the worst of the recession..when shops were closing right and
left..machinery was dirt cheap and in many cases..unsellable..I took
some machinery in trade for labor. Thats how I got my Hardinge HLV-H,
Hardinge TFB, Clausing 8540, Covel OD grinder and so forth. They had no
money to pay me, but could trade stuff out. Doing the work didnt cost me
much..so I took the machines. Either than..or sit on my ass and hope the
phone would ring. And I gave lots of credit. I kept some shops going
through the Recession that would have gone tits up. And the vast
majority of them remember this. So I get work that would normally go to
someone else. I get Christmas cards from little mom and pop shops who I
bailed out of tough situations. One Cambodian shop, I ran parts for
them for 2 days, after fixing their machine and getting the (desperately
needed) order out for their client. It was enough to keep their doors
open, and get established with that new client of theirs. They had no
money to pay me, at least not until their client payed them in 90
days..so I gave em the 2+ days labor as a Christmas present. I didnt
have a Christmas that year myself. But Im the only one they call now,
for any machine or infrastructure work. And they pay me COD..by THEIR
choice.
And they are doing pretty good these days. Ive already found and
brokered 2 machines for them this year. Now they are thinking about
buying a brand new OmniTurn CnC lathe through me.

"Cast your bread upon the waters, and it shall be returned a hundred
fold"

Not bad words to live by, when you are an independant, good at what you
do, and dont go too deeply out of pocket.

Only a couple times has it bit me in the ass. I had a customer..medical
issues of both him and his wife forceing him to retire. He had an
OmniTurn he needed to sell..was going to sell it for what he owned on
it..$8500. I brokered it for $18,000. Got him more than double what he
was asking. When I asked for my 10%..he plead poverty. Ive not talked to
him since. And as a result of his pulling that..I had no power in my
home in August or September of that year. Which is why I busted ass to
find a willing buyer..I needed the commission desperately. That was the
first year I was out on my own after the big layoff. That year..I
grossed $14,000 total. Ate a lot of beans and rice that year. Dogs and
cats got skinny too. Next year was a bit better, as was the year after
that.

A customer I kept alive for the past couple years..MultiScrew in La
Habra, pretty big company..174 employees during their shining times,
they were hit hard because of the Clinton Recession and some class
action suits (they were sued along with a dozen other companies IRRC)...
folded up a month or so ago. I did a lot of free stuff..lots of labor
"Pay me when you can"..and they usually did. Until the day they had to
close their doors, leaving me with unpaid invoices of around $3k I got
the bankruptcy notice middle part of last month. They are being
auctioned off on the 23d of this month. Ill be lucky to see $20 if that
much. owner and I are still friends, really wasnt his fault. A thread
about the situation ongoing on AMC..others know the situation..also say
the owner was a victim.

But I did my part, kept em going..and Ive gotten some referals from the
old boy..and he is now working for a big company..and Ill be getting
some work from them on his recommendation.


Call Terry Runyon if you need more hours. I'm sure he could use your
help. You could park your RV at his house in San Marcos, too. (free of
charge, prolly.)

The RV in my back yard needs a tranny. The travel trailer in Ontario
that I keep to sleep/***/shower in..is 2.5 hours at best of times from
San Marcos..and most of my customers are 1.5 hours from San Marcos at
the best of times..(after 9pm at night)

Worst of times..can be up to 4 hours away.

Who is Terry Runyon? Name rings a bell, but cant place it.

"That which does not kill you..makes you stronger."
Fucks up your health though...shrug

Gunner

"I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism.
As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural
patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief
in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist
.