Do your best to keep the trailering between friends and not as an economic
item. In my opinion, the trailer owner never will get reimbursed fully for
all spent in the interest of the trailer.
40c / mile may be a great number when you are corporate, but when you figure
out the hours spent on upkeep of the trailer and the truck, the parts and
materials for repairs caused by the horses, the repainting necessitated by
one you hauled for a freind that pawed or chewed, replacement of the side pad
because the horse decided to take it with him when he raced out, etc.
Other things oft forgotten are the depreciation, road fees, insurance,
liability, stress of having someone else's horses in your care, etc.
On the issue of liability/insurance, watch out if money is accepted and this
becomes (at least in someone's mind) a business. Some insurance agents may
take this to the extreme and nullify your homeowner's or private auto
coverage. Unlikely, but if things get ugly, who knows.
It is always better for the one's bumming the ride to just buy the trailer
owner a few meals, maybe lodging, and slip them some cash if appropriate.
Try to get away from getting nit-picking over each mile for there are few
ways to ruin a friendship quicker than squabbling over petty cash. The
trailer owners need to offer out of friendship and the trailerless need to
reimburse out of gratitude.
Now I shall step off my soap box.
Mike
C. Mike Tomlinson, DVM
Tomlinson Consortium
501-D West Redlands Blvd.
Redlands, CA 92399-4642
(909)307-2369
Fax(909)307-2366
CMikeT@AOL.com
Mike@Tomlinson.com
---------------------
Forwarded message:
From: Murgnme2@aol.com
Sender: owner-endurance@moscow.com
To: endurance@moscow.com
Date: 95-06-28 02:25:45 EDT
I've been riding with the same group of friends for over two years. Some of
us have trailers and some don't. We all went to dinner a few months ago and
agreed that the driver would be paid $ .40 / mile and that would be divided
by the number of horses. Lately, we've been having some difference of
opinions on what is "fair". A couple of my friends-- one has a stock
trailer, one has a 3 horse slant--have recently decided that they want out of
the split. For example, if they haul 2 other horses, besides their own, the
owners of the other two horses would each pay the driver $ .20 / mile. The
driver pays nothing. It seems like no matter how we figure it, someone is
unhappy. I'm upset that our friendships are being jepoardized by financial
matters. I'd like to hear from some others, on how you handle the matter of
hauling other people in your trailer. I used to simply charge the person I
hauled 1/2 of the actual cost of the gas. Then, we all went to the mileage
thing, to be consistent amongst each other, and to get reimbursed for some of
the wear and tear on the truck and trailer. I could really use some input
here, and thanks, in advance!!
Leslie