Transport Costs

Summary

The Club Management Committee has recently discussed transport costs and believes it would be a reasonable expectation amongst Club members that operating costs for a vehicle transporting bushwalkers for Club outings be shared amongst the passengers in that vehicle.

We should all wish to uphold the expectation of transport cost sharing on an equitable basis and this information can be used as a guide for reasonably compensating your driver.

This isn’t to suggest that you can’t come to any arrangement you wish with your driver for instance - you might have an arrangement of mates-rates where say friends take turn in taking their vehicles on outings.

Listed below is the total expected cost per passenger per kilometre of various sized vehicles where the assumption is made that there are 4 occupants in the vehicle.

Class of Vehicle	Example vehicles	Cost cents per person per kilometre
Light	Kia Rio Toyota Echo Hyundai Getz Honda Jazz	3.78
Small	Mazda 3 Nissan Pulsar Toyota Corolla Holden Astra	4.71
Medium	Mazda 6 Subaru Liberty Toyota Camry 4 cyl	4.97
Large	Commodore Camry 6 cyl Magna Falcon	5.68
People Movers	Toyota Tarago Kia Carnival Honda Odyssey	5.73
Compact SUV	Toyota RAV 4 Nissan X-Trail Subaru Forester Honda CRV	5.46
Crossover SUV	Toyota Kluger Ford Territory	5.89
Medium SUV	Mistubishi Pajero Toyota Prado	6.75
Large SUV	Toyota Landcruiser Nissan Patrol	8.32

Detail

With the seemingly ever sky-rocketing fuel prices it’s time to be thoughtful about whether fellow club members who provide us with transport to our outings are being reasonably compensated for the costs they will incur operating their vehicles.

The Club Management Committee has recently discussed transport costs and believes it would be a reasonable expectation amongst Club members that operating costs for a vehicle transporting bushwalkers for Club outings be shared amongst the passengers in that vehicle.

Some drivers will be too shy or reserved to be upfront about asking for money to help cover their costs. We should not take advantage of the kind-hearted and certainly volunteer, if not insist they accept some reasonable compensation.

So what’s reasonable to pay?

Fuel costs are a big part of operating a vehicle but that’s not the beginning . Your driver already incurs the ownership and fixed costs of the vehicle like the cost of the funds to buy the car, depreciation, registration and insurance. Operating costs are those that change with distance and/or time and include fuel, tyres service and repairs. Tyres, servicing and repairs typically account for about 20 - 30% of operating costs.

The Management Committee has done some research and with the aid of the NSW and Victorian motoring club websites has gathered average vehicle operating cost data ie fuel and reasonable cost of tyres and maintenance based on the trip distance.

The table below provides a list of average operating costs for 9 classes of petrol vehicles on a /100 km basis. These range from about 15/100km for light vehicles to about 33 /100 km for large 4WDs, based on today’s fuel price of 1.30 / L. (oh sorry! that was yesterday – isn’t it 1.35 today!).

There is also a column to show how costs move with the price of petrol.

We recommend to leaders that their outings plans in Footprint provide and indication of the trip distance so members will have an idea of transport costs beforehand.

Class of Vehicle	Example vehicles	Average petrol cost c/100 km(at $1.30 /L)	Average tyres cost c/ 100 km	Average servicing & repairs cost c/100 km	Average total operating cost c/100 km	c/100 km adjustment for every 5c change in the price of petrol
Light	Kia Rio Toyota Echo Hyundai Getz Honda Jazz	10.18	0.78	4.15	15.11	0.39
Small	Mazda 3 Nissan Pulsar Toyota Corolla Holden Astra	12.53	1.22	5.07	18.82	0.48
Medium	Mazda 6 Subaru Liberty Toyota Camry 4 cyl	13.36	1.25	5.27	19.88	0.77
Large	Commodore Camry 6 cyl Magna Falcon	18.19	1.10	3.43	22.72	0.70
People Movers	Toyota Tarago Kia Carnival Honda Odyssey	16.8	1.39	4.74	22.93	0.64
Compact SUV	Toyota RAV 4 Nissan X-Trail Subaru Forester Honda CRV	14.97	1.20	5.65	21.82	0.58
Crossover SUV	Toyota Kluger Ford Territory	16.85	2.01	4.04	23.54	0.64
Medium SUV	Mistubishi Pajero Toyota Prado	20.02	1.86	5.13	27.01	0.77
Large SUV	Toyota Landcruiser Nissan Patrol	24.55	1.95	6.77	33.27	0.94

Vehicle usage is assumed at 15 000 km/yr and tyres and servicing costs are averaged over a 5 year operating period.

Tyre costs are estimated using the following assumptions:
• Each set of tyres is estimated to last 45 000 km. Consequently 1 full set of tyres will wear out within the given period ie 5 years).
• The cost of another single tyre as it is assumed that one tyre will be punctured beyond repair in that period.
• Replacement costs include fitting and balancing and the cost of a wheel alignment.

Service and repairs
This will comprise two costs, the cost associated with regular servicing and the cost associated with unscheduled servicing and repairs.
Regular service costs including GST are calculated using manufacturers recommended service schedules including a range of original equipment replacement parts.
Unscheduled servicing and repairs will incorporate a range of replacement parts considered appropriate for normal driving conditions and assumed annual distance, with replacement parts cost including the GST.
Several parts that experience wear and tear within the ownership and operating period are also included. For example Brake pads and rotors, windscreen wipers are most likely to wear out within the given period and windscreens are commonly chipped and damaged as a part of normal driving and so their replacement costs must be included.
Labour rates have been averaged from a small survey of 10 Melbourne metropolitan service centres. The average labour rate for 2005 including GST was 92.20.