The real cost of driving to gigs for the freelance musician

A recent feature in the Chicago Tribune (Sunday, April 13, 2008 by Jim Mateja)  about the actual operating costs per mile for a variety of different vehicles caught my eye--not surprising considering how much I've written on commuting and its effect of the livelihood of a musician.

The price of gas rose 31.5 percent in 2007, which means that the average consumer (driving 10,000 miles a year) will spend between $5,510 and $9,095 to operate a 2008 model car.  This figure is based on gal, oil, tires, and maintenance--parking or tolls are not included in these calculations.

As a full-time freelancer, I drove around 50,000 miles per year between 2000 and 2007 (when I "saw the light" and realized that doing all this driving was complete insanity).  At these aforementioned rates, I would have been spending somewhere between $27,550 and $45,475 for vehicle operating expenses in 2008 if I had kept up this pace of gigging.

No wonder I never had any money!

The cost of operating various common vehicles

How much are you really spending on getting to that gig?  Let's see!  Here is a list of operating costs per mile for a variety of common vehicles:

Vehicle Model	Operating Cost Per Mile
Small Cars: Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Corolla	55.1 cents per mile
Mid-Size Cars: Chevy Impala, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry	71.9 cents per mile
Full-Size Cars: Buick Lucerne, Chrysler 300, Ford Five Hundred, Nissan Maxima, Toyota Avalon	85.8 cents per mile
Minivans: Chevy Uplander, Dodge Grand Caravan, Kia Sedona, Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna	74.9 cents per mile
Mid-Size SUVs: Chevy Trailblazer, Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner	91 cents per mile

Imagine if you kept a little jar on the passenger seat next to you, tossing in 55, 75, or 91 cents every time a mile ticked by on the odometer.  Would it make you think about whether you really needed to get into the car for that particular trip?

What these costs mean for the freelance musician

This topic really gets interesting for me when I think of the implications it has for  the freelance musician  While these vehicle operating costs obviously affect all of us, even if we don't drive at all (most goods in the United States are delivered by truck, and these costs have a huge impact on the overall economy), freelance musicians live and die by their cars, and the cost of commuting (usually either under-reimbursed or not reimbursed at all by employers) to various locations has a major impact of the livelihood of these road warriors.

Real commuting costs to various locations by vehicle type

Let's take a few examples of common gig destinations for Chicago freelancers and the real cost associated with commuting to these various venues:

Destination (and round-trip distance from Chicago)	Mid-Size Car Per-Trip Cost	Full-Size Car Per-Trip Cost	Mid-Size SUV Per-Trip Cost
Chicago Philharmonic Evanston, IL (28 miles)	$20.13	$24.02	$25.48
Elgin Symphony Elgin, IL (84 miles)	$60.40	$72.07	$76.44
Milwaukee Ballet Milwaukee, WI(168 miles)	$120.79	$144.14	$152.88
Madison Symphony Madison, WI(320 miles)	$230.08	$274.56	$291.20
Illinois Symphony Springfield, IL (480 miles)	$345.12	$411.84	$436.80

What are you actually making?

Because I don't want to appear mean or vindictive toward any particular group (I've been accused of this with these table analyses in the past!), I will substitute real names and pay scales with imaginary ones for the following examples.  Keep in mind, however, that these examples are right in line with what freelance groups actually pay, so feel free to substitute the group of your choice into the following table to determine if you should really be taking that gig.

Gig and per-service pay (including mileage)	Profit After Mid-Size Car Commute	Profit After Full-Size Car Commute	Profit After Mid-Size SUV Commute
$100 gig in town (3 mi/RT)	$97.84	$97.43	$97.27
$100 gig in nearby suburb (20 mi/RT)	$85.62	$82.84	$81.80
$100 regional orchestra gig (80 mi/RT)	$42.48	$31.36	$27.20
$100 moderate distance gig (180 mi/RT)	-$29.42	-$54.44	-$63.80
$100 long-distance gig (320 mi/RT)	-$130.08	-$174.56	-$191.20
$100 very long-distance gig (480 mi/RT)	-$245.12	-$311.84	-$336.80

Choose your gigs wisely!

I like quoting these statistics to my fellow freelancers (especially now that I'm not doing all the long-haul driving that I used to do!), and I frequently get defensive replies, with claims that it doesn't cost them that much to commute.  Call me foolish, but I don't see how you can find a way to make these trips cost less... besides not making them!  A trip to Springfield, Illinois in a certain car costs a certain amount of money to undertake, and if you're only getting paid $100 a service (this gig actually pays less than that, though there is a little mileage that bumps it up to around the $100 per-service mark), you're actually losing between $245 and $336 per trip.

Think about that for a moment.

In what alternate universe do people pay tens of thousands of dollars (hundreds of thousands in many cases) to go to music school only to fight for a job that pays -$336 a service?  Has the world gone crazy?

I was recently called to play a gig in southern Wisconsin that pays $55 per service (with no mileage or cartage). 

If I'd accepted that, I would have made -$39.64 per service, or -$198.20 for the week.  Not finding many reasons to pay (both up front in gas and later in maintenance) almost $200 for the "privilege" of playing with this ensemble, I said no.

Add in the hours spent driving to long-haul gigs, and you've got a whopper of an equation staring you in the face.

A typical service for an orchestra I belong to in Milwaukee averages around $90 per service, with no cartage or mileage.  Let's break this little bugger down... as if I'm not depressed enough already!

Distance to gig (round-trip):	150 miles
Per-service pay:	$90
Operating cost of vehicle for each service:	$136.50
Tolls per trip:	$5
Parking costs:	$8
Total profit per-service:	-$59.50
Hours spent on road (could be greater if traffic is heavy):	3.5 hours
Hours spent at gig:	3 hours
Total hours devoted to gig (1/2 hour cushion built in to allow enough time to park & get inside venue):	7 hours
Services per week:	7 services
Trips to Milwaukee per week:	6 trips
Hours devoted to gig per week:	45.5 hours
Profit per week:	-$267

You know, it really is like some eerie alternate universe, isn't it?  Working for 45.5 hours at a minimum wage job would garner a person around $267 profit for that week.  In the world of music, however, that money is in negative dollars!

The loss per week would actually be greater that -$267, but thankfully there's one double built into the schedule, which actually allows for a little profit that day!  This is a valuable lesson--if one's doing out-of-town commutes, the more doubles the better!

Drawing Conclusions from this Study

If I can find one lesson to take away from this analysis, it would be this:

Work close to home!

Unless you're being compensated accordingly, try your utmost to build something up in your community.  If opportunities don't exist, create them for yourself (see my article Musical Entrepreneurship for my suggestions and a more elaborate discussion of this topic).

While there's something to be said for getting opportunity and cutting your teeth (remember, I've driven all over Creation for the past seven years, so I'm speaking from personal experience), there's also something to be said for not committing your time, money, heart, and spirit to something that actually costs you money, sucks away your life expectancy (through icy commutes and hair-raising overnight drives) while resulting in a negative income stream.  After all, freelancers are independent contractors, small businesses unto themselves, and what small business would continue to operate in the red week after week and year after year without re-evaluating their business practices?

Why not just pull your checkbook out, write out a donation of a few hundred bucks to your state highway commission, and hunker down in the practice room to try to win a gig that is in one location?  Either that, or use all the contacts you've built up in music school and the professional circuit to start your own organization and enrich your own community in the process?

Comments

[Kells Nollenberger]

Jason you are so right about this. The last thing artists need to be doing is driving all over the place and performing for other communities and losing money. We all need to find more ways to really be part of a community and support it. If we can't do that where we live then maybe we need to find new locations. Location location location. Its a brave new world for musicians but it can be really exciting thing instead of depressing.

[Robert M McNally]

I purchased a Honda Fit (yes fit) in August of 2007, purchase price 16,565. 4 door hatchback ,very attracxtive rear seats fold,city 33-34, road 37-38 miles per gallon. most car mags give very good reviews including Consumer Reports.(and me), I LOVE IT!!!! I am 79. Bob McNally

[A trombone player]

I think this is a bit of a specious take on the "real" costs to freelance musicians. An essential part of operating expenses per mile is the actual cost of the vehicle you are driving. One can make a very judicious decision as to what make, year, and model one purchases. That perhaps has the greatest impact on actual cost per mile. I own a 2002 Impala, a good, reliable vehicle that I'm paying for at about $125 per month, which equals $1500 per year. Add about $900 for insurance, and the amount of money that I pay per year simply to own a vehicle, regardless of whether I work or not, is $2400. Beyond that, what I pay for is basic maintenance and gas. At about $50 per week, that's close to another $2500, bringing my total to $5,000, but let's add another $1,000 for maintenance: oil changes, new tires over several years, random repairs, etc. Remember that nearly half of that comes from merely owning my vehicle and I need to pay for that whether I work or not. It boils down to the bottom line. I'm losing $2500 of my own money to have the privilege of owning a vehicle--should free lance musicians merely sit at home, because the next gig doesn't pay enough? Clearly a $50 gig is hardly worth it, but many of the other examples you're talking about are necessary simply to pay for the car. If indeed each of the gigs you are talking about create a net negative of hundreds of dollars, the honest reality is that musicians would not accept the gigs. I drive close to 30,000 a year as a musician, and my costs are about $6,000. This article claims that the owner of my vehicle, an Impala, will spend $7190 for 10,000 miles. Since I drive 3 times as much as this, they must believe I spend over $21,000 a year on my car. That's nothing but hogwash. Real world living is a better indication of what costs are incurred than a study by AAA. The bottom line is that we are all savvy enough to weigh whether or not a gig is worth taking or not--to throw in specious claims about the 'real' costs of driving a vehicle doesn't hold water with this musician. I empathize that the costs of doing business are high, but I would submit that for most of us, the primary reason we don't have money is that we spend money and live beyond our means. A budget is the most important practice anyone can make, especially free lance musicians. Living with less than we earn is the key to financial success in any field. I for one feel that it can be done, but I agree that with higher fuel prices, pressure needs to be placed on managements to increase the per mile payment. The bottom line, however, is that most often, people are better off taking a gig than staying home and counting the phantom money that they are saving by not working.

[Jason Heath]

Thanks for your feedback, Robert. I certainly agree with your analysis, and you make some very good points. The costs associated with simply owning a vehicle are substantial even before considering gas and other commuting costs. The problem to me is that many musicians do end up taking these distant gigs (with low pay) without really taking a moment to sit back and think about whether it's worth it or not.

[the at factor]

I feel I must reiterate that half of the quoted cost/mile is the cost of insurance plus purchase price divided by I think 5 years. That cost is paid whether you drive anywhere or not, and your loan payment/insurance does not go up just because you drive more than 10,000 miles that year! So when figuring cost to a *particular gig*, you should *only* count the cost of gas/and extra maintenance. Which in your 150 mile example is only about $20 for a small car rather than the $136 you presented.

[Jason Heath]

I didn't use a 150 mile example.

At the 2008 Federal mileage rate of 50.5 cents per gallon, a 150 mile trip should be reimbursed $75.75. I spend more than $20 just in gas (not counting the other described expenses) making a 150 mile trip even in a small car.

[the at factor]

Well if I am reading your final Milwaukee example wrong (under the heading "Choose your gigs wisely") where you say it's a 150 mile roundtrip with operating cost per service of $136.50, then that's my error. But let's consider the federal mileage rate showing $75.75 you just mentioned, half of that is to cover purchase and insurance costs. My gas cost estimate figured a small car would get a good 30mpg. Since I get 27mpg in my full size Maxima, that trip would cost me $18.33 in gas if it's $3.30/gal. Have you ever calculated this: your trip meter between fill-ups divided by number of gallons consumed to determine the gas mileage you are getting for each fill up? I do it every time to make sure my car is running efficiently-- then if there is any drop in mpg that lets me know something is wrong with my car.

[S Miller]

Very interesting. I do a weekly gig, 142 mile round trip, for $130. Lately I only do it if the drummer picks me up. Costs are just out of control. People try to rationalize the prices are in line with inflation. It would be if I were making $390 for the weekly gig.
My other car is an xtracycle (www.xtracycle.com), which I have electrified (www.bionx.ca). So, getting around town 300 miles a month costs me about $1.50 in power bills.
I wish I could be more help than this.

[Mell Csicsila]

One of the things I've noticed on the drive is that there is a trucking company that advertises for new drivers with a sign on the back of their trailers that reads "Drivers: make $.41 to $.43 a mile with XYZ Trucking." It's not a true marker of one's costs, but I've used it as a method to judge the worth of a gig for me. If I can make substantially better money driving professionally versus performing professionally, I might as well go to the Hamrick Truck Driving School and make the better money. (Another company advertises "be home on weekends," which could be another attraction.)

The downtown gigs I have are 12-15 miles away. The base scale most often works out to about between $5 and $6.45 a mile round trip.

I've got a small regional gig this week that's about 75 miles away. That works out to about $.55 cents a mile. I'm still going to play it, because the quality of the people involved, music performed, and some of the other aspects of the gig add to my personal satisfaction. My wife is performing as well, so that doubles the income for our household/car trip. Sometimes, it seems like the only quality time we have together is at 65mph.

However, another regional orchestra that is a 280 mile round trip works out to be around $.28 per mile. Mix it in with leaving at 4pm and getting home well after midnight, and it's no longer worth it, for me (although 7 years ago was a different story.)