Q Could you advise me on establishing a standard charge for
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a trailer which was specially built for traffic which occurs at irregular intervals totalling in all some 12 weeks per year?
A It seems the type of operation you have in mind would not lend itself to standardized costing since the details would only be applicable to individual circumstances.
However, there are general principles which can be applied here. Assuming that it is a charge for the use of the trailer only, and not for both a tractive unit and trailer, the main proportion of the charge would be: interest on the initial outlay on the trailer— plus a nominal weekly maintenance charge. This latter charge would only apply where the work was undertaken by you and not by the customer to whom it was supplied.
If we are right in assuming that this trailer has been specially built for one customer and for a flow of traffic which, in aggregate, needs to be moved the equivalent of only 12 weeks in the year, then while it is so exclusively used the cost must be high.
However, if you subsequently find other work for this trailer, it will be a matter for commercial negotiation and judgment as to whether you then apply a charge evenly between two or more customers, or whether the prior call of the original customer justifies a higher charge.