Looking for suggestions on what to offer a coworker for carpooling. They are open to the idea and live closeby. I have a 32 mile each way commute into work and my truck gets about 16mpg so I end up spending around $16-$18 on gas every day. That works out to around $350 to $400 a month in gas depending on how the weeks fall, vacation, holidays, etc.

Coworker has a newer crossover and would be the one doing all the driving. Doesn't make sense to alternate drivers and use my truck given the gas prices. He likely gets around 32mpg. That puts his cost at roughly half so around $175-$200 per month.

Would offering him $150 a month be fair? I'll still end up driving myself in at least a half a dozen times during the month due to differing schedules or meetings I might need to go to.

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C(-)ris
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Seems fair to me until one of you gets the inevitable EV.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Yeah, that sounds fair to me. That's a hefty commute.

Used to be 4 of us in a 70 mile per day carpool. Each person drove one week and so on, what gas mileage they were getting was their little red wagon. I eventually got out because I was working so much OT, 12 hour days.

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Grateful11

He's putting 1,000 - 1,200 miles/month on his CUV that you're then saving on your truck. He's gotta stop for ~3x fill-ups/month that you don't have to deal with anymore. No clue as to your relative positions at work, or financial situations, but all things being equal, at $150, you oughta at least be buying coffee/drinks and baked goods, and sharing the wealth if there's a good cook in your home.

IOW, $150/mo. is more than fair..... to you. I'd offer $163.72/mo., plus an occasional humorous story, or two, and quality leftovers.
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How much do each of you weigh?

Assume he had an identical truck to yours and calculate the cost of Gas and Maintenance (you didn't mention any of it!!!) and then split that in half. That's what you should pay him. And buy a coffee or some beer once in a while for him doing the driving.

Who cares what car he has and what MPG he gets. What if he had an older Tesla that still had free supercharging and his cost would be zero? Why would YOU take advantage of his smart decisions?

Maintenance; oil, filters, tires, and more depending on the car model.

I agree with Buzz. The highest cost (by a long shot) of owning a newer vehicle is depreciation and using only the other guys car means that he'll have to replace it sooner, so depreciation is a big part of his added cost. AAA says that depreciation for an average car is about $310/month over a 5 year ownership. Half of that plus half of the $200/month gas bill is $255/month. That omits maintenance, tires, etc., which AAA says averages $0.09/mile, so would be $90/month total for 1000 miles/month. Adding half of that brings the total up to $300/month as fair compensation for using his car instead of your truck.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

What is his additional cost over driving on his own? It’s probably just the added time / hassle that matters to him. Your $150 starting point works out to about $10/day. IMO it would be nice to tie the money to something more specific.

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IRS mileage rate went up on July 1 to 62.5 cents a mile. So 64 miles @ 62.5 cents a mile = $40/a day or 200 a week. IMO,that would be $100 each, plus some for his driving all the time.

....what color was the bear....???

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

plus some for his driving all the time.

isn't that already taken into account in the IRS mileage rate?

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davester
AAA says that depreciation for an average car is about $310/month over a 5 year ownership.

Based on this, my 5 year old car with 55k miles is worth about $4k. KBB says its worth about $20k.

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gadje
plus some for his driving all the time.

isn't that already taken into account in the IRS mileage rate?

I think the IRS rate is assuming single occupancy of the vehicle.

You mentioned your out of pocket monthly, add in the cost of wear and tear on your truck - divide the total by two and offer that to the guy, you both win.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2022 06:44PM by RgrF.

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RgrF
You mentioned your out of pocket monthly, add in the cost of wear and tear on your truck - divide the total by two and offer that to the guy, you both win.

Isn’t that what I proposed?

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mattkime
What is his additional cost over driving on his own? It’s probably just the added time / hassle that matters to him. Your $150 starting point works out to about $10/day. IMO it would be nice to tie the money to something more specific.

Pretty much zero.. 5 minutes of time to stop in a parking lot that is right off the road, pick me up, and get back on. Same thing on the way back.

I was guessing what his costs would be because it would make sense to split those. I don’t think what I drive matters at all except for me to determine if it makes sense or not to. I have the option of taking a bus that is free to me, but inconvenient, so I don’t have to drive my truck at all. So my costs could be zero in theory. I’m trying to figure out what is fair to reimburse him for adding a passenger.

I’m going to offer half his expenses, not including depreciation, and see where that goes.

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C(-)ris
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2022 07:54PM by C(-)ris.

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C(-)ris
...

I’m going to offer half his expenses, not including depreciation, and see where that goes.

So what if he had an older Tesla with free supercharging, so his cost would be $0? why would he bother to drive you?

Pay him half of your actual cost, or take the free bus.

If the situation were reversed, what would you want him to pay you?
Offer him what you would want him to offer you.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

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rgG
If the situation were reversed, what would you want him to pay you?
Offer him what you would want him to offer you.

Winner!

(the catch is that you really want to avoid any bias and really pretend the situation were reversed)

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C(-)ris
I was guessing what his costs would be because it would make sense to split those. I don’t think what I drive matters at all except for me to determine if it makes sense or not to. I have the option of taking a bus that is free to me, but inconvenient, so I don’t have to drive my truck at all. So my costs could be zero in theory. I’m trying to figure out what is fair to reimburse him for adding a passenger.

I’m going to offer half his expenses, not including depreciation, and see where that goes.

If you're gonna unilaterally change the paradigm your calculation is based on, then you shouldn't have predicated the thread on "being fair", ostensibly to him. Especially since you didn't describe/detail any extenuating circumstances that might factor into the calculation(or its valuation). The only info we had to go on was what you provided us, and as it was presented. In a vacuum predicated solely on "fair", as was originally stated, $150/month is a pretty sweet deal for you.

If the situation were reversed, and he came to you and offered you $150/mo.; what would you consider while cogitating over that offer and its fairness?

FWIW, in the gas crisis in the late 1970's, while the bus wasn't free, nor were there the double-long express buses then, I took the bus to work Monday - Thursday. Granted, the commute was only ~11 miles, but it still took about an hour in L.A. traffic during commute hours. The long lines, and odd/even days at the gas stations factored more significantly than the costs of the bus, or gas. Plus, for that bumper to bumper traffic, the bus was more relaxing in its own way.... so much so that I may have slept thru my off stop a couple of times.
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gadje

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rgG
If the situation were reversed, what would you want him to pay you?
Offer him what you would want him to offer you.

Winner!

(the catch is that you really want to avoid any bias and really pretend the situation were reversed)

If someone wanted to ride with me I would do it for half of whoever had the cheaper commute. I’m certainly not going to make them pay half of my costs, you couldn’t find a worse vehicle to drive than what I have.
I

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C(-)ris
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2022 09:10PM by C(-)ris.

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C(-)ris

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gadje

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rgG
If the situation were reversed, what would you want him to pay you?
Offer him what you would want him to offer you.

Winner!

(the catch is that you really want to avoid any bias and really pretend the situation were reversed)

If someone wanted to ride with me I would do it for half of whoever had the cheaper commute. I’m certainly not going to make them pay half of my costs, you couldn’t find a worse vehicle to drive than what I have.
I

You have your answer then.
As long as you are treating someone how you would want to be treated, I think that is fair.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

This is a tough question. I think you are on the right track with your $150 offer as a starting point. If you get along with the person, I think it's kind of a win-win at that price assuming he'd be driving anyway and you still may be driving yourself 1/4 of the time.

You don't want to be chintzy if he is doing all the driving, but if you are paying him ~$1800 per year for trips he'd be making anyway, I really don't think wear and tear factors into it.

I know it doesn't seem to make sense, but if it's awkward I wouldn't rule out you each driving equally. It would still save you a lot, and then there's absolutely no room for quibbling about who owes what, wear and tear on a new vehicle, etc. And excluding variances for how much you end up driving yourself, that's still only ~$187.50 for you each month.

Begs the question: why would you need the opinion of others to do the right thing?

Thinking on this a little more, since gasoline is not the largest part of the equation and wear-and-tear costs are likely to be much greater on the newer vehicle, your operational costs might be more equal than you think. Therefore, the fairest deal would probably be if you each drove half the time, with no money exchanging hands.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

Is there an additional hidden benefit for both of you from being a carpool, like being able to use the carpool lane?

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C(-)ris

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mattkime
What is his additional cost over driving on his own? It’s probably just the added time / hassle that matters to him. Your $150 starting point works out to about $10/day. IMO it would be nice to tie the money to something more specific.

Pretty much zero.. 5 minutes of time to stop in a parking lot that is right off the road, pick me up, and get back on. Same thing on the way back.

I was guessing what his costs would be because it would make sense to split those. I don’t think what I drive matters at all except for me to determine if it makes sense or not to. I have the option of taking a bus that is free to me, but inconvenient, so I don’t have to drive my truck at all. So my costs could be zero in theory. I’m trying to figure out what is fair to reimburse him for adding a passenger.

I’m going to offer half his expenses, not including depreciation, and see where that goes.

If I was driving to work daily and was spending about $200 a month on gas and somebody (who I liked to spend time with!) offered me $150 a month to share my car, and it took me a few minutes to get the person, AND I didn't have to worry about it if I left a few minutes early/late because the other person wouldn't feel put out if I was running a bit off schedule, I'd be pleased. I'm already going to be spending the gas, depreciation and upkeep money, so the $150 is essentially found money.

I'm already going to be spending the gas, depreciation and upkeep money, so the $150 is essentially found money.


This is how I see it.

If my commute (I no longer have one) wasn't noticeably impacted, then this seems to become a 'Hey, you're getting a free ride that costs me next to nothing, if not nothing, and that's not fair!' thing.

I'd certainly start with $150 and see if the guy likes it, or come to some other mutual agreement.

What if C(-)ris drove an eV that he charged during off peak so as to have little or zero cost?

Or if he drove an AMG or Aston-Martin.

All truly irrelevant.

Now if this were a CW or NBC sitcom, C(-)ris would be asking for stops for shopping, detours to visit someone (it's only few miles out of your way, nothing really) clipping his toenails in the car, etc.

Or the driver running drugs as a side hustle, or have warrants and a search clause, or worse – I can lose the cops easy!

But it's not.

And if the guy declines the offer of accepting any cash, I'd insist on the $150, unless it freaks him out.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

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davester
Thinking on this a little more, since gasoline is not the largest part of the equation and wear-and-tear costs are likely to be much greater on the newer vehicle, your operational costs might be more equal than you think. Therefore, the fairest deal would probably be if you each drove half the time, with no money exchanging hands.

I think this is the best solution by far.

Davester is wise as always.

Therefore, the fairest deal would probably be if you each drove half the time, with no money exchanging hands.
,,,

I think this is the best solution by far.


I agree that it's probably the fairest, but I don't know that offering cash rises to the standard of unfair to anybody.

It does eliminate the appearance of any unfairness.

C(-)ris, driving his vehicle half the time would result in a 50% decrease in his fuel bill, which on average would appear to be equal to paying $150/mo.

Not to disparage either party, maybe it will come down to who has the nicer vehicle.

I've seen people with cars that one couldn't pay me to ride in.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2022 05:45PM by RAMd®d.