Friday, October 3, 2014

Job opening!

The Bozeman angling and floating community has a job opening! We are seeking a reliable, affordable shuttle service to make runs on the Madison River from Black's Ford to Headwaters State Park.
Job requirements: Must be punctual, have access to a vehicle, and be available on evenings and weekends (ideally weekday days, too). Must not change CDs in or steal from vehicles being shuttled. Must run the shuttles you promise to run. Must want to be your own boss, and make some bank during peak seasons.

Please reply with your name and phone number on this posting. Anglers will get back to you.

It seems that all the shuttles services on the Lower Madison are currently either out of business or unreliable. It could be an opportunity to make some money, for the right person/crew.

Some quick hypothetical math: It's about 30 miles for me to get to the river, and 30 to get home. If I did six shuttles for $25 each, totaling, let's say, 92 miles (making six random stabs at where and in what order I'd shuttle cars), I'd drive 152 miles for $150. My car gets about 30 mpg, so I'd use a little over five gallons of gas costing me $17.18 (at the current $3.39/gal). Six shuttles would gross $150, and net $132.82 (pre-tax, and sans additional insurance). That's almost double the current standard mileage reimbursement ($0.56). Doesn't seem like six shuttles would be a difficult number to reach, at least in the summer and on weekends, March through November.

You'd need a partner, however, so splitting that money even would yield $66.41 (though the car's owner should get more). Accounting for 25-percent payroll taxes, it's equivalent to earning about $11.07/hour for a standard 8-hour-day job.

Feel free to do your own math, but would it be worth it for that pay?

Do... you ... want .... to run a shuttle service on the lower Madison? Good boy!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've wondered why someone reliable hasn't filled this hole. I'm assuming it's economics but it would be great if we had someone you could count on for that area.

Josh Bergan said...

Yeah, reliable is the key word. I might try to write an article on shuttle services at some point - I'm curious about their viability. My guess is that it depends on factors like how far you have to drive to get to the river in the first place, etc. but I bet they do WELL during summer weekends. Seems like a great opportunity for seasonal work for the right person.