Picture this: you take a service call 40 minutes from your shop. You drive there, do the work, drive back. That's 80 minutes of your day — an hour and twenty minutes where you're behind the wheel, not earning anything.
At $85 an hour, that's $113 you just gave away.
Run 150 jobs like that over the course of a year — and most busy trade contractors do — and you've donated roughly $17,000 in unpaid time to your customers. That's not a rounding error. That's a truck payment, a slow month's salary, or the cushion that keeps a bad quarter from becoming a financial crisis.
The question isn't really whether contractors should charge for drive time. The question is why so many don't — and how to fix it without losing customers.
Why Contractors Skip the Travel Charge (And Why That Logic Is Wrong)
The most common reasons contractors give for not charging drive time:
"Customers won't accept it."
This is the big one — and it usually isn't true. Customers accept travel charges from plumbers, HVAC companies, electricians, and appliance repair services every single day. The contractors who skip the charge often haven't tested whether customers actually object. They've preemptively given the money away based on an assumption.
"My competitors don't charge for it."
Maybe. But if your competitors are underpricing their work, copying them is a race to the bottom, not a competitive advantage. You don't actually know their margins. A lot of contractors who "don't charge for drive time" are struggling financially in ways you can't see from the outside.
"It feels awkward to bring up."
This is the most honest answer. Charging for something invisible — time spent in a vehicle — feels harder to justify than charging for labor the customer can watch. The solution is framing, which this post covers in detail below.
The bottom line: drive time is real time. Your truck burns real fuel. You carry real insurance. You can't be on another job while you're driving to this one. Every minute of unpaid drive time is a minute your business isn't recovering its cost of operation.
The Math on What Uncompensated Drive Time Costs You
Here's a simple annual calculation. Fill in your own numbers:
| Variable | Example | Your Number |
|---|---|---|
| Average round-trip drive time per job | 60 min (1 hr) | ___ |
| Your hourly labor rate | $85/hr | ___ |
| Jobs per year with meaningful drive time | 150 | ___ |
| Annual unpaid drive time value | $12,750 | ___ |
At $85/hour with one hour of average round-trip drive time per job and 150 such jobs per year, not charging for travel costs you $12,750 annually.
If you're in a rural or spread-out market with longer average drives, or if you run more jobs per year, that number climbs fast. Many contractors who calculate this for the first time discover they're giving away $15,000–$25,000 per year in unpaid drive time.
That is not money you're losing to competition. It's money you're voluntarily declining to charge.
Run your own numbers: The Job Profit Calculator has dedicated Drive Time and Fuel/Travel Cost fields. Enter your one-way drive time and it factors travel cost into the Suggested Charge automatically — no manual line items, no forgotten math.
Three Methods for Billing Drive Time — And When to Use Each
There is no single right answer for how to charge drive time. There are three approaches that work, and the best one depends on your trade, your market, and your job mix.
Method 1: Flat Trip Fee (Service Call Fee)
How it works: You charge a fixed fee for every job that requires travel — regardless of how far you drive or how long the job takes. This fee covers your mobilization cost: time, fuel, and the cost of showing up.
Typical range: $75–$150 for residential calls; $100–$250 for commercial calls. Some specialty trades (HVAC emergency calls, electrical diagnostics) charge $150–$200 as a standard service call fee before any work begins.
Best for: Service-based trades with predictable geography — plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, appliance repair. Particularly effective for service calls where the job duration is short and the drive represents a significant percentage of your total time.
How to present it: Call it a "service call fee" or "trip charge" — not "drive time." Service call is industry standard language that customers recognize and accept. Line item it on every estimate and invoice. Don't bury it in the total.
The catch: A flat fee doesn't scale with longer drives. A job 10 minutes away and a job 45 minutes away generate the same trip fee. For markets where you regularly travel long distances, a flat fee may still undercompensate you on the longer runs.
Method 2: Hourly Drive Rate (Same as Labor Rate)
How it works: You bill drive time at your full labor rate — the same rate you charge when you're on the job. If you're at $90/hour and the drive is 45 minutes each way, you bill 1.5 hours of travel at $90 = $135 in travel charges.
Best for: Contractors working in large geographic markets, rural areas where drives are long, or specialty trades where showing up already represents significant expertise value. Also effective for commercial work where customers are more accustomed to seeing itemized professional fees.
Pros: Fully compensates you for your time at your actual rate. Scales correctly with distance — longer drives earn proportionally more.
Cons: Can create sticker shock on residential jobs, particularly short-duration service calls where the travel charge is close to or exceeds the labor charge. Requires clear communication upfront.
Method 3: Reduced Drive Rate (Half to Two-Thirds of Labor Rate)
How it works: You charge a rate for drive time that is lower than your standard labor rate — typically 50–67% of your regular rate. At $90/hour standard rate, your drive rate might be $50–$60/hour.
Best for: Contractors who want to charge for drive time but are sensitive to residential customer perception. The reduced rate is easier to justify ("you're not actively working while you're driving") while still recovering a meaningful portion of your real time cost.
The math still works: At a $55/hour drive rate and 1 hour of average round-trip drive time per job, 150 jobs per year generates $8,250 annually — significantly less than charging full rate, but still a meaningful recovery compared to zero.
What Rate Should You Actually Charge?
There is no universal going rate, but there are useful benchmarks by trade and job type:
| Trade / Job Type | Typical Approach | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|
| HVAC service call | Flat trip fee | $95 – $175 |
| Plumber service call | Flat trip fee | $75 – $150 |
| Electrician service call | Flat trip fee | $85 – $150 |
| Handyman | Flat trip fee or hourly drive rate | $50 – $100 |
| General contractor | Hourly at labor rate or included in mobilization | varies |
| Specialty / remote work | Full hourly rate | labor rate |
| Commercial service | Full hourly or flat + mileage | $100 – $250 |
These ranges reflect what customers in most mid-sized U.S. markets are already accustomed to paying. If you are currently charging zero and want to introduce a travel charge, starting at the lower end of your trade's range is the lower-friction approach. Once customers accept it as standard — and they will — you can adjust.
How to Explain It to Customers Without Losing the Job
The framing matters more than the number. Here are three ways to present a travel or service call charge that land well with customers:
Frame it as standard professional practice:
"Our service call fee is $95. That covers travel, fuel, and the time to get to your location. It applies to every job and gets credited toward the work if we proceed."
The phrase "applies to every job" neutralizes the feeling that the customer is being singled out. The "credited toward the work" approach — where the service call fee becomes part of the job total if they hire you — is a powerful objection handler that most customers respond to well.
State it in the estimate before the conversation:
Don't wait until you're on-site and the customer asks why the bill is higher than expected. Put the service call fee or drive time charge as a clear line item in your written estimate. When customers see it in writing before accepting, it becomes part of the agreed price — not a surprise addition at the end.
Normalize it with a reference:
"All the major HVAC and plumbing companies in the area charge a service call fee — we're in line with the standard for the trade."
Most residential customers have paid a service call fee to a utility company, appliance repair service, or home warranty contractor. Reminding them of that normalizes your charge as expected professional practice.
Handling Customers Who Push Back
Some customers will object. Here's how to respond without caving immediately:
"The other guy doesn't charge for that."
"That's possible — everyone structures their pricing differently. Our service call fee covers the time and cost of getting to your location. The total price for the work reflects everything it takes to do the job right."
You don't need to argue. Just hold the line calmly and move forward.
"Can you waive it since I'm a regular customer?"
This is the one situation where flexibility makes sense. A customer who calls you three times a year is worth a different policy than a first-time caller. You can offer to waive or reduce the trip fee for established repeat customers — but make it a deliberate choice, not a reflexive cave to any pushback.
"I'll find someone who doesn't charge for it."
Let them. A customer who selects a contractor based solely on the absence of a $100 service call fee — and who will complain about that fee — is almost never the customer who pays promptly, respects your time, or calls you back. The contractors who eliminate travel charges to win price-sensitive customers often find those customers create the most difficult jobs.
How to Build Drive Time Into Every Job Price
Whether you use a flat fee, hourly rate, or reduced rate, the charge needs to be built into the job numbers before you write the estimate — not added as an afterthought at the end.
The Job Profit Calculator at JobProfitCalc.com has dedicated Drive Time and Fuel/Travel Cost fields for exactly this reason. Enter your one-way drive time in hours, and the calculator factors your travel cost into the Suggested Charge to Customer automatically.
This means the number you put on your estimate already accounts for travel — you're not manually adding a line item each time or trying to remember whether you included it. The math is done. The number is right. You can send the estimate with confidence.
A Note on Long-Distance and Multi-Day Jobs
For jobs that require significant travel — multiple hours away or overnight stays — the calculation shifts. Standard practice for remote work typically includes:
- Full hourly rate for all travel time (portal-to-portal billing)
- Mileage reimbursement at or above the IRS standard rate if using your own vehicle
- Per diem for meals on multi-day jobs
- Lodging costs billed at actual cost if staying overnight
These are not premium charges — they are standard practice for any professional service business operating away from its home base. Document them clearly in your estimate before the customer accepts, or they become a dispute when the invoice arrives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should contractors charge for drive time?
Yes. Drive time is real time — you cannot be on another job while driving to this one, you're burning fuel, accumulating vehicle wear, and carrying insurance on every mile. Whether you bill it as a flat trip fee, an hourly drive rate, or a reduced rate, failing to charge for it means subsidizing your customers' jobs out of your own income.
What is a fair trip fee for a contractor?
For most residential trade work, a service call fee of $75–$150 is standard and widely accepted. Commercial work often runs $100–$250. The right number for you depends on your trade, your average drive distance, and what your local market is accustomed to. Start at the lower end if introducing the charge for the first time.
Should I charge full rate or a reduced rate for drive time?
Both are defensible. Full rate is correct if your time is equally valuable in the truck as on the job — and it is, since you can't double-book it. A reduced rate (50–67% of labor rate) is a reasonable middle ground that accounts for the lower active-work intensity of driving while still recovering meaningful compensation. Many contractors charge full rate for commercial and specialty work and a reduced rate or flat fee for residential service calls.
How do I explain a trip fee to a customer who objects?
State it clearly in the estimate so it isn't a surprise. Frame it as standard professional practice ("all service companies in our trade charge a service call fee"), and consider offering to credit it toward the job total if they proceed. Avoid apologizing for it — customers respect confident, clear pricing more than hesitant justifications.
What if my competitors don't charge for drive time?
You have no reliable way to know their margins — or whether their business is actually profitable. Competitors who absorb travel costs may be winning more jobs in the short term while quietly hemorrhaging money over time. Price for your own costs, your own time, and your own business sustainability.
Can I charge for drive time on small jobs where the travel is longer than the work?
Yes — and this is exactly where a flat service call fee earns its keep. A job that takes 45 minutes of work and 60 minutes of driving in each direction is a job where your travel cost likely exceeds your labor cost. A service call fee plus labor is the correct structure. If the math still doesn't work after the service fee, the job may simply not be worth taking at the distance you're driving — which is also a valid business decision.
The Bottom Line
Drive time is not a favor you extend to customers. It is time — yours — that has a real cost to your business. The contractors who bill for it aren't gouging anyone. They're covering what it actually costs to show up, do professional work, and run a sustainable operation.
Pick the billing method that fits your trade. Add it to your estimate template as a line item. Explain it clearly and without apology. And use the Job Profit Calculator to make sure drive time is factored into every job price before the estimate leaves your hands.
The customers worth keeping will accept it. The ones who won't — probably weren't worth the drive anyway.
Rates and benchmarks referenced are general estimates for informational purposes. Actual rates vary by trade, region, and market conditions.
