Should you charge for travel time?

Travel time and vehicle costs need to be covered by your price. Calculate what each visit costs, then recover it through your hourly rate, a trip charge, a distance fee or a separate travel line. Tell the customer which policy applies before dispatch.

Put a number on the drive before you decide

One hour of round-trip driving a day is five hours a week. Whether that hurts depends on how many hours you actually bill — after estimates, supply runs and paperwork, always fewer than you work. If you bill 25 hours, five additional driving hours equal 20% of that billed time. Recovering them only creates extra revenue if you can sell the time saved.

Run it out over a year on your own rate and vehicle:

The fuel price in the table is illustrative. Replace it with the price you pay; the EIA fuel update provides dated regional comparisons.

Use maintenance receipts and a vehicle replacement budget alongside fuel. A paid-off vehicle can still lose resale value and need replacement; loan status does not determine depreciation. Avoid counting the same vehicle cost in both your hourly overhead and a separate trip fee.

The IRS standard mileage rate is an optional way to calculate a deduction for eligible business driving. Check the effective date: the IRS table lists separate rates for the two halves of 2026. It is not a customer billing rate. Eligibility and the choice between mileage and actual expenses are covered in mileage and vehicle costs.

Four ways to recover travel costs

The dollar figures there are formatting examples, not going rates. What to charge depends on your metro, your trade and your own drive-plus-diagnostic cost, and the published "averages" online come from field-service software vendors, not from anyone surveying your market. Price it off the table above, then check it against what shops near you quote on the phone.

Building it into the rate keeps the quote simpler, but close jobs subsidize far ones. Take work 40 minutes out and an 80-minute round trip rides on top of the job — a quarter off your effective rate on a four-hour job, with nothing on the estimate to show it.

A flat trip charge is strongest for on-demand repair: the customer is buying your arrival as much as your labor. Costing it out, and deciding whether you credit it back on approval, has its own guide. State any exceptions before booking.

A radius with a per-mile fee makes the distance charge explicit. Specify whether the distance is one-way or round-trip, where measurement starts, and how you calculate chargeable miles.

A drive-time or mileage line lets you price the actual travel requirement. Choose a time or mileage basis that covers your costs, and avoid charging twice for costs already included elsewhere.

Estimate visits, warranty callbacks and parts runs

The estimate visit. Decide whether the visit is a sales cost or a paid assessment. If you charge, explain the deliverable, fee and any credit toward the job before booking. A detailed takeoff or diagnosis can be useful to the customer even if no repair is approved.

The warranty callback. Budget travel for defects covered by your warranty. Write the coverage and duration clearly, and have a local construction attorney check how your terms interact with mandatory consumer rights. A travel exclusion is not a reliable way to avoid an obligation to correct your own work.

The second trip for a part. Budget for parts you should have brought. If the customer requests additional work that needs another trip, describe the extra work, travel charge and schedule impact in writing and obtain approval before proceeding.

Say it before the truck moves

The customer should hear your policy before dispatch. If you use a separate travel charge, show that charge on its own line. The amounts below are placeholders — use your own.

Trip charge — service call and diagnostic, credited toward approved repair — $95.00

Travel beyond service area — 34 miles past the included 25 — 34 mi at $2.00/mi — $68.00

One local check: in some states a separately stated travel, delivery or trip charge attached to taxable work is itself taxable, and in others it is not. The answer can also differ for repair work versus new construction. Ask your state revenue department or your accountant before you build the line item, not after an audit letter.

Save a reusable travel line in DoneQuote

Add the mechanism you picked to your DoneQuote service catalog: a flat trip charge, or a per-mile rate with the included distance in the description. Select it for the relevant estimate and check the quantity and wording before sending. Saving a service does not add it to every draft.

Summary

• An hour a day of driving costs about 240 unbilled hours a year, plus fuel and wear — run it on your own rate, truck and pump price
• The IRS standard mileage rate is an optional deduction figure, sometimes revised mid-year — check irs.gov for the rate in force, and never treat it as your price
• Pick one mechanism and apply it consistently: built-in rate, flat trip charge, radius plus per-mile, or a drive-time line
• Budget warranty and forgotten-part trips; get written approval for trips caused by additional scope
• Explain the travel policy before dispatch; itemize a separate fee and verify its tax treatment