Travel Fee Calculator: What to Charge for Getting There
Enter how far the customer is, what your vehicle costs to run and what an hour of your time is worth. The calculator returns a travel fee for the job, rounded to a figure you can put on a price list, and what absorbing the trip costs you over a month and a year.
Your numbers
How far you go without charging. Jobs inside it absorb the travel in the price.
Fuel, tyres, servicing and wear. The mileage rate your tax authority allows is a fair starting point.
Usually your hourly rate: time driving is time not earning.
Result
Travel fee for this job
$25
$24.97 covers the trip exactly, rounded up to a figure you can put on a price list.
- Charged distance, one way
- 7 miles
- Round trip
- 14 miles, about 28 min
- Vehicle cost
- $6.30
- Your time at the wheel
- $18.67
- Exact fee
- $24.97
- Cost of not charging, per month
- $499.33
- Cost of not charging, per year
- $5,992
The fee counts the trip there and back. Many businesses publish it as a flat fee per distance band rather than an exact figure, which is easier to quote on the phone.
Add the travel fee to every quote automatically
BookingMachine works out the distance from the customer's address and adds your travel fee to the quote before they book, so you never have to raise it afterwards.
How the fee is worked out
A trip to a customer costs two things. The vehicle costs money for every mile: fuel, tyres, servicing and the wear that shows up as a lower resale price. Your time costs money too, because an hour driving is an hour you are not being paid for. The calculator prices both for the round trip, there and back.
The free radius is the distance you cover without charging, because it is built into your prices. Only the distance beyond it counts. The exact fee is then rounded up to a figure you can quote, in fives below 200 and tens above.
The cost of not charging multiplies the fee by the jobs you do outside the free radius each month. It is usually a bigger number than people expect, because it is paid out of profit, not turnover.
Flat fee, distance bands or exact mileage
An exact mileage fee is fair but hard to quote on the phone. Most mobile businesses publish bands instead: free within a radius, a flat fee to the next town, a higher fee beyond. Run the calculator for the far edge of each band and use that figure for the whole band.
Whatever you choose, show it before the customer books. A travel fee that appears on the invoice causes more arguments than the fee is worth.
Questions
What should I use for the vehicle cost per mile?
The mileage rate your tax authority allows for business travel is a fair starting point, since it is meant to cover fuel and running costs together. If you know your own figures, use those: fuel per mile plus servicing, tyres and depreciation spread over the miles you drive in a year.
Should I charge for the return journey?
Yes. You have to come back, and the next customer is rarely next door. The calculator counts the round trip. If you often go straight from one job to the next, use a smaller distance or a larger free radius to reflect that.
How big should the free radius be?
As far as most of your customers are. If three quarters of your jobs are within eight miles, make the free radius eight miles and raise your base prices a little to cover the driving inside it. The fee is then only for the outliers.
Is a travel fee the same as a call-out fee?
No. A call-out fee covers turning up at all: the minimum charge for a visit, however short. A travel fee covers the extra distance for customers who are further away. Some businesses charge both, many fold the call-out into the first hour.
Does a travel fee put customers off?
Far less than a surprise does. Customers at a distance expect to pay something for it. The ones who refuse are often the jobs you lose money on anyway.
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Add the travel fee to every quote automatically
BookingMachine works out the distance from the customer's address and adds your travel fee to the quote before they book, so you never have to raise it afterwards.