Charging for travel: flat fee, zones or mileage

Forty minutes out, forty minutes back, for a one-hour job. If the drive is not charged for somewhere, that hour of work costs you nearly two. Travel is part of the job, and there are three simple ways to charge for it. Which one fits depends on your service area and the kind of work you do.

What a trip really costs

Every trip costs you two things:

1. 1time: while you drive, you are not working on a job;
2. 2the vehicle: fuel, maintenance, insurance, wear, sometimes tolls and parking.

For someone doing four call-outs a day, travel can take a quarter of the working day. If your hourly rate assumes every hour is billable, that quarter is lost. How to set a realistic rate is covered in our guide to setting an hourly rate.

Method 1: a flat call-out fee

One amount, wherever the job is within your usual area.

• Pros: easy to explain, easy to invoice.
• Cons: unfair to nearby clients, too low for distant ones.

It suits a compact service area, such as one town and its immediate surroundings.

Method 2: zones

You divide your area into rings around your base:

• Pros: fairer than a single fee and still easy to understand.
• Cons: you need to define the zones, by distance or by a list of towns or neighbourhoods.

This is the most common method for plumbers, electricians and repair services.

Method 3: mileage

You charge the round-trip distance at a rate per kilometre or mile, sometimes plus travel time.

• Pros: fairest for long distances.
• Cons: less readable, and the client may question the distance.

It works best for occasional distant jobs, alongside another method.

Building travel into your prices

A fourth option is not to charge travel separately but to build it into your hourly rate or prices. That is fine if your area is consistent and your prices genuinely account for it. The risk: a distant job quietly loses money without you noticing.

On the quote: one clear line

Show travel as its own line: "Travel, zone 2" or "Travel, 34 km round trip". The client sees what they are paying for, and you can adjust easily if the job needs several visits. On a multi-day job, say whether it is one charge per day or a flat charge for the whole job. For the rest of your quote, see our guide to writing a quote.

The missed appointment

You arrive and nobody is home. To avoid losing the trip, include in your terms a fee due when the client misses an agreed appointment, and mention it when booking. Written in advance, it is accepted; improvised on the doorstep, it starts an argument.

Summary

Mixing travel with fixed or hourly pricing is covered in our article on fixed price vs time and materials.