A service area is the geographic boundary within which a field service company accepts jobs, usually defined by a radius from the shop, a list of ZIP codes or counties, or a drawn map line.
How a service area is measured
The question is whether jobs at the edge pay for the drive to reach them.
Drive cost per job = Round-trip drive hours × Loaded hourly labor cost + Miles × Vehicle cost per mile
Edge margin = Job gross margin − Drive cost per job
Say a typical job brings $180 of gross margin before travel. A job 10 miles out takes 40 minutes round trip and 20 miles. At $45 an hour loaded labor and $0.70 a mile, drive cost is $30 + $14 = $44. A job 35 miles out takes 2 hours and 70 miles: $90 + $49 = $139. The edge job keeps $41 of the $180. Run the same numbers with your own costs before you widen the map.
Why it matters
A service area is a business decision dressed up as a map. Draw it too tight and you turn away work. Draw it too wide and trucks spend their day on highways, with fewer jobs per day and wider arrival windows.
The cost at the edge is not just the one job. A truck sent 35 miles out for a single call loses most of the afternoon. That is why many companies:
- Charge a trip charge or distance fee beyond a set radius.
- Book edge jobs only on days when other work is nearby, often through zone scheduling.
- Set a minimum ticket for distant areas.
Service area and service territory are close but not identical. The service area is the outer boundary of where you will go. The territory is how that area is divided and assigned among trucks.
CrewLink does not draw service areas. Within whatever area you set, it computes the drive from the truck's previous job before a slot is offered, so a distant job is only bookable when a truck can actually reach it. See field service scheduling software.
A common mistake
Defining the area by straight-line distance. A job 15 miles away across a river with one bridge can take longer to reach than one 25 miles away by highway. Set boundaries by drive time, not radius.
Related terms
- Service territory is how the area is divided among crews.
- Backtracking gets worse as the area widens.
- Windshield time is the paid cost of covering the area.
Common questions
How big should my service area be?
Big enough to keep your trucks busy and small enough that edge jobs still make money after the drive. Work it out from your own margin and drive cost.
Should I charge more outside my main service area?
Many companies add a distance fee or trip charge beyond a set drive time. It covers the extra labor and vehicle cost.
How do I know when to expand?
When jobs inside the area are consistently booked out and edge requests are steady enough to fill days, not single trips.