A service call is a visit by a technician to a customer's location to diagnose, repair or maintain something, usually in response to a request. The term is also used for the fee charged just for coming out.
A service call is one kind of truck roll. The difference is mostly in usage: "service call" is customer-facing, "truck roll" is the cost view.
How to calculate the cost of a service call
With loaded labor cost per hour, C, round-trip drive hours, D, diagnostic and on-site hours, S, and vehicle cost, V, over M miles:
Service call cost ≈ C × (D + S) + V × M
Say C is $60, the drive is 0.75 hours, diagnosis takes 0.5 hours, and the round trip is 20 miles at $0.70 a mile. That is $60 × 1.25 + $14, or $89, before any repair.
That figure is what you spend before the customer agrees to any work. If they decline the repair, the service call fee is all you recover.
Why it matters
The service call fee and the cost of the visit should be close. If you charge $79 to come out and the visit costs you $89, every declined repair loses money. If the visit is to the far edge of your territory, the drive grows and so does the gap. Some companies charge a separate trip charge or price by zone to handle distance.
On the scheduling side, a service call is usually booked into an arrival window with unknown duration. The diagnosis could take 20 minutes or two hours. Book a realistic default length for each call type and keep the drive to the next job visible on the board. CrewLink checks that drive from the previous job before offering the slot, which is how its field service scheduling avoids promising times a truck can't reach.
A common mistake
Waiving the service call fee when the customer approves the repair, without building that cost into the repair price. The drive and diagnosis still happened. If the fee is waived, it has to be recovered somewhere else or it is a discount.
Related terms
- Trip charge is a fee that recovers travel cost specifically.
- Truck roll is the cost-side term for the same visit.
- Work order is the record that schedules the call.
Common questions
What is a service call fee?
A flat charge for sending a technician to diagnose a problem. It covers the drive and the diagnosis. Some companies apply it toward the repair if the customer goes ahead.
What is the difference between a service call and a trip charge?
They are often used interchangeably. Strictly, a service call fee covers the visit and diagnosis; a trip charge covers travel only and may be added on top of hourly labor.
How long should a service call be booked for?
Use your own records. Pull the actual on-site times for each call type over the last few months and book the typical length, with drive time to the next job kept separate.