Most companies set one trip charge and apply it everywhere. That works when the service area is small and dense. As soon as you take calls 30 or 40 minutes out, the flat charge starts to lie. The customer next door overpays, the customer at the edge underpays, and the difference comes out of your margin and your techs' afternoons.
The fix is to price distance from what it actually costs you. There are three costs, and most pricing only counts the first two.
The three costs of a far call
1. Vehicle cost per mile
Fuel, tires, maintenance, depreciation and insurance on the truck. Your own numbers are best. As a public yardstick, as of October 2026 the IRS standard mileage rate is 76 cents a mile for July to December 2026, and was 72.5 cents for the first half of the year. A loaded service truck may cost more than that rate. Call your figure V.
2. Labor cost per minute of driving
The tech is paid while driving. Take the fully loaded hourly cost (wage, payroll taxes, benefits, workers' comp) and divide by 60. Call it L. At $60 an hour loaded, L is $1.00 a minute.
3. The job the drive displaces
This is the one most pricing misses. If your trucks are busy, 80 minutes of round-trip driving to a far call is 80 minutes that could have been another job closer in. The cost is not just the wage. It is the margin you would have earned in that time.
Opportunity cost per minute (O) = Gross margin per billable hour ÷ 60
On a slow week with open trucks, O is close to zero, because there was no other job to take. In peak season it is the biggest of the three. That is why a far call can be worth taking in March and a bad idea in July at the same price.
The formula
Measure the extra distance a far call adds compared with a normal call, and price that extra.
Distance charge = Extra round-trip minutes × (L + O) + Extra round-trip miles × V
Extra means extra over the drive you already build into your base price. If your normal call averages a 20-minute drive and your rates already cover it, you only price the difference.
All inputs are made up to show the method. The point is the spread. The same call costs twice as much to run when it pushes out another job. The truck roll cost calculator gives you the base cost of a trip before distance is added.
Turn it into zones
Customers understand zones. Nobody wants a quote of $93.17 for mileage. Draw two to four zones and charge a flat amount in each.
- Draw zones in drive minutes, not miles. Fifteen miles of highway and fifteen miles of two-lane roads are different trips. Use the typical drive at working hours from where your trucks usually are.
- Price each zone at its midpoint. Run the formula for a call in the middle of the zone.
- Use a blended
O. Pick the opportunity cost you expect over the year, or run two price lists, one for peak season and one for slow months.
| Zone | Typical one-way drive | Extra round-trip minutes | Example charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | up to 20 min | 0 | $0 (in base price) |
| Zone 2 | 20 to 35 min | about 30 | Formula at 30 min |
| Zone 3 | 35 to 50 min | about 55 | Formula at 55 min |
| Out of area | over 50 min | Decline, refer or quote case by case |
The minutes are examples. Set your own from your map. The service area definition covers where the outer edge should sit.
Charge from where the truck is, not where the shop is
The formula above measures the extra drive from a normal starting point. In practice, a truck does not drive from the shop to every job. It drives from the previous job. A far call booked next to another job in the same area costs almost nothing extra. The same call booked alone, in the middle of a day of near-in work, costs the full round trip.
That has two consequences:
- Zone charges are a list price. They cover the case where the far call is booked alone. When it fits next to other work out there, you can waive or cut the charge and still be ahead.
- Booking decides the real cost. The cheapest far call is the one booked on a day the truck is already out there.
CrewLink works from that second point. It offers a time only if a qualified tech can make it from their previous job, counting the drive at that hour, and addresses outside every tech's area come in as out-of-area requests for the office to decide on, instead of a slot nobody can reach.
Common mistakes
- One-way pricing. The tech drives back. Price the round trip.
- Miles only. Per-mile charges miss labor time in traffic, which is often the larger cost.
- One charge all year. Far calls cost more in peak season, when the drive displaces paying work.
- Hiding it in the hourly rate. If near-in customers pay for far calls, your near-in prices look high and your far calls look profitable. Neither is true.
The field service pricing guide covers how a distance charge fits alongside your base rate, flat-rate prices and diagnostic fees, and the trip charge definition covers the flat version.
What to take away
- A far call costs vehicle miles, paid drive minutes, and the job the drive displaced.
- Distance charge = extra round-trip minutes × (labor + opportunity per minute) + extra miles × vehicle cost.
- Opportunity cost is near zero in slow weeks and large in peak season, so far calls cost more when you are busy.
- Turn the formula into two to four zones drawn in drive minutes.
- The real extra drive is from the previous job, so how a far call is booked matters as much as how it is priced.
Common questions
How much should I charge per mile for a service call?
Start with your own vehicle cost per mile, then add paid drive time, which a per-mile rate alone misses. As a reference, the IRS standard mileage rate is 76 cents a mile for July to December 2026, as of October 2026. Charge for the round trip, and only for distance beyond what your base price already covers.
Should I charge for travel time or mileage?
Both cost you money, so the best answer is to price both and present them as a single zone charge. Charging only mileage undercharges calls in heavy traffic, and charging only time undercharges long, fast highway trips.
What is zone pricing for service calls?
Zone pricing splits your service area into rings or areas by typical drive time and sets a flat travel charge for each. It is easier for customers to understand than per-mile pricing, and it still tracks the real cost of distance.
Should I take service calls far outside my area?
Take them when the margin covers the full distance charge, including the job the drive displaces, or when you can book them next to other work in the same area. Otherwise decline or refer them.