Most owners think of drive cost as fuel. But every mile a tech drives carries three costs: the vehicle, the paid labor, and the billable job you couldn't fit in.
1. Vehicle cost
Fuel, tires, maintenance, insurance and depreciation. The IRS standard mileage rate (about $0.67/mile) is a reasonable floor for a service van; heavily loaded trucks often run higher.
2. Labor cost
A tech paid $25–35/hr plus burden costs you $40–55/hr loaded. At 30 mph average city speed, that's $1.30–1.80 per mile in labor alone.
3. Opportunity cost
Every hour behind the windshield is an hour not billed. If your average billable hour is worth $150, a 40-minute cross-town drive just cost you $100 of revenue you'll never see.
What to do
Set a target travel radius (15 minutes works for most metros), cluster maintenance by zip code, and charge a trip fee in zones that average more than 30 minutes away. Contractor Profit Audit's free audit calculates this from your own job export.