BEFORE YOU ROLL A TRUCK
What should a service call cost?
Price your service call or trip fee from the real cost of rolling a truck: drive time, diagnosis, miles and dispatch. See what each call costs you and the fee that covers it.
01Your numbers
The starting numbers are an illustrative example, not industry benchmarks. Replace them with your own.
HOW IT WORKS
Service call fee calculator
A service call fee covers what it costs to show up before any repair is sold: the tech's time driving there and back, the time to diagnose, the miles on the truck, and the office time to book and dispatch it. Price below that and every call that ends without a repair loses money.
- 01Enter round-trip drive time and the time on site to diagnose.
- 02Enter the loaded hourly cost of the tech who goes.
- 03Add round-trip miles at your own cost per mile, plus office and dispatch cost per call.
- 04Choose a target margin. The fee is rounded up to the nearest $5 as a suggestion.
A WORKED EXAMPLE
A service call fee example
An illustrative call takes 50 minutes of round-trip driving and 30 minutes to diagnose at a $42 loaded cost, which is $56 of time. 24 miles at $0.70 adds $16.80, and dispatch adds $12, so showing up costs $84.80. At a 35% margin the fee is $130.46, rounded up to $135.
Questions, answered.
Should the service call fee count toward the repair?
That is a business choice. Crediting it toward an approved repair helps close work; keeping it separate protects you when the customer only wants a diagnosis. Either way, the fee should at least cover the cost of showing up.
What cost per mile should I use?
Use your own: fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance and depreciation divided by miles driven. Published mileage rates are set for tax purposes and may not match what your trucks really cost.
Why include office and dispatch time?
Someone answers the phone, books the visit, confirms it and follows up. That time is real even when no repair is sold.
What about after-hours or emergency calls?
Run the numbers again with the overtime rate and the longer drive. Many shops set a separate after-hours fee rather than one number for every call.
WHEN THE JOB MOVES FORWARD
Keep your customers, work, and follow-up together.
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