Truck Roll Cost Calculator
The fuel receipt is the smallest part of a truck roll. Enter your daily vehicle cost, the driving a typical day takes, and your burdened labor rate — and see what one trip truly costs once the drive time is paid for. The number every flat rate, service call minimum and routing decision should be built on.
Method and content reviewed October 1, 2026 · formulas checked against a test suite · runs entirely in your browser
Trip cost = Vehicle ÷ Calls + (Drive minutes ÷ 60 ÷ Calls) × Labor cost$7.00 + 0.21 hrs × $38.00 = $14.92Use it three ways: inside the Flat Rate Calculator's trip line instead of a guess; as the test for a minimum service charge — a trip that costs more than your minimum loses money before anyone touches a tool; and when routing — cutting drive time per call is worth real money at volume.
Field service: where the number comes from
A field-service tech runs a suburban day: $28 of vehicle cost (fuel, wear, insurance share), 50 minutes of total driving spread across 4 calls, at a $38 burdened labor rate. (Illustrative example — use your own routes.)
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Vehicle cost per day | $28 |
| Total driving per day | 50 min |
| Calls per day | 4 |
| Burdened labor rate | $38/hr |
| Truck rolls per year | 900 |
Result: $14.92 per truck roll — $13,428 a year at 900 trips
The fuel receipt says about $7; the true cost is double, because drive time is labor nobody invoices. A $25 call-out minimum now makes sense, and cutting the day's driving to 30 minutes saves roughly $5,300 a year at this volume.
Load this example into the calculatorThe calculation
| Vehicle per call | $28 ÷ 4 = $7.00 |
| Drive time per call | 50 ÷ 60 ÷ 4 = 0.21 hrs |
| Drive labor per call | 0.21 × $38 = $7.92 |
| Trip cost | $7 + $7.92 = $14.92 |
| Annual cost at 900 trips | 900 × $14.92 = $13,428.00 |
How this calculator works
Every result comes from the formulas below — the math shown is the math used. Change any input and results update instantly in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.
- Vehicle cost per call:
Vehicle per Call = Daily Vehicle Cost ÷ Calls per Day - Drive labor per call:
Drive Labor per Call = (Daily Drive Minutes ÷ 60) ÷ Calls per Day × Burdened Hourly CostDrive time is shared across the day's calls — each trip carries a slice of it, unpaid by any invoice. - True trip cost:
Trip Cost = Vehicle per Call + Drive Labor per Call - Annual cost of the trips:
Annual = Trip Cost × Truck Rolls per Year
What the result means
The trip cost splits into the vehicle's share of the day and the drive time each call carries at your burdened rate. The labor half is the one fuel receipts hide — and the reason the true roll cost is usually double the gas money.
When to use it
Use it to set call-out minimums, to fill the trip line in the Flat Rate Calculator, and to price what denser routing would save at your volume.
Want the concept behind the math in depth? Read Truck Roll Cost: What a Service Visit Really Costs Before Anyone Touches a Tool or Minimum Service Charge: How to Set the Floor Price for Showing Up.
Common mistakes
- Costing a trip at the fuel receipt only — drive time is unpaid labor the job must carry.
- Setting a minimum charge below the true trip cost — a canceled call then loses money.
- Treating drive time as free when comparing dense days against cross-town jobs.
Frequently asked questions
What is a truck roll?
Field-service shorthand for one visit: dispatching a tech and a vehicle to a customer site. Its cost is the vehicle's share of the day (fuel, wear, insurance) plus the drive time it carries at your burdened labor rate — which is usually the larger half, and the one nobody's fuel receipt shows.
How much does a service call trip really cost?
It depends on density. A day with $28 of vehicle cost, 50 minutes of driving and 4 calls makes each trip carry $7 of vehicle and about 12.5 minutes of $38 labor — roughly $15 per roll. The same tech doing 2 calls across town doubles both halves. Density, not distance, is what makes trips cheap.
How does this connect to a minimum service charge?
Your trip charge or call-out minimum should exceed the true trip cost — otherwise a customer who cancels mid-call still costs you money. Build the minimum from the trip cost plus the smallest diagnostic block you sell, and the Flat Rate Calculator handles the rest of the job on top.
Should I charge customers for travel time?
You already do or you don't — the trip cost exists either way, and it comes out of the job's margin unless the price carries it. Options that work: a stated call-out fee, higher rates in far zones, minimum charges per visit, or simply pricing the whole job with the trip inside. The worst option is the invisible one: pretending the drive is free.
Have the true trip cost? Build the service call price on top of it.
Price the flat-rate job →Related tools and guides
Truck Roll Cost Calculator is part of RateCraft, a set of free pricing and estimating tools for contractors and service businesses. Results are calculated entirely in your browser and are estimates for planning purposes — see our disclaimer and methodology.