Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Effective hourly (after drive + vehicle cost)
$84.60
Share of day spent driving
25.0%
Daily vehicle operating cost
$36.00
Total drive hours today
1.67
Net revenue after vehicle cost
$564.00
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How to use this
- 1Enter jobs scheduled per day.
- 2Enter average job length (hrs).
- 3Enter labor rate charged ($/hr).
- 4Enter average drive time between jobs (min).
- 5Enter average miles per drive leg.
- 6Enter vehicle cost per mile ($).
- 7Read your effective hourly (after drive + vehicle cost) on the right — it updates as you type.
- 8Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
A mobile mechanic's real constraint isn't hours in the day, it's billable wrench-time squeezed between drive legs, and that drive time carries a direct cost in fuel, vehicle wear, and unpaid time that a fixed shop never has to absorb. This calculator takes a day's scheduled jobs, average drive time between stops, and vehicle operating cost per mile to compute effective hourly earnings after subtracting drive time and vehicle cost from gross labor revenue, so you can see whether your route density and job spacing are actually profitable or whether you're functionally working for less than a shop-based flat rate once windshield time is priced in. Route density — jobs clustered by geography — is the single biggest lever mobile operators have, more than raising the labor rate itself.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Jobs scheduled per day: 4
- Average job length: 1.25 hrs
- Labor rate charged: 120 $/hr
- Average drive time between jobs: 25 min
- Average miles per drive leg: 12
- Vehicle cost per mile: 0.75 $
Results
- Effective hourly (after drive + vehicle cost): $84.60
- Share of day spent driving: 25.0%
- Daily vehicle operating cost: $36.00
- Total drive hours today: 1.67
- Net revenue after vehicle cost: $564.00
What each field means
Inputs
- Jobs scheduled per day
- The jobs scheduled per day used in the calculation. Starts at 4 so you have a working example on load.
- Average job length (hrs)
- The average job length used in the calculation, measured in hrs. Starts at 1.25 hrs so you have a working example on load.
- Labor rate charged ($/hr)
- The labor rate charged used in the calculation, measured in $/hr. Starts at 120 $/hr so you have a working example on load.
- Average drive time between jobs (min)
- The average drive time between jobs used in the calculation, measured in min. Starts at 25 min so you have a working example on load.
- Average miles per drive leg
- The average miles per drive leg used in the calculation. Starts at 12 so you have a working example on load.
- Vehicle cost per mile ($)
- The vehicle cost per mile used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 0.75 $ so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Effective hourly (after drive + vehicle cost)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Share of day spent driving
- Returned as a percentage. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Daily vehicle operating cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total drive hours today
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Net revenue after vehicle cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What drive-time share should I aim for?
Keep drive time under 20-25% of your total working day. Above 30%, your effective hourly rate typically falls well below your posted labor rate even at $120-150/hr, because you're paying vehicle cost and losing billable time to windshield time that a fixed shop never has.
Should I charge a separate trip/service call fee?
Yes — a flat trip fee ($25-$60 depending on market) recovers some drive cost directly rather than trying to bury it entirely in the labor rate, which keeps your labor rate looking competitive against fixed-shop pricing while still covering true cost.
How much does route density actually matter?
Enormously. Clustering four jobs within a 5-mile radius versus spread across 25 miles can swing effective hourly by 30-40% with zero change to labor rate or job mix, purely from cutting drive hours out of the day.
What vehicle cost per mile should I use?
IRS standard mileage rate is a reasonable default if you don't have your own cost data, but mobile mechanics often run heavier vans loaded with tools and parts, which typically run higher real operating cost than a standard passenger vehicle — track actual fuel and maintenance for 3 months to get your true number.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Mobile Mechanic Route Economics Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/mobile-mechanic-route-economics
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/mobile-mechanic-route-economics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mobile Mechanic Route Economics Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Mobile Mechanic Route Economics Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/mobile-mechanic-route-economics) (2026).