Act on the result
Choose the charge model customers can understand while still recovering the entered return-trip cost.
Educational only: Business decision support, not accounting, tax or legal advice.
Privacy: No account is required. Tool inputs and results stay in this browser. Anonymous categorical usage analytics send only governed page, tool, cluster and action identifiers; tool inputs and results are never sent. Error monitoring is disabled. Optional saved state stays only on this device.
Update policy: Reviewed when formulas or official dependencies change.
Scope: Market-neutral small-business planning using your own assumptions.
What this planner helps you decide
Best for
Mobile service businesses choosing a transparent travel or call-out charge.
Outputs
Travel time cost, vehicle cost, protected travel cost and required customer charge.
Start here
Enter return travel time and distance once, then add the loaded rate and vehicle cost on matching bases.
Use a different tool when: Do not use this to set a charge-out rate from productive hours and loaded labour; use Labour Recovery Rate Planner for that decision. Use this tool to choose a call-out, zone or time model that recovers travel cost.
Quote & capacity
Travel Charge Recovery: travel time cost
Travel time cost, vehicle cost, protected travel cost and required customer charge.
Amounts use the same currency as your inputs. No currency conversion is performed.
Travel Charge Recovery
Combine travel time, loaded labour, distance, vehicle cost and fixed travel cost to set an ex-tax travel charge that protects your target margin.
Your numbers stay in this browser
Total travel time caused by the job.
Enter internal labour cost for one travel hour. Use one consistent ex-tax basis.
Total chargeable travel distance.
Enter your internal operating cost per distance unit. Use one consistent ex-tax basis.
Enter tolls, parking or other fixed travel costs. Use one consistent ex-tax basis.
Enter the margin you want the travel charge to protect.
Decision result
Use the cost and recovery rows to identify the component changing the exact reconciliation.
PDF and CSV exports stay on this device. Clean page links contain no inputs.
- Travel cost
- 200.00
- Required travel charge
- 250.00
- Travel contribution
- 50.00
Scenario comparison
Each row names the assumption axis changed from the baseline.
ScenarioResultDifference
Entered scenario250.00Baseline
Lower Target travel margin243.90-6.10
Higher Target travel margin256.416.41
Save these results, change an input, then compare the updated figures with this baseline.
The baseline is temporary in this tab and is not added to shared scenario links or generated reports.
Calculation details
View calculation detailsView the formulas and inputs used for these results.
Travel cost
Travel cost
travel hours × loaded labour rate + distance × vehicle cost + fixed travel cost200.00Result200.00
Uses only the entered market-neutral commercial records and assumptions. Raw engine precision is retained until display.
Travel Charge Recovery Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Travel costTravel Hours
- 2
- Travel costLoaded Labour Rate Ex Tax
- 60
- Travel costDistance Km
- 100
- Travel costVehicle Cost Per Km Ex Tax
- 0.8
- Travel costFixed Travel Cost Ex Tax
- 0
- Travel costTarget Margin
- 0.2
Required travel charge
Required travel charge
travel cost ÷ (1 − target margin)250.00Result250.00
Uses only the entered market-neutral commercial records and assumptions. Raw engine precision is retained until display.
Travel Charge Recovery Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Required travel chargeTravel Hours
- 2
- Required travel chargeLoaded Labour Rate Ex Tax
- 60
- Required travel chargeDistance Km
- 100
- Required travel chargeVehicle Cost Per Km Ex Tax
- 0.8
- Required travel chargeFixed Travel Cost Ex Tax
- 0
- Required travel chargeTarget Margin
- 0.2
Travel contribution
Travel contribution
required travel charge − travel cost50.00Result50.00
Uses only the entered market-neutral commercial records and assumptions. Raw engine precision is retained until display.
Travel Charge Recovery Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Travel contributionTravel Hours
- 2
- Travel contributionLoaded Labour Rate Ex Tax
- 60
- Travel contributionDistance Km
- 100
- Travel contributionVehicle Cost Per Km Ex Tax
- 0.8
- Travel contributionFixed Travel Cost Ex Tax
- 0
- Travel contributionTarget Margin
- 0.2
Inputs used
- Travel hours
- 2
- Loaded labour cost per hour
- 60
- Travel distance
- 100
- Vehicle cost per distance unit
- 0.8
- Fixed travel cost
- 0
- Target travel margin
- 0.2
Open this calculator with preset values
This calculator supports documented, shareable scenario URLs. Compatible assistants and applications can construct links using the parameters below.
Scenario links contain only allowlisted numeric and closed-choice inputs shown in the URL; Margin101 excludes free text and identifying fields. Anyone you share the URL with can read those numbers, so do not include private or identifying data.
| Parameter | Meaning | Unit | Allowed values | Presence | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| distanceKm | Total chargeable travel distance. | consistent distance units/job | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 100 |
| fixedTravelCostExTax | Enter tolls, parking or other fixed travel costs. Use one consistent ex-tax basis. | currency units/job, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 0 |
| loadedLabourRateExTax | Enter internal labour cost for one travel hour. Use one consistent ex-tax basis. | currency units/hour, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 60 |
| targetMargin | Enter the margin you want the travel charge to protect. | decimal fraction of travel-charge revenue | 0 to 0.99 | Required | 0.2 |
| travelHours | Total travel time caused by the job. | hours/job | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 2 |
| vehicleCostPerKmExTax | Enter your internal operating cost per distance unit. Use one consistent ex-tax basis. | currency units/distance unit, ex tax | 0 to 10000000 | Required | 0.8 |
Travel Charge Recovery: travel time cost
Keep travel time, distance and call-out recovery separate enough to explain the customer charge.
Formula summary
- Primary formula
- travel cost ÷ (1 − target margin).
Data used here
- The estimate uses your inputs and the general business formula documented in the methodology.
Decision checks
Stress-test the decision
Retest longer travel time, higher vehicle cost and fewer billable visits.
When this estimate can be misleading
- Use one consistent ex-tax commercial basis.
- Hours, utilisation, costs, rates and recovery targets are user inputs rather than defaults.
- This is educational business decision support, not accounting, tax, legal or financial advice.
- Keep travel time, distance and call-out recovery separate enough to explain the customer charge.
Educational estimate, not advice. See all assumptions & limitations →
Related reading
Guides to interpret the decision and its assumptions.
- Travel Radius and Route Density
Compare service-radius choices using travel recovery, jobs per route, capacity and customer boundaries.
Read guide
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a call-out, zone or time model that recovers travel cost?
Choose the charge model customers can understand while still recovering the entered return-trip cost.
Which planning assumptions should I stress-test?
Compare a plausible alternative scenario and verify the decision-critical assumption that changes the plan most.