A trip charge is a flat fee for getting a technician and a stocked truck to the customer's door. A diagnostic fee covers that trip plus the time it takes to find the problem. Price either one from your own costs: your loaded labor rate for the time involved, plus your cost per truck trip, plus your overhead and profit. Tell the customer the fee before you book, say plainly what it covers and whether it comes off the repair, and decide in advance when you'll waive it, so the office and every tech say the same thing.
Trip charge, diagnostic fee, service call fee: what each one covers
Names for these fees vary from shop to shop. Pick one, define it, and use the same words on the phone, on the confirmation and on the invoice.
| Fee | What it usually covers | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Trip charge | Drive time, the truck, and the slot on your schedule | Jobs where the problem is already known, like an install, a quote visit or a fixed-price repair |
| Diagnostic fee | The trip, plus a set amount of time to find the problem and give a price | "It's not working and I don't know why" calls: no heat, no hot water, a breaker that keeps tripping |
| Service call fee | Often used for either of the above | Fine as a name, as long as you say what it includes |
How you say it matters. "$79 to come out" can sound like a toll. "$129 for a technician to find out what's wrong and give you a price before any work starts" sounds like a service.
Why charge one at all
Every visit costs you money before anything gets fixed. The tech is paid for the drive, the truck burns fuel, and the slot you gave this customer is one you can't give anyone else. If the customer says no to the repair, a shop with no fee has paid to diagnose someone else's problem for free.
A fee also filters calls. A customer who agrees to pay for a diagnosis has told you they intend to fix the problem. Without a fee, a caller can book three shops to see who's cheapest, and you can be the free visit that ends in "I'll think about it."
The other choice is to build the visit cost into every repair price. That works, but it means customers who say yes pay for the customers who say no. A separate fee is easier to explain and keeps your repair prices honest.
How to price a trip charge or diagnostic fee
Start from what a visit costs you, not from what you think customers will accept. You need three numbers, which come straight out of job costing:
1. Your loaded labor rate per job hour. The tech's wage plus payroll taxes, insurance, benefits and paid time off, divided by the hours they spend on customer jobs. 2. Your truck cost per trip. A year of payment, insurance, fuel and maintenance, divided by trips. 3. Your overhead per job hour. Office, rent, insurance, phones, software and advertising, divided by your shop's job hours.
Then decide how much time the fee covers, and add your profit margin. The free job cost and trip charge calculator does this math with your numbers.
Worked example (made-up numbers)
These are round examples that match the job-costing article. Use your own.
- Loaded labor: $46 per job hour
- Truck: $20 per trip
- Overhead: $37.50 per job hour
- Target profit: 20% of the price
- Average drive to a customer: 30 minutes
- Time to diagnose a typical no-heat or no-hot-water call: 30 minutes
| Line | Trip charge (0.5 hour) | Diagnostic fee (1 hour) |
|---|---|---|
| Labor at $46 per hour | $23.00 | $46.00 |
| Overhead at $37.50 per hour | $18.75 | $37.50 |
| Truck, one trip | $20.00 | $20.00 |
| Cost of the visit | $61.75 | $103.50 |
| Price at a 20% margin (cost ÷ 0.80) | $77.19 | $129.38 |
| Rounded fee | $79 | $129 |
Two checks before you lock it in:
- Is the time right? If your techs routinely spend 45 minutes on a diagnosis, price 1.25 hours, not one. Look at a month of real visits.
- Is the drive right? If part of your area is an hour away, add a distance charge for those zip codes rather than raising the fee for everyone.
Your local market matters too. If your number comes out far above what callers hear elsewhere, don't just cut it. Look at whether your costs are out of line, or whether you need to explain the fee better. A fee you can explain beats a fee that's merely low.
Should the fee come off the repair?
You have two honest options. Pick one and say it on every call.
| Option | How it works | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Credited if they go ahead | The diagnostic fee comes off the repair price when the customer approves the repair on that visit | Easy yes on the phone. Your repair prices need to carry the diagnosis time, or you're giving it away. |
| Separate, always | The fee covers the visit and diagnosis; the repair is priced on its own | Simpler math, every visit pays for itself. Some callers push back harder. |
If you credit it, set a limit: "if you approve the repair today" or "within 7 days." An open-ended credit can turn into a dispute three months later.
How to explain it on the phone
The fee goes wrong when the customer hears about it for the first time at the door, or when every person in the office describes it differently. Say it early, say what it covers, and stop talking.
A script you can copy
After you've taken the address and the problem:
> "We can have a technician out tomorrow between 8 and 10. Our diagnostic fee is $129. That covers the trip out and the time to find out exactly what's wrong. Before any repair, the technician gives you the price, and nothing gets done until you say yes. If you go ahead with the repair while they're there, the $129 comes off the bill. Does that work?"
If the caller asks why they have to pay just for someone to show up:
> "It covers the technician's time and the truck to get to you and figure out the problem. Some shops build that into the repair price instead. We'd rather be upfront, so you know what the visit costs and you know the repair price before we start."
If they ask for a price over the phone:
> "I wish I could, but without seeing it, any number I give you would be a guess, and I don't want to quote you $150 and then tell you it's $600. The tech will give you an exact price on site before doing anything."
If they still say no, thank them and let them go. Your slot is better spent on a caller who's ready to fix the problem.
Then put it in writing
Say the fee on the phone, and then repeat it everywhere the customer will look:
- On the booking confirmation: the fee, what it covers, and whether it's credited.
- On the estimate: the fee as its own line, and the credit as its own line if it applies.
- On the invoice: the same wording. No surprises.
The tech should repeat it at the door, too: "Just so you know, today's diagnostic is $129 and comes off the repair if you go ahead." It takes ten seconds, and it's much harder to dispute a fee the customer heard three times.
When to waive it
Waiving the fee is a tool. Decide the rules once, write them down, and give them to the office and the techs. If waiving depends on who answers the phone, customers can learn to ask for the person who says yes.
Common reasons to waive:
- Maintenance members. Skipping the trip charge is a common perk of a maintenance agreement, and it's one customers understand.
- Callbacks on your own work. If the problem is something you installed or repaired under warranty, the visit is on you. Charging for it can cost you more in reviews than it brings in.
- A repair approved on the visit, if your policy credits the fee.
- A second visit for the same problem when the first one needed a part ordered. Charge the trip once.
- When you missed the arrival window badly without a heads-up. A waived fee is a cheap apology.
Reasons not to waive it: the customer is upset that it exists, they say a competitor doesn't charge one, or they decided not to do the repair. If you waive it every time someone pushes back, you don't have a fee. You have a test of how hard the customer pushes.
A lighter way to run it
In Jobsite's Home Services Suite, the office logs each call with the customer, address, equipment and requested arrival window, and the customer gets a booking confirmation and a day-before reminder by email, in English or Spanish. The customer picks an estimate option and signs on the tech's phone, and the signed option becomes an invoice they pay by card or bank transfer from a link. It's $49 a month with 25 worker-days included, then $1 per additional worker-day, month to month.
FAQ
What is a trip charge?
A trip charge is a flat fee for getting a technician and truck to the customer's home. It covers drive time, the truck and the time slot, and, if you set it up that way, it's charged whether or not the customer goes ahead with any work.
What's the difference between a trip charge and a diagnostic fee?
A trip charge covers getting to the door. A diagnostic fee covers the trip plus a set amount of time to find the problem and give the customer a price. Use a diagnostic fee for "it's broken and I don't know why" calls.
How much should I charge for a service call?
Price it from your costs: your loaded labor rate for the drive and diagnosis time, your truck cost per trip, and your overhead, then divide by one minus your target margin. In the example above, that's $79 for a trip charge and $129 for a one-hour diagnostic. Use your own numbers.
Should the diagnostic fee be credited toward the repair?
It can be. Crediting it makes the fee easier to accept on the phone, but your repair prices then need to carry the diagnosis time. If you credit it, set a limit, such as "if you approve the repair on this visit."
When should I waive a trip charge?
Decide in advance and write it down. Common cases are maintenance-agreement members, callbacks on your own work, and a second trip for the same problem. Don't waive it just because a customer pushes back.
See how Jobsite handles this in practice: Home services on the platform →
About the author
The Jobsite Editorial Team — Construction safety & OSHA compliance
The Jobsite Editorial Team writes the safety and compliance library behind Jobsite, the construction safety, OSHA compliance, and training platform for contractors. Every article starts from the primary regulatory text — the CFR section itself, not a summary of it — and is fact-checked against that source before it publishes, so what you read here is what the standard actually requires of small and mid-size contractors in the field.