Decide which trips belong to the job
Record the route you actually attribute to the job: travel from a base, travel between customers, linen collection or a return to collect forgotten equipment. Avoid treating a round trip as a one-way trip or adding the same trip to two jobs in full.
For a shared route, allocate consistently. You might divide a common leg between nearby jobs or assign only the incremental detour. Write down your chosen approach so a later comparison uses the same basis. This guide does not determine which travel costs are tax deductible or which travel time must be paid.
Count paid travel as person-hours
If two paid cleaners each spend 30 minutes traveling for a job, the labor input is one travel cleaner-hour. If the on-site time input already covers the entire paid shift including travel, separate the drive before entering additional travel hours.
Using the same illustrative loaded rate of 23 currency units per cleaner-hour gives a travel labor cost of 23. This example is arithmetic, not a wage recommendation or a statement about employment law. Use the costs and obligations that apply to your situation.
Enter vehicle expenses once
The quote tool accepts a currency amount for vehicle and parking expenses. You can calculate that amount from your records before entering it. If you choose a per-distance allowance that already represents fuel and wear, adding fuel and wear again would duplicate those costs.
Parking and tolls can be entered with vehicle expenses if they are not included in your allowance. A tax mileage rate is not automatically your actual operating cost or a mandatory customer charge; this calculator does not insert a statutory mileage rate.
Compare route choices before committing
Suppose an isolated job adds one paid travel cleaner-hour and 12 units of vehicle expenses. Those inputs add 35 units to included cost at the illustrative loaded rate above. At a 30% margin target, they add 50 units to the unrounded target price: 35 divided by 0.70.
A nearby job may have a smaller incremental route cost. Use the calculator to compare the assumptions, then decide whether to group visits, apply a clear service-area policy or decline the job. The calculation reveals the trade-off; it does not know customer demand or route feasibility.
How this guide was prepared
Written with AI assistance and checked against the published calculation method and worked examples. StayReady does not claim field research or local cleaning-rate expertise. Read our method and limitations.