Start with the evidence
Define which travel is included in the analysis: reaching the pickup, loaded travel, return and any separately justified repositioning. Record actual versus estimated miles and the source. Keep the chosen vehicle cost rate explicit and avoid adding fuel again if that rate already includes it.
A worked example
Fictional job: ten miles to the pickup, fifteen loaded miles and twenty miles returning to the approved base total forty-five miles. At a hypothetical $0.80 variable vehicle cost per mile, the travel cost is $36. Counting only the fifteen loaded miles would produce $12 and omit $24 of specified travel cost. Time cost remains a separate input if not included in the mileage rate.
Choose the next action
Choose a consistent internal allocation method and explain it in reports. Some repositioning may support several jobs; do not assign the entire distance to every one of them. Ask the operator and accounting reviewer to confirm the business’s actual cost treatment. This example supports analysis, not a customer billing rule.
Check whether it worked
Compare estimated and observed travel over several relevant jobs and investigate large differences. Keep route changes and missing evidence visible. Use the radius calculator to test the effect of a return assumption, then confirm the real operation separately. If contribution changes mainly because time was omitted, review the total job-time record next.
Put it to work
A record you can use
- Travel leg and purpose
- Loaded or unladen miles
- Estimated or observed evidence
- Cost-rate inclusions
- Allocation method and review
Plain text. No email required. Store completed records in your approved business systems.
Next useful step
Need help applying this to your marketing? A strategy call starts with your business and the evidence you have.
Talk through your next step →For a general editorial question, email Chris. Please leave out customer details. Questions are private, and no response time is promised.