Real answers about service call pricing, trip charges, diagnostic fees, and what it actually costs to roll a truck.
It depends on your true trip cost. Example: $95/hr burdened rate, 40 minutes drive time, 45 minutes on-site, $28 truck cost (fuel, wear, insurance), 20% margin.
Market rates vary $79–$299 by trade and market, but your cost math should drive your floor — not the competitor down the street.
Many shops do, but track the waiver rate. If 6 calls per week decline the repair and your true trip cost is $80, that is $480/week or $24,960/year in free labor.
A trip charge covers getting there: drive time, fuel, vehicle wear, and insurance. A diagnostic fee covers the expertise to find the problem: training, experience, tools, and time. Many shops combine them into one fee for simplicity.
If separated: trip = vehicle + drive labor, diagnostic = skill + time. Combining them avoids the customer feeling nickled-and-dimed, but separating them makes it clear what each charge covers when customers question the bill.
HVAC has higher truck cost (refrigerant, gauges, specialized tools) and strong seasonal demand. Plumbing has more emergency calls and after-hours work. Electrical has more code knowledge and permitting.
A plumber with a $28/hr truck cost and 30-minute average drive in a dense city can floor lower than an HVAC tech with a $45 truck cost and 50-minute rural drive. Price from your numbers.
Because you pay for every clocked hour but only bill about 65%.
That is why a $50/hr service rate loses money — it looks like $22/hr gross margin, but after overhead you are $20–30/hr underwater. Your burdened rate is not your wage. It is your wage plus everything that makes that wage possible, spread across the hours you can actually sell.