---
title: "Trip charge by distance: locksmith trip fee zones · LockCommand"
description: "Free trip fee calculator for locksmiths: set zones by miles from your base, add an after-hours charge, look up any distance and print a zone sheet for the van."
url: https://lockcommand.com/tools/service-area-zones
---

[Free tool · no account needed](https://lockcommand.com/tools)

# Trip fee zones: your trip charge by distance

Set rings of miles around your base with a trip fee for each one. Type a distance and get the fee, then print the zone sheet for the van or the dispatcher.

## Your base

Example values: change them to yours

Where your miles are counted from: the shop or where the van parks.

## Zones and trip fees

1. **Zone 1**: mi: mi: $: $: Optional
2. **Zone 2**: mi: mi: $: $: Optional
3. **Zone 3**: mi: mi: $: $: Optional

Zones join end to end. A job right on the line, like 10 miles, takes the lower fee. Changing where a zone ends moves the start of the next one.

## What does this job cost to reach?

mi

Zone 2 (10–20 mi)

$55

Trip fee

## Zone sheet

Trip fee zones

### Example Lock & Key

Miles from Mesa, AZ, counted as driving miles.

| Zone | Miles | Trip fee | After hours |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Zone 1 | 0–10 mi | $35 | $75 ($40 add-on) |
| Zone 2 | 10–20 mi | $55 | $95 ($40 add-on) |
| Zone 3 | 20–35 mi | $85 | $135 ($50 add-on) |

Past 35 mi: no set fee. Quote the trip before you book it.

A job right on a zone line takes the lower fee. The trip fee is on top of the price of the work.

LockCommand adds travel fees by ZIP or by miles from your shop to every phone quote, and flags jobs outside your service area.

[Set travel fees in LockCommand](https://app.lockcommand.com/sign-up?from=tool-service-area-zones)

## How to use it

A trip fee (also called a trip charge or service call fee) pays for the drive before any work starts: fuel, wear on the van and the time you can't spend on another job. A flat fee is simple, but it loses money on the long runs and scares off the customer two streets away. Zones fix that. Everyone in the same ring pays the same fee, and the fee goes up as the ring gets wider.

### Flat fee, zones or per mile?

| Method | Good | Bad |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One flat trip fee | Easiest to say on the phone | Loses money on far jobs, overcharges close ones |
| Zones by distance | Fair, still easy to quote, fits on one sheet | A job just over a line pays the next zone's fee |
| Per mile | Matches your cost exactly | Hard to quote before you know the exact address; callers don't like it |

Many shops mix them: a flat fee for zone 1, then zones, then "quote it" past the last ring. That's what this tool builds.

### Setting up your zones

1. Enter your base town. Miles count from where the van starts the day, which may be your home and not a shop.
2. Pick how you count miles. Driving miles from a map app are fairer to the customer. Straight-line miles are quicker to guess on the phone but run short in hilly or river country.
3. Set each zone's end and its trip fee. The next zone starts where the last one ends, so there are no gaps. If you type a start by hand and leave a gap or an overlap, the tool says so in red and offers to line the zones up.
4. Add an after-hours amount to any zone where night calls cost you more. Leave it empty for no add-on.
5. Choose what happens past your last zone: decline the job, or quote the trip each time.

### How to work out the fee for each zone

Price a zone from its far edge, round trip, because that's the worst trip you'll take for that fee. Two costs go in: the miles and your time.

- Miles: the IRS business mileage rate is 76 cents a mile from July 1, 2026 (it was 72.5 cents in the first half of the year, raised for fuel prices). It's a fair stand-in for fuel, tires and wear if you don't track your own.
- Time: what an hour on the road costs you. The [hourly cost calculator](https://lockcommand.com/tools/hourly-rate-calculator) works it out from your own numbers.

Take zone 2 in the example, 10 to 20 miles. The far edge is 20 miles each way, so 40 miles round trip at 76 cents is $30. At 35 mph that's about 70 minutes of driving; at a road cost of $45 an hour it's another $51. The trip really costs about $82 at the edge and much less near the inside of the ring. Most shops then charge less than the full edge cost, because the job itself carries some of it, and set the fee where it's fair across the whole ring.

### Reading the result

Type the distance to the job and tick After hours if it applies. The big number is the trip fee for that distance. A job right on a line takes the lower zone, so 10 miles is in the 0–10 zone and 10.1 miles is in the next one. Say that out loud on the phone once and callers stop arguing about a tenth of a mile.

### A worked example

The tool opens with example numbers you should replace:

| Zone | Miles | Day | After hours |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 0–10 | $35 | $75 |
| 2 | 10–20 | $55 | $95 |
| 3 | 20–35 | $85 | $135 |

A lockout 14 miles out at 2 p.m. is zone 2, so the trip fee is $55. The same call at 11 p.m. is $55 plus the $40 add-on, $95. A job 40 miles out is past the last zone, so with "Quote it case by case" you price that trip before you book it.

### What locksmiths charge for a trip

Locksmith Ledger's 2024 national price survey put the average service call at $94, up from $90 the year before. The magazine says the survey isn't scientific, and prices swing a lot by city. Treat it as a sanity check, not a price list. Your own costs come first.

### Tell the caller before you book

Say the trip fee on the phone, with the zone, and whether it counts toward the job. Callers who hear a trip fee for the first time at the door feel tricked, and that is how a fair shop ends up compared with a scam. The [phone script builder](https://lockcommand.com/tools/phone-script-builder) puts the trip fee line in the right place.

### Zones and your Google service area

Your trip fee zones and your Google Business Profile service area are two different things, but they should agree. Google lets a service-area business list up to 20 cities, ZIP codes or regions, does not allow a radius, and asks that the whole area stay within about 2 hours of driving from your base. If your last zone goes past what you could reach in 2 hours, the tool warns you. List the towns your zones cover on your profile, and don't list towns you would decline.

### Sources

- [Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses](https://support.google.com/business/answer/9157481) , Google Business Profile Help (up to 20 areas, about 2 hours of driving, no radius).
- [Guidelines for representing your business on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177) , Google Business Profile Help.
- [Standard mileage rates](https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates) , IRS (2026: 72.5 cents to June 30, 76 cents from July 1).
- [2024 National Average Price Survey](https://locksmithledger.com/home/article/55137701/2024-national-average-price-survey) , Locksmith Ledger.

Last checked October 2026. The fee amounts are yours to set; no source sets them.

## Questions

### Should a locksmith charge a trip fee?

Most mobile locksmiths do, because the drive costs fuel and time before any work starts. Zones keep the fee fair: close jobs pay less, far jobs pay more, and everyone in the same ring pays the same.

### How much is a locksmith trip charge?

It depends on your costs and your area. Locksmith Ledger's 2024 survey put the average service call at $94. Work out your own from the round trip miles and your hourly road cost, then set a fee per zone.

### How do you calculate a trip charge by distance?

Take the round trip miles to the far edge of a zone and multiply by your cost per mile, then add the drive time at your hourly road cost. Set the zone's fee from that, and repeat for each ring.

### Driving miles or straight-line miles?

Driving miles from a map app match what the trip really costs and are easier to defend to a customer. Straight-line miles are faster to estimate on the phone but run short where roads wind around water or hills. Pick one and print it on the sheet so everyone quotes the same way.

### What happens to a job exactly on a zone line?

It takes the lower fee. A job at 10 miles is in the 0–10 zone; at 10.1 miles it moves to the next zone.

### How far can my Google service area reach?

Google asks service-area businesses to keep the whole area within about 2 hours of driving from the base, with up to 20 cities, ZIP codes or regions listed. A radius isn't allowed. Source: Google Business Profile Help, checked October 2026.

### Does this tool save my zones?

No. Everything stays in your browser while the page is open, and nothing is stored or sent. Print the sheet or save it as a PDF to keep it.

## More for your shop

- [Price book builder Build a locksmith price list with low and high prices, trip fee and after-hours surcharge, and print it.](https://lockcommand.com/tools/price-book-builder)
- [Hourly rate and minimum ticket Your true cost per hour on the road and the smallest job worth driving to.](https://lockcommand.com/tools/hourly-rate-calculator)
- [Google verification checklist Step by step: Google Business Profile, Local Services Ads advanced verification and suspension appeals.](https://lockcommand.com/tools/google-verification-checklist)
- [Dispatch A live map of techs and jobs, the closest tech by real drive time, and manual or AI dispatch with timed offers.](https://lockcommand.com/features/dispatch)
- [AI receptionist An AI that answers your calls in English or Spanish, quotes from your price book, books the job and transfers to your cell.](https://lockcommand.com/features/ai-receptionist)

## Let LockCommand do this on every job

The AI receptionist quotes from your price book, books the job and texts the customer. Create your account and set up your shop in a few minutes.

[Create your account](https://app.lockcommand.com/sign-up?from=tool-service-area-zones) [See pricing](https://lockcommand.com/pricing)

Already have an account? [Log in](https://app.lockcommand.com/sign-in). Questions first? Email  [support@lockcommand.com](mailto:support@lockcommand.com) .