Service Call Pricing Template for Small Shops
TLDR
Most small shops underprice service calls because they never account for drive time, overhead, or seasonal demand. This template gives you the math to set rates that actually cover your costs and leave margin on every call.
Why Most Small Shops Underprice Service Calls
When we researched how 1-5 truck shops set their pricing, the pattern was clear: most owners picked a number that felt right, matched it roughly to what competitors charge, and never revisited it. The problem is that “what feels right” almost never accounts for the full cost of running a truck to someone’s house.
Your service call price needs to cover more than the tech’s hourly wage. It needs to cover drive time to and from the job, fuel, vehicle wear, insurance, office overhead, and the opportunity cost of not being on another call. When you skip that math, every call looks profitable on paper but leaves you wondering where the money went at the end of the month.
This template breaks service call pricing into the components that actually matter, so you can set rates based on real numbers instead of gut feel.
The Cost Basis: What Every Truck Roll Actually Costs You
Before you set any price, you need to know your loaded cost per hour. This is not your tech’s hourly wage. It is everything it costs you to have a truck on the road for one hour.
Labor cost per hour: Take the tech’s annual compensation (wages + payroll taxes + benefits + workers comp) and divide by billable hours per year. Most small shops get 1,200-1,500 billable hours per tech per year after you subtract drive time, callbacks, training, and admin. If you are paying a tech $60,000/year all-in and getting 1,300 billable hours, your labor cost is about $46/hour, not the $29/hour you might calculate from a 40-hour week.
Truck cost per hour: Monthly payment + insurance + fuel + maintenance + tools, divided by hours that truck is on the road. For most shops running standard service vans, this lands between $15-25/hour.
Overhead allocation per hour: Rent, utilities, office staff, software, licensing, marketing, and everything else that keeps the business running but is not tied to a specific job. Total your monthly overhead, divide by total billable hours across all trucks. For a 3-truck shop, this is often $10-20/hour per truck.
Your loaded cost per hour = labor + truck + overhead. For most small residential shops, this lands somewhere between $70-90/hour. If you are charging $85/hour for labor, you might be making $10/hour in actual margin before parts. That is the starting point, not the finish line.
Service Call Pricing Template for Small Shops
A pricing framework that helps 1-5 truck HVAC and plumbing shops set diagnostic fees, hourly rates, parts markups, and after-hours surcharges without guessing.
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