Extra drive calculator: what does that booking really cost you?

A free slot on the calendar can still cost you half an hour of driving. Enter three drive times from any maps app and see what a new booking really adds to your day, in minutes, miles and dollars.

1 Drive times from your maps app

Stop A is the visit before the new one, stop B the visit after it. If the new visit would be your last, use home as stop B.

2 Your numbers

The cost per mile starts at the IRS business rate. The other values are examples: replace them with your own.

An example. To find yours, take a typical drive: miles ÷ minutes × 60.

IRS 2026 business standard mileage rate: 76¢ a mile from July 1, 2026 (72.5¢ before). It reflects the average cost of running a car or van; a heavy grooming rig may cost more.

An example. One way to set it: your average groom price ÷ the hours a groom takes, curb to curb.

An example. Pick the limit that fits your area.

Is this a one-off or a regular?
Saying yes adds 26 min

Saying yes adds

26 min

of driving, on top of the visit itself.

Over your 15-minute rule by 11 min. Try a slot on their zone day first.

Extra distance
≈ 10.8 mi
Your time
$26
Van cost
$8
Cost of the extra drive, per visit
$34
Over a year (9 visits)
$308 · 4 h

An estimate from your own numbers. Real traffic changes by the hour.

Waitlist · coming soon

Let GroomSolo do this for you.

We’re building GroomSolo to run this check for you: when a client asks for a time, it shows what the visit adds to your route before you say yes. That part of the app is in development.

  • Coming to iPhone and Android.
  • Free to join, no card needed.
  • Only your name and email are required.
Tell us about your van (optional, takes 20 seconds)
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How the calculator works

A new visit almost never sits on a straight line between two stops you already have. So the question is not how far the new client is from you. It is how much longer your route gets when you squeeze them in:

Extra drive = (A to new stop) + (new stop to B) − (A to B)

With the example numbers above, the route grows by 18 + 20 − 12 = 26 minutes. The calculator then turns those minutes into miles with your average speed, and into dollars with two numbers only you know: what your van costs per mile and what an hour of your time is worth.

Why the yearly line matters

One awkward stop is an annoyance. The same stop every six weeks is a standing cost you agreed to once and pay for all year. If a regular client lives off your usual path, the yearly number is the one to look at before you offer them a standing slot.

What to do with the result

Not sure what your rule should be? Our guide to planning a mobile grooming route walks through zones, buffers and writing your “yes rules” down, and the service area and travel fee guide shows how to price the stops at the edge of your map.

Where the numbers come from

Doing this without a calculator

You can run this check with any maps app in about a minute. That minute is the problem when a client is waiting for an answer and you are mid-groom. Checking the drive before you say yes is the first thing we’re building GroomSolo to do for you; that part of the app is still in development.