What does a mobile oil change really earn once you count the drive, the oil and the no-shows, and is solo, a franchise or a job the better way to run the van?

1. Jobs you do in a typical week

2. The route, and no-shows

3. Van and fixed costs, your time and your target

4. Join a franchise, or take a job

Work out the route Load an example Copy a share link

Enter your numbers or load the example, then click Work out the route.

Result

Each kind of service

Batching: the same weekly fleet vehicles grouped into fewer stops

The week at different volumes: what you keep after your own time, three ways

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The arithmetic, and what it leaves out

• Every stop costs a drive (minutes at your hourly value, plus miles at your mileage cost) whether or not the customer is there. A no-show also costs the minutes you spend at the curb, and collects only the share of the price you set.
• A completed job earns its price and costs its oil (quarts times your price per quart), its filter, its disposal cost and its on-site minutes. Grouping fleet vehicles into one stop pays the drive once, which is why batching raises profit per working hour.
• Profit per working hour is cash kept per hour worked, including driving and restocking, before valuing your own time. Profit per vehicle is what is left per completed vehicle after your time is valued and the fixed costs are spread over them.
• A franchisee keeps the prices less the franchise fee on revenue, and in this model still drives, pays mileage and fixed costs and, unless you say otherwise, buys oil and filters. An employee earns the hourly wage for all hours including driving plus the mileage rate, and the employer pays oil, filters, disposal, insurance and the van.
• Not modelled: used-oil disposal and handling regulations, EPA, state and local rules, permits and licensing; tips; sales and income tax; bad debt; vehicle purchase beyond the per-mile cost; oil price changes between purchases; and any pay to you beyond the hourly figure you type.

Common questions

How much should I charge for a mobile oil change?

Add the oil and filter for each vehicle (quarts times your price per quart, plus the filter), the used-oil disposal cost, the on-site minutes and the drive to and from the stop at what your time is worth, mileage, and the service's share of insurance, tools and van costs. Then spread the cost of no-shows over the stops that happen and divide by one minus the margin you want. Type your own numbers and read the price for each service type off the table.

Is it better to batch fleet stops?

Usually, because the drive is paid once per stop however many vehicles you service there. The calculator holds your weekly fleet vehicles fixed and shows profit per working hour when they are grouped one, two, three, four or six to a stop. A no-show at a batched stop loses every vehicle at that stop, so batching raises the cost of each no-show.

How many oil changes a week does a mobile oil change van need to break even?

The weekly fixed costs (insurance, tools spread over 52 weeks, van payment and other fixed cost, the weekly used-oil haul, and your restocking and drop-off hours at your hourly value) divided by what each vehicle leaves after oil, filters, disposal, mileage, and your own drive and on-site time, at your current mix of service types. The result is the scheduled vehicles per week, with the completed vehicles and stops that implies.

What do no-shows and cancellations cost a mobile oil change business?

You still drive to the stop and spend a few minutes there, so the trip costs mileage and your time, plus the margin of the service that did not happen, less whatever share of the price you collect on a no-show. The calculator prints the cost per week and per year, and shows what collecting part of the price would recover.

Should I work solo, pay a franchise fee, or work as an employee?

The calculator works out the same route three ways: solo (you keep every price and pay every cost), a franchisee (you pay a percent of revenue as a franchise fee, may get more volume, and may still buy oil and filters), and an employee (an hourly wage plus a mileage rate, with the employer paying oil, filters, disposal, insurance and the van). It prints the take per working hour for each, the franchise fee at which franchising matches solo, and the hourly wage at which a job matches solo. The default numbers are editable placeholders, not published rates.

What does this leave out?

Used-oil disposal and handling regulations, EPA and state or local rules, permits and licensing, which it does not model at all and which decide how you may collect, store and dispose of used oil and filters. It also leaves out tips, sales and income tax, bad debt, vehicle purchase and depreciation beyond the per-mile figure, and the cost of owner's time beyond the hourly figure you type. It is arithmetic on numbers you type, not legal, tax, environmental or financial advice, and not an estimate of record.

Is my data uploaded?

No. Everything runs in your browser tab and nothing is sent anywhere. There are no accounts. The share link keeps your numbers in the link itself, which you choose whether to send.