--- title: "The Wasted Labor In A Truck Roll: A Data Review" description: "The Wasted Labor In A Truck Roll: A Data Review" image: https://www.nclarity.com/hubfs/Blog-17-Graphic.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.nclarity.com/blog/wasted-labor-in-a-truck-roll#content) [![nClarity](https://www.nclarity.com/hubfs/nclarity-2022/logos/Logo.svg)](https://www.nclarity.com) Menu - Industries Show submenu for Industries - [Contractors](https://www.nclarity.com/contractors) - [Commercial/Industrial](https://www.nclarity.com/commercial) - [Utilities](https://www.nclarity.com/utilities) - [Technologies](https://www.nclarity.com/technologies) - [Solutions](https://www.nclarity.com/solution) - [About](https://www.nclarity.com/about-us) - Resources Show submenu for Resources - [nClarity Insights Blog](https://www.nclarity.com/blog) - [White Papers & Guides](https://www.nclarity.com/whitepapers-guides) - [Case Studies](https://www.nclarity.com/nclarity-case-studies) - [Get Started](https://www.nclarity.com/discovery-call) Post Tags - [HVAC](https://www.nclarity.com/blog/tag/hvac) - [Skilled Labor](https://www.nclarity.com/blog/tag/skilled-labor) - [Predictive Maintenance](https://www.nclarity.com/blog/tag/predictive-maintenance) - [Contract GP](https://www.nclarity.com/blog/tag/contract-gp) # The Wasted Labor In A Truck Roll: A Data Review [Jim Crowder](https://www.nclarity.com/blog/author/jim-crowder) Apr 7, 2023 5 min read ![](https://www.nclarity.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog-17-Graphic.jpg?length=320&name=Blog-17-Graphic.jpg) [Free Resource: The Practical Playbook For Service Income Growth](https://playbooks.nclarity.com/practicalplaybook/?utm_campaign=nclarity&utm_medium=site&utm_source=blog17) Last week, nClarityran a survey to quantify the waste in your average (planned or unplanned) truck roll. Let’s walk through the results from each of the four questions and talk about what we learned. Every answer had the option to input a unique response (beyond the first 3 options listed). The answers to the survey were anonymous, but here are the top 5 viewers of the survey (by job title) to give you a sense of who the respondents were: 1. Service Managers (28%) 2. Presidents (22%) 3. Account Managers (18%) 4. Project Managers (16%) 5. Owners (16%) ## Question 1: What’s the average cost of a truck roll? ![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/yTMm2lpIN45QFEs_YIeU-fkI6W-x5ysTG6F5IUmgS2zOCfjKvJR-L7ozTpUYZH-nTpX8EpCKKrCTnyATGm0BSLdSvG8PUYuuZHsZxoKtmbvjAzhjRiPy3vkUtj0Y7rz9RXAV9R3d24vDFzV6fYaGmzs) - The combined majority **(51.5%)** of respondents agreed that the cost of truck roll can reach at least **$1,000**. As one respondent said, the cost of a truck roll will vary depending on many factors (incl. your rates, area/market, etc.), but if we take the mean of all the answers individually, we get an **average cost of $998 or less** for a truck roll. ## Question 2: What % of a Tech’s Time Is Wasted Time? ![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Y18zewg3Vuu-zS-PNON3ym_FNq7zryqSUfxhw87i9jQFsyjcfFQGU-3bv1ckUveZVLtdp_kX7u6-3zxMOS02WW6-JgA5B-tKLJGJx0Y94L6SEX_qDxbt2KKeH_i-zHBU47EkePVGJ7oz4MVGDwBkBFs) Here’s where things get interesting. - The overwhelming majority **(95.8%)** of respondents believe that between **5%** and **30%** of their techs’ time is wasted during the average truck roll. - The biggest group **(50%)** of respondents believe that number is **15%** at minimum.  If we take our average truck roll cost of **$998** and we assume labor accounts for 90% of that, then this data could mean that many contractors are **spending between $135 and $270 on wasted labor** per average truck roll.   ### Get Cutting-Edge Mechanical Service Insights In Your Inbox ## Question 3: What % of Emergency Truck Rolls Could Be Avoided? ![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/r3f5EnjUfPdlTbTlGuMW1kKVcGpc6wEkPpxWiQ49_uxzXyWJM9aDaD6lwQnsqUIYEyxJP4uSrOFqXhEVhxjq_iXYkZaGNjsZK_8E9DNCcUU7E5MX04ilf1CjWVWLXQtXirE-gvopgzxGnVFK3vvpGA) - All **(100%)** agreed that at least **5%** and all the way up to **75%** of emergency truck rolls could be avoided with pre-dispatch issue diagnosis.  - The combined majority **(54.2%)** put this figure at **15% minimum.** ## Question 4: What’s The #1 Reason Time Is Wasted On A Truck Roll? ![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/MfabNXc1vUv3Demll_2JoLcwWxYQ4rJPGF8SWuJI-4VC5E4qfAHN4g2eGR9yfzjR_2WJvz47Jpnk4WzlgDB7V-iIFSEElzdKd7fD2VAViCpJKVPGYgzx2vLVGTiYB5rO9tdXcG4cA7Ad3lESwtZRBw) Interestingly, no one took the option to input a unique response. Based on these results, the most common reason time is wasted on a truck roll is: 1. Lack of accurate diagnosis prior to truck roll 2. Having to return for correct tools/spares 3. Issues not getting fixed first time, getting called back It’s also worth noting that lacking an accurate diagnosis prior to truck roll **could also be the underlying cause** of having to return for spares or getting call backs in many cases. ## The Power of Intelligent Dispatch These survey results suggest that if we resolve the aforementioned issues we can: - **Conservatively save 5% (and in many cases, up to 30%) of our labor hours per truck roll.** - **Conservatively avoid 5% (and in many cases 15-75%) of emergency truck rolls all together.** At an assumed average cost of **$998** per truck roll, the **billable capacity ($)** that’s currently being wasted on many truck rolls really starts to add up, even at conservative estimates. There are Service Ops process improvements that can help to reduce some waste, but the far superior way to eliminate these issues is with **Intelligent Dispatch**.  ![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/SJ5Fu-Hb5gpQ_yvQJESut-SQzigidzshbA26TBj4Cqte_y1o34xPEylv6ma7LErcca5vOjeoojBQgEnA6cs5bITfdJ0IKvxw23mFHs77kp-XysamJZaC0P3tRD42vtYFXdAM9ifjExH79sUPQeYIWg) Intelligent Dispatch is only possible with a Predictive Maintenance Platform like [nClarity](https://www.nclarity.com/), which provides **real-time machine data collection** and **service ops machine analytics tools** to access data from anywhere, including in the office (desktop) and onsite (mobile).  This enables Service Ops teams to always KNOW (the diagnosis, machine, tech, tool, & spare) BEFORE they GO, virtually eliminating the wasted labor from the average truck roll and increasing contract GP. In addition, wasted labor can be reallocated to new contracts. This “new-found” available labor can then be converted into additional billable capacity to meet demand from a growing contract base. A 2-for-1 benefit. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can eliminate waste from your truck roll process, you can[schedule a discovery call with nClarity.](https://www.nclarity.com/getintouch) [![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/saCTnlkKcFixl8LIbu57BcmSeIYl7Dg0yzQupYBwgQEkaMWI9AbUwxbfPFfDEGa0wgcTifnQ5fk6SMFGJAIa7bhVMvZa9Ux3NPjKz55N4_dtv-QUxnfUzaKCER1EadWc70-haAtxTHtuiIwfmzdSIw)](https://www.nclarity.com/getintouch) ## What are your thoughts? ![Logo2x](https://www.nclarity.com/hs-fs/hubfs/nclarity-2022/logos/Logo2x.png?width=127&name=Logo2x.png)   19366 Alianna Loop Bend, OR 97702 [info@nclarity.com](mailto:info@nclarity.com) [1-888-629-4162](tel:+18886294162) #### Menu - Industries - [Technologies](https://www.nclarity.com/technologies) - [Solutions](https://www.nclarity.com/solution) - [About](https://www.nclarity.com/about-us) - Resources #### Industries - [Mechanical Contractors](https://www.nclarity.com/contractors) - [Commercial/Industrial](https://www.nclarity.com/commercial) - [Utilities/Energy Engineers](https://www.nclarity.com/utilities) ©2026 nClarity. [Privacy](https://app.termly.io/document/privacy-policy/bf68ca07-3a50-4da5-be56-66a513047222). ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jim Crowder", "url" : "https://www.nclarity.com/blog/author/jim-crowder" }, "dateModified" : "2023-04-07T16:08:23.428Z", "datePublished" : "2023-04-07T16:07:50.000Z", "headline" : "The Wasted Labor In A Truck Roll: A Data Review", "image" : [ "https://www.nclarity.com/hubfs/Blog-17-Graphic.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.nclarity.com/blog/wasted-labor-in-a-truck-roll", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.nclarity.com/hubfs/nclarity-2022/logos/Logo2x.png" }, "name" : "nClarity, LLC" } } ```