What is Windshield Time? How to Calculate and Cut It
Jessica Helms
Last update on:
October 30, 2026 9:36 AM
Published on:
October 30, 2026
TL;DR
Windshield time is the time employees spend behind the wheel driving between customer locations, job sites, looking for parking, or sitting in traffic.
Windshield time and commuting are two different types of driving – the destination is what sets them apart.
Drive time is calculated by looking at the time spent traveling between locations offsite, its cost is estimated by multiplying driving hours by labor rates.
GPS-based tracking apps help teams track mileage and separate driving from onsite work to better manage and reduce windshield time.
Your field tech clocked a full 8-hour shift but his daily agenda doesn’t tell you where all of the time went. More than likely a large portion can be attributed to windshield time – the time your employees spend behind the wheel driving to customer locations and job sites.
Even though traveling is a required part of the workday for mobile teams, not having a clear picture of how much windshield time is taking place can impact labor costs, productivity, and scheduling.
Timeero is a GPS time tracking and workforce management platform for mobile teams that separate drive time from actual field work.
Know how much of the day goes to the road
Separate drive time from on-site work with Timeero.
Windshield time is defined as the time employees spend driving between work locations during the workday.
The term originated in the 1990s among blue-collar trades, field services, sales, and social work. It was used to describe the time employees spent literally looking out of their windshield.
Windshield time can include driving between client locations, the time spent looking for parking, or idle time stuck in traffic.
Where windshield time shows up by industry
Property management:
Maintenance techs driving between multiple properties completing work orders.
Construction:
A crew member travels between the job site and warehouse to pick up supplies
Commercial cleaning:
A cleaner travels between client buildings
Home healthcare:
A caregiver travels from patient to patient conducting visits
HVAC:
A technician makes multiple stops completing service calls at customers’ homes
Outside sales:
A sales representative drives between customer appointments
Windshield time vs. commute time: What’s the difference?
Both windshield time and commute time involve driving, but they are two different types of travel.
Type of travel
Example
Windshield time
Driving from one property to another during the workday
Ordinary commute
Driving from home to the office or regular place of work
The difference matters when tracking work hours and mileage. As explained in our guide to business miles vs. commuting miles, travel between job sites during the workday generally counts as work time for hourly employees and may qualify for business mileage reimbursement. In contrast, the ordinary commute between home and a regular workplace is generally unpaid and does not qualify as deductible business mileage for employees.
What does windshield time cost your business?
Not all time spent behind the wheel is wasted. Some types of travel are unavoidable, for example, a caregiver traveling from patient to patient is considered necessary to the job.
But if driving is left unchecked, excessive windshield time carries costs that can hurt your business.
Labor costs: Employees may be paid while traveling between jobs.
Vehicle expenses: Business driving adds fuel, maintenance, and mileage costs.
Scheduling: Longer-than-expected drives can delay appointments and reduce the number of jobs completed.
Visibility: Without separate drive-time data, managers may struggle to explain differences in labor costs between jobs, properties, or employees.
How to calculate windshield time
The easiest way to estimate windshield time is to separate driving from onsite work and job-related activities. This helps you understand how much of your team's workday goes toward travel and what that travel costs your business.
1. Collect total work hours
Review your employees’ timesheets and calculate total hours worked. This includes compensable windshield time spent traveling between job sites.
2. Calculate driving time
Review daily driving logs and calculate how many hours your workers spent driving. Separate business travel from ordinary commuting when applicable.
3. Estimate the cost of windshield time
Estimate how much your business spends on employee travel by calculating labor costs and mileage expenses.
Mileage cost=Business miles traveled×Mileage reimbursement rate
Total travel cost=Driving labor cost+Mileage cost
Your loaded hourly labor rate includes the employee's hourly wage plus applicable employer costs, such as payroll taxes and benefits.
Calculate windshield time for a field technician (Example)
Rich is the Senior HVAC technician on his team. Not only does he complete installations, but he makes supply runs during every shift. At the end of the week, Rich’s manager wants to get a better idea of how much windshield time is costing the company.
He looks at Rich’s total work hours (48 for the week) compared to his on-site hours, lunch breaks, and drive time to estimate windshield time.
Total work hours48 hours
On-Site hours30 hours(roughly on-site 6 hours per day)
Lunch breaks3 hours(30 minutes per day)
Driving hours15 hours
Hourly wage$23.50
Business miles driven300 miles(illustrative)
Mileage reimbursement rate$0.78 per mile
Step 1: Calculate driving labor costs
To find Rich’s estimated labor cost, we multiply the driving hours by Rich’s hourly labor rate.
15 driving hours x $23.50 per hour = $352.50
Step 2: Calculate business mileage costs
To calculate Rich’s business mileage cost, multiply Rich's business miles by the company's mileage reimbursement rate.
300 business miles × $0.78 per mile = $234.00
Step 3: Calculate total weekly windshield time costs
Add the driving labor cost and mileage cost.
$352.50 + $234.00 = $586.50 per week
Assuming four weeks per month, Rich's estimated monthly travel cost would be:
$586.50 × 4 = $2,346 per month
The figures used in this example are for one employee. If all workers were driving during the workday, the costs of windshield time would be extremely high for this company.
Windshield ratio
There’s another number that you’ll want to keep a close eye on from week to week: your windshield ratio.
The windshield ratio shows what percentage of an employee's working hours is spent driving between job sites rather than completing work on-site. A high ratio may indicate that employees are spending too much time traveling instead of performing billable work.
To calculate the windshield ratio percentage, divide the hours spent driving between jobs by the total number of working hours. Then multiply that number by 100.
Windshield ratio = (Driving hours ÷ Total hours worked) × 100
Using our previous example:
Driving hours15
Total paid working hours45(48 total hours minus 3 hours of unpaid lunch breaks)
15 ÷ 45 × 100 = 33.33%
This means Rich spends approximately one-third of his paid working hours driving.
How to reduce unnecessary windshield time
As we mentioned before, not all drive time can be avoided. But when windshield time is estimated to cost hundreds per week, it’s worth looking into where you can cut unnecessary drive time.
Here are 7 ways you can reduce miles and time without compromising service or safety:
Group jobs by geographic area to reduce driving distances.
Assign jobs to the nearest qualified worker when practical.
Plan the day's stop order before dispatch.
Reduce repeat trips for parts, tools, or missing information.
Complete requests by phone or photo instead of driving to the site.
Review actual routes and drive-time patterns weekly.
Three ways to track windshield time
To track windshield time you need to gather your employees’ trip details and mileage from daily driving routes. There are three ways you can do this, but each varies in terms of effort, visibility and reliability.
Manual tracking
Field technicians record their start and stop times for each visit, along with destination address, and total mileage on paper or spreadsheet
Mileage is calculated from Google Maps or the starting/ending odometer readings
No real-time visibility
Accuracy of mileage and driving route depends on how detailed the records are and whether all stops were included
Separate clock-in for each job
If using a mobile time clock, the technician will need to clock in and out when they arrive at and depart from each location which is time consuming
Mileage is either calculated automatically or is input manually depending on the software
Managers can only see work-related activity when the employee was on the clock
There is an increased risk of forgetting to clock-in/out, and trip details may be limited
GPS-based tracking app
Technicians use a GPS tracking app to record time and mileage, only one clock-in is needed for the whole work day
The mobile app records the driving route, separating the trip into segments based on stops made
Trip details such as time on the clock, mileage, job, and location address are captured automatically
Managers can see exactly where employees traveled throughout the workday
Geofences can prevent missed punches
Drive smarter with Timeero
At the end of the day, managers can see that work was completed, but they don’t know how much time they lost to employees driving between locations.
Timeero is a GPS time tracking app for mobile teams with features built to help field teams better track and reduce windshield time.
Timeero’s Segmented Tracking helps teams distinguish drive time from actual stops and the Segmented Tracking timeline shows drive time vs. on-site time so managers can review work hours and travel patterns. The app allows companies to automatically deduct commute mileage from daily travel, increasing the accuracy of windshield team calculations. Crews can prevent extended travel time by analyzing previous driving routes against Suggested Mileage.
Stop paying more for windshield time than actual labor when you use Timeero. Start your free 14-day trial today.
FAQs
Does driving to the first job of the day count as windshield time?
Yes. Driving from the office to the first job of the day counts as windshield time.
Is windshield time billable to customers?
No, windshield time is not billable to customers. It is paid time to the employee from the employer.
What's the difference between windshield time and wrench time?
Windshield time is the time a worker spends behind the wheel traveling to customer locations or between job sites. Wrench time is the time an employee spends actively working on a job with a tool in hand.
How much windshield time is normal for a field technician?
There is no number that is considered “normal” for a field technician. Your own baseline is going to be the number that matters. Compare your windshield ratio week to week to get an idea of what is normal for your team.
Does windshield time count toward overtime?
For hourly employees, windshield time does count toward overtime.
What does windshield time mean in sales or real estate?
Windshield time in sales or real estate means the time agents or representatives spend behind the wheel, traveling between homes or appointments.
Put a number on your team’s windshield time
Timeero tracks hours, mileage and drive time between job sites in one app.
Jessica is a skilled writer and proofreader with a unique flair for crafting engaging and impactful content. Her work reflects her ability to connect with clients on a personal level while successfully addressing their most pressing concerns. Jessica's professional background includes: teaching, social media marketing, and e-commerce. She resides in Alabama and loves the Golden Girls sitcom.
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