Travel time between appointments: worked examples

What each worked example adds up

Each example counts the same parts: pack-down after one service, the expected drive, parking and walking to the door, and setup before the next service. Driving alone nearly always understates the time between visits; a mapped twenty-minute drive can need thirty-five minutes in the calendar. The numbers are illustrations, so replace them with timings from your own completed visits.

Example 1: a fixed gap in a compact area

A mobile barber works across a few neighbouring postcodes. Drives take between eight and fifteen minutes. Pack-down takes ten minutes, parking five and setup five, so the complete time between visits ranges from twenty-eight to thirty-five minutes.

A fixed 35-minute gap covers every normal journey: after a haircut ending at 10:00, the next start is 10:35. At most seven minutes go unused on the shortest drive, a fair trade for a rule that is simple to explain and check. On CalMov Lite, this is the travel gap you set.

Example 2: a nearby customer and a cross-area customer

Now the business covers a wider area. After a 14:00 finish, packing, parking and setup still take twenty minutes. A nearby customer is an eight-minute drive away, so their visit can start at 14:28. A cross-area customer is forty minutes away, so their visit cannot start before 15:00.

A fixed 45-minute gap offers 14:45 in both cases: seventeen minutes are wasted for the nearby customer, and you would be ready fifteen minutes late for the cross-area one. A 60-minute gap protects the long journey but blocks more than half an hour after every short one. When journeys differ this much, travel time needs to change with the pair of addresses, which is what CalMov Pro does by checking roads and expected traffic for each journey at the planned time.

Example 3: fitting a booking between two confirmed visits

A customer asks for a 60-minute service. The previous visit ends at 10:10 and the next confirmed visit starts at 12:45, a window of 155 minutes. Getting to the new customer takes 45 minutes: 10 packing, a 25-minute drive and 10 for parking and setup. Getting on to the next customer takes 50: 10 packing, a 30-minute drive and 10 for parking and setup.

Add it up: 45 + 60 + 50 = 155 minutes. The earliest start is 10:55, and it is also the latest start that keeps the next visit on time. A requested 11:00 start would leave you ready at the next customer at 12:50, five minutes late. Checking only the drive in would accept 11:00 and make that customer wait, so offer a shorter service, a different window or another day.

Example 4: the first and last visits of the day

The first visit has no previous customer, so decide where your day starts. If you leave base at 08:30 and the first customer is a 30-minute drive away, with 10 minutes for parking and setup, the earliest first start is 09:10, even if your hours begin at 09:00.

The last visit has no next customer, but you may still need to get home. To be back at base by 17:30 from a final customer 35 minutes away, with ten minutes of pack-down, the last service must end by 16:45, so a 90-minute service cannot start after 15:15. Write both rules down and test the earliest and latest times you offer.

Example 5: a customer changes their address

A confirmed 60-minute visit at 11:00 was booked at a home ten minutes from the previous customer, whose service ends at 10:20. With ten minutes packing and ten for parking and setup, you would be ready at 10:50. The customer then asks you to come to their workplace, a 30-minute drive away. You would now be ready at 11:10, ten minutes after the agreed start.

The journey out changes too: the workplace is 25 minutes from the 12:45 visit rather than fifteen. The window from 10:20 to 12:45 is 145 minutes, but the new address needs 155, so the visit no longer fits. Treat an address change as a new booking and check both journeys again.

Which travel method suits each example?

Example 1 suits a fixed gap because journeys are similar; on CalMov Lite, that is the travel gap you set. Example 2 needs the drive worked out for each pair of addresses, so short trips stay short while long ones are protected, and the same route can take much longer at certain times of day. CalMov Pro checks roads and expected traffic for the planned time before and after a proposed appointment, then checks the journey again before the booking is confirmed. No check removes the need for a margin, because incidents, parking and access problems still happen.

A test checklist before you take bookings

Run these checks with test bookings on a phone before you share your booking link, and again after changing your area, services or travel settings. Use real addresses, including one near the edge of your area, and cancel test bookings afterwards.

In CalMov, the availability settings include Extra travel time (min), added to each journey for parking or delays, a maximum travel time per journey and a maximum distance from base. Count parking and setup once, either in the service duration or as extra travel time, not both.

• Book your longest service between two confirmed visits in different areas.
• Repeat with a nearby address and one near the edge of your area.
• Check the first time offered in the day and the last.
• Change the address on a test booking and confirm the offered times change.
• Try an address outside your area and read what the customer sees.
• Confirm a time that would make the next visit late is not offered.
• For one week, compare planned and actual ready-to-start times.