Tracking drive time between job sites

Drive time between job sites, recorded as the drive it was.

To track drive time between job sites, the record has to capture the drive itself, not just a punch at each end. ZeroBadge classifies every minute of a shift as on site, in transit or other. A drive from one jobsite to the next becomes its own transit line, with where it started and where it ended, kept apart from site hours so you can pay it and cost it under your own policy.

Under federal rules, travel from job site to job site during the workday counts as hours worked (29 CFR 785.38). How you pay it, which job carries it and where the paid day starts are choices you make.

Get started Walk through a timed day

Transit shown apart from site hours
Origin and destination on every drive, askable in ZeroBadge AI
Supply runs as their own line

ZeroBadgeTimesheetsTue Oct 6

6:30 AM3:50 PM

Lena · route

6:30 AMShop & OfficeClocked in at the shop, loaded fittingsOn site · 25m
6:55 AMTransit to RiversideDrive to Riverside Medical PavilionTransit · 40m
7:35 AMRiverside Medical PavilionCrew hand-over with Marcus T.On site · 45m
8:20 AMTransit to Cascade SupplyDrive to Cascade Supply Co.Transit · 25m
8:45 AMCascade Supply Co.Vendor stop: valve pickupVendor · 25m
9:10 AMTransit to Harbor YardDrive to Harbor YardTransit · 30m
9:40 AMHarbor Yard Distribution CenterOn site with the Harbor Yard crewOn site · 6h 10m

One shift from 6:30 AM to 3:50 PM.

One foreman's Tuesday

A ten-hour day with four drives in it, as the badge recorded it.

A mechanical foreman starts at the shop, runs two jobs and a supply house, and goes back to the first job for a punch list. He powers the badge on once and off once.

A ten-hour day with four drives in it, as the badge recorded it.
Time	What the record shows	Classified as
6:00 to 6:25 AM	Badge on at the shop. Loading the van with fittings and a press tool.	On site: shop, 25 min
6:25 to 6:58 AM	Shop to Job A, the medical office TI.	Transit, 33 min
6:58 to 10:40 AM	Rough-in at Job A.	On site: Job A, 3 h 42 min
10:40 to 10:52 AM	Job A to the supply house.	Transit, 12 min
10:52 to 11:20 AM	At the supply house, drawn as its own location.	Other: supplier, 28 min
11:20 to 11:45 AM	Supply house to Job B, the school addition.	Transit, 25 min
11:45 AM to 2:55 PM	Top-out at Job B.	On site: Job B, 3 h 10 min
2:55 to 3:20 PM	Job B back to Job A.	Transit, 25 min
3:20 to 4:05 PM	Punch list at Job A. Badge off at 4:05; the drive home is not recorded.	On site: Job A, 45 min

6:00 to 6:25 AM
What the record shows
Badge on at the shop. Loading the van with fittings and a press tool.
Classified as
On site: shop, 25 min
6:25 to 6:58 AM
What the record shows
Shop to Job A, the medical office TI.
Classified as
Transit, 33 min
6:58 to 10:40 AM
What the record shows
Rough-in at Job A.
Classified as
On site: Job A, 3 h 42 min
10:40 to 10:52 AM
What the record shows
Job A to the supply house.
Classified as
Transit, 12 min
10:52 to 11:20 AM
What the record shows
At the supply house, drawn as its own location.
Classified as
Other: supplier, 28 min
11:20 to 11:45 AM
What the record shows
Supply house to Job B, the school addition.
Classified as
Transit, 25 min
11:45 AM to 2:55 PM
What the record shows
Top-out at Job B.
Classified as
On site: Job B, 3 h 10 min
2:55 to 3:20 PM
What the record shows
Job B back to Job A.
Classified as
Transit, 25 min
3:20 to 4:05 PM
What the record shows
Punch list at Job A. Badge off at 4:05; the drive home is not recorded.
Classified as
On site: Job A, 45 min

Totals: on site 8 h 02 min (shop 25 min, Job A 4 h 27 min, Job B 3 h 10 min), transit 1 h 35 min (33 + 12 + 25 + 25 min), other 28 min. Together that is 10 h 05 min, exactly 6:00 AM to 4:05 PM. On a paper sheet this day usually reads "6 to 4, Job A and B", and the 95 minutes of driving belong to nobody.

How transit is classified

How the badge decides a minute was driving and not site time.

The badge reports about every 5 minutes. Transit is measured movement between two recorded places, never a guess from a single reading.

Site to site
Leaving one jobsite's geofence and arriving at another is one transit line, labelled with both ends. The shift stays one record.
Short gaps
If signal drops between two recorded sites, a gap of up to an hour is bridged as transit. A longer gap stays unclassified for review instead of being called driving.
Stops on the way
Draw supply houses, the yard and the shop as locations and time there is its own line. A long stop at a place that isn't drawn shows as its own item, not folded into the drive.
Dead zones
The badge needs cellular coverage to report. When it drops, reports are stored and uploaded on reconnect with their original timestamps, and the drive fills back in.
The commute
A badge that is off records nothing. If a worker powers on at home, the drive to the first site shows as transit from an unnamed starting point, and your policy decides whether it is paid.
Confidence
GPS outdoors, Wi-Fi positioning indoors and cellular continuity in between, marked low confidence. Every reading keeps its method.

What federal law says

Driving between job sites during the workday is hours worked. The ordinary commute usually isn't.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act regulations, travel from job site to job site during the workday must be counted as hours worked (29 CFR 785.38), while normal travel from home to work is not worktime (29 CFR 785.35). The same section covers the shop: when a worker must report to a meeting place to pick up tools or get instructions, the drive from there to the jobsite is work time. If a worker leaves the last job and goes straight home, that drive is generally commuting. Some states add their own rules, so check yours.

Sources: 29 CFR 785.38 and 785.35, US Department of Labor regulations via eCFR.

Three drives

Three ordinary drives, and how each one lands in the record.

Three ordinary drives, and how each one lands in the record.
The drive	What the record shows	What the office does
10:15 AM. A plumbing foreman leaves rough-in at one job for a top-out inspection at another, 35 minutes away.	Transit from the first job to the second, 10:15 to 10:50, then on site at the second job.	Pays it as hours worked. Codes it to overhead or the destination job, whichever your policy says.
6:00 AM. An apprentice rides with a journeyman from the shop in a loaded van and reaches the job at 6:40.	Both badges show 6:00 to 6:40 as transit from the shop to the job.	Both drives count: they reported to the shop to pick up material. A vehicle tracker would have seen one truck, not two workers.
3:30 PM. An HVAC tech finishes a start-up and drives home, 45 minutes.	Badge off at 3:30. Nothing after that is recorded.	Nothing to do. If the badge had stayed on, the shift would run past the schedule and end away from approved sites, and the exceptions list would flag it.

10:15 AM. A plumbing foreman leaves rough-in at one job for a top-out inspection at another, 35 minutes away.
What the record shows
Transit from the first job to the second, 10:15 to 10:50, then on site at the second job.
What the office does
Pays it as hours worked. Codes it to overhead or the destination job, whichever your policy says.
6:00 AM. An apprentice rides with a journeyman from the shop in a loaded van and reaches the job at 6:40.
What the record shows
Both badges show 6:00 to 6:40 as transit from the shop to the job.
What the office does
Both drives count: they reported to the shop to pick up material. A vehicle tracker would have seen one truck, not two workers.
3:30 PM. An HVAC tech finishes a start-up and drives home, 45 minutes.
What the record shows
Badge off at 3:30. Nothing after that is recorded.
What the office does
Nothing to do. If the badge had stayed on, the shift would run past the schedule and end away from approved sites, and the exceptions list would flag it.

Policy choices

The drive time decisions your company makes, and what the record gives you for each.

The law sets a floor. Everything above it is policy: write it down once and apply it the same way to every crew.

The drive time decisions your company makes, and what the record gives you for each.
Decision	Common options	What the badge record shows
Where the paid day starts	At the shop or yard when crews report there, at the first jobsite, or when the badge is powered on.	Badge-on time and place, and whether the first stop was the shop or a jobsite.
The rate for drive time	Same rate as site work, or a separate travel rate. With two rates in a week, overtime is based on a weighted average regular rate (29 CFR 778.115).	Transit hours per worker per day, apart from site hours, so a second rate can be applied.
Which job carries it	The destination job, the job it left, or an overhead or travel cost code.	Both ends of every drive, so the cost can go wherever your policy puts it.
Supply house runs	Paid time charged to the job the material is for, or to overhead.	Supplier stops as their own line, never folded into the next job's site hours.
Mileage	A reimbursement or a company vehicle policy, handled separately from hours.	Not calculated. ZeroBadge records time in transit, not miles driven.

Where the paid day starts
Common options
At the shop or yard when crews report there, at the first jobsite, or when the badge is powered on.
What the badge record shows
Badge-on time and place, and whether the first stop was the shop or a jobsite.
The rate for drive time
Common options
Same rate as site work, or a separate travel rate. With two rates in a week, overtime is based on a weighted average regular rate (29 CFR 778.115).
What the badge record shows
Transit hours per worker per day, apart from site hours, so a second rate can be applied.
Which job carries it
Common options
The destination job, the job it left, or an overhead or travel cost code.
What the badge record shows
Both ends of every drive, so the cost can go wherever your policy puts it.
Supply house runs
Common options
Paid time charged to the job the material is for, or to overhead.
What the badge record shows
Supplier stops as their own line, never folded into the next job's site hours.
Mileage
Common options
A reimbursement or a company vehicle policy, handled separately from hours.
What the badge record shows
Not calculated. ZeroBadge records time in transit, not miles driven.

Writing the policy is covered in [drive time policy for contractors](/guides/drive-time-policy-for-contractors); the pay rules in more depth in [travel time between job sites: pay rules](/guides/travel-time-between-job-sites-pay-rules).

Ways to capture drive time

Five ways to record driving between jobs, compared.

How each method records travel between job sites
Compare	ZeroBadgeBadge per worker	Paper timesheetFilled in by hand	Clock at each sitePunch out, punch in	Phone app with GPSWorker's own phone	Vehicle GPS trackerIn the truck
Drive between sites shows as	Its own transit line with both ends	Whatever gets written, often nothing	The gap between two punches	Location while the app runs	A trip with a route
Whose time it records	Each worker, passengers included	Each worker, by memory	Each worker who punches	Each worker with the app open	The truck, not the riders
Supply house stops	Own line when drawn as a location	Usually folded into a job	Not seen	Seen if tagged	Seen as a stop
Miles driven	Not calculated	If someone writes it	No	Some apps	Yes
What it needs	Badges charged and assigned	A foreman with time to write	A device at every site	Each worker's phone and data	A unit in every vehicle

Compare ZeroBadge with

How each method records travel between job sites: ZeroBadge compared with Paper
ZeroBadge	Paper
Drive between sites shows as
Its own transit line with both ends	Whatever gets written, often nothing
Whose time it records
Each worker, passengers included	Each worker, by memory
Supply house stops
Own line when drawn as a location	Usually folded into a job
Miles driven
Not calculated	If someone writes it
What it needs
Badges charged and assigned	A foreman with time to write

The tradeoff

A vehicle tracker is the better tool for mileage, routes and fuel, and some contractors run one alongside a time record. It sees the truck, though, so the apprentice in the passenger seat is invisible to it. ZeroBadge records each worker's time in transit but not miles, and badges have to be charged, assigned and collected.

ZeroBadge AI

Ask ZeroBadge AI about drive time

Transit is its own line in every shift, so you can ask about it directly. ZeroBadge AI answers from those lines, links each total to the drives behind it and cannot alter a record. Admins decide who gets access.

You ask
How much drive time did we have last week, and between which sites?
186 hours of transit across 38 workers. 71 hours were between the shop and Elm Street, 54 between Elm Street and Harbor Road, and the remaining 61 were supply runs and other moves.
You ask
Which workers drove the most between jobs yesterday?
Two foremen each logged over 2 hours of transit, 2 h 20 min and 2 h 05 min, both between Harbor Road and the supply house. Each drive shows where it started and ended.
You ask
How much of the Elm Street crew's paid time was transit this week?
11.4%, or 142 of 1,245 hours. It is a separate line from their on-site hours, so you can apply your own pay policy to it.

Answers come only from your company's own records. Every number links to the records behind it. Read-only; admins control access.

How ZeroBadge AI works

Questions

Questions about drive time between job sites.

Is drive time between job sites paid?

Under federal rules, generally yes: travel from job site to job site during the workday counts as hours worked (29 CFR 785.38). States can add requirements. ZeroBadge records it as transit so you can pay it under the rules that apply to you. This is general information, not legal advice.

Does drive time count toward overtime?

Hours worked count toward the weekly overtime threshold, and site-to-site travel is hours worked under federal rules. If you pay drive time at a separate rate, the regular rate for overtime becomes a weighted average of both rates (29 CFR 778.115). See overtime tracking.

Do passengers get drive time too?

For travel between job sites during the workday, and from a shop where crews must report, the federal rule generally treats the travel as part of the day's work whether the worker drives or rides (29 CFR 785.38). Each worker's badge records their own transit, so a crew of three in one truck shows three transit lines.

What if a worker powers the badge on at home?

The drive to the first site shows as transit from an unnamed starting point. Whether that time is paid is a policy decision; most companies tell crews to power on at the shop or the first jobsite and correct the start with a reason when they don't.

Can drive time be charged to a job?

Yes. Each transit line keeps where it started and where it ended, so you can charge it to the destination job, the job it left, or an overhead code. See labor cost tracking.

Keep exploring

Next: multi-site days, overtime and the pay rules.

This is general information, not legal advice. Laws differ by state and change over time.

Last updated October 29, 2026

Sources

1.29 CFR 785.38, Travel that is all in the day's work · Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
2.29 CFR 785.35, Home to work; ordinary situation · Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
3.29 CFR 778.115, Employees working at two or more rates · Electronic Code of Federal Regulations

Get started

See your crews' drive time on the record.

We'll walk through a multi-site day, the transit lines and how your drive time policy maps onto them.

Get started Multi-jobsite time tracking

What we will walk through

01Drawing the shop, yards and supply houses
02Transit by worker, with both ends of every drive
03Where drive time lands for payroll and job cost