Whether your team is on-site, en route, or wrapping up a job, knowing exactly how time is spent and on what, is essential. One often overlooked area that can lead to significant losses is travel time. Failing to track operatives' travel hours properly doesn’t just mean wasted money - it can result in inaccurate billing, lost productivity, and even time theft.

Here’s why tracking travel time should be a priority, and how a dedicated time tracking app, such as TimeKeeper, can do just that.

1. Save Money Across the Board

Without accurate tracking, travel time is often estimated or rounded up; 15 minutes becomes 30 minutes, 40 minutes becomes an hour, and so on. While it might seem minor, these small overestimations quickly stack up across multiple workers and jobs, costing thousands per year. By accurately recording travel time, businesses can identify inefficiencies, reduce unnecessary trips, and ultimately cut costs.

2. Prevent Time Theft and Misreporting

Let’s be honest, without proper systems in place, it’s easy for travel time to become a grey area. Whether it's unintentional over-reporting or deliberate time theft, it can be hard to verify when a worker left one site or arrived at the next. A time tracking app, like TimeKeeper, that logs travel time in real-time helps hold everyone accountable. It builds trust while ensuring your business only pays for time genuinely worked.

3. Real, Actionable Data – Not Guesstimates

Too many businesses still rely on paper timesheets or manual inputs, both of which are prone to errors and exaggeration. By switching to digital time tracking, including travel time, you gain access to accurate, real-world data that reflects the actual hours worked. Operatives can clock into their 'driving' task until they arrive on-site. GPS geofencing stops workers from clocking into the job, until they've physically arrive on-site. This insight is invaluable when planning future projects, allocating resources and budgets, or reviewing team efficiency.

4. Real-Time Reporting and Visibility

Who's driving? Who's on what job? Who is running late?
With a modern time tracking app, managers can see who’s where and what stage of the job they’re at - all in real time. Quicker decisions, better support for on-site teams, and faster responses to unexpected delays. It’s the kind of visibility that’s impossible to achieve with outdated systems and guess-work.

5. More Accurate Client Billing

Nothing undermines client trust faster than inconsistent, inaccurate or inflated invoices. When travel time is precisely logged and backed by time tracking software, you can provide transparent, itemised billing. Clients appreciate the accuracy and professionalism - and you avoid disputes or unpaid invoices.

6. A 360° View of Projects and Resources

Today’s time tracking apps do more than just log hours. TimeKeeper lets you manage time, travel, job progress, leave, and resources all in one place. That means you get a complete picture of each project, from the first site visit to final sign-off. With everything in one dashboard, managers can allocate operatives more efficiently, monitor project timelines, and spot bottlenecks before they become costly delays.

In Summary

Tracking travel time isn’t about micromanaging your workforce - it’s running a smarter, leaner business. You'll gain further insight into your true job costings, employee workload and project forecasting; allowing more efficient operations and resource management. For construction and field service companies, time tracking apps offer an easy way to reduce loss, improve transparency, and keep both clients and workers happy.

With a modern solution in place, you’ll spend less time chasing paper trails and more time driving your business forward.