Caregiver Route Planning: Cutting Drive Time Between Visits
Drive time between clients is paid time under the FLSA. How to zone clients, order each caregiver's day, fill call-outs nearby, and measure what routing saves.
By Caregiver Scheduling Team ·
Plan caregiver routes by giving each caregiver a home zone, assigning clients inside it, ordering each day so nobody doubles back, and filling call-outs from the nearest qualified caregiver. Drive time between clients is hours worked under 29 CFR 785.38, it counts toward overtime, and most agencies reimburse mileage on top. Every minute you cut from a route goes straight to margin.
Why does routing matter so much in home care?
Because you pay for the road twice: once in wages and once in mileage. Travel from one client’s home to the next is “travel that is all in the day’s work” and counts as hours worked (29 CFR 785.38). The commute to the first client and home from the last is normally unpaid (29 CFR 785.35). See travel time pay.
Mileage is not required by federal law, but unreimbursed vehicle costs cannot pull a caregiver’s pay below minimum wage under the “free and clear” rule in 29 CFR 531.35, and some states require reimbursement. Most agencies pay the IRS rate, which for 2026 is 72.5 cents a mile through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1. A caregiver driving 20 miles a day between visits costs $76 a week in mileage alone at the second-half rate, before a minute of paid drive time.
What does a bad route actually cost?
A caregiver with four visits a day ordered by start time alone often spends an hour a day driving between clients. The same visits ordered on a map take about half that. Assumptions for the table: four visits a day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year, travel paid at $17 per hour (near the May 2025 BLS median of $17.21 for home health and personal care aides), mileage at $0.76, no overtime.
| Day plan | Legs | Drive minutes | Paid travel at $17 per hour | Miles at $0.76 | Daily cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By start time only | 3 | 65 | $18.42 | 28 miles = $21.28 | $39.70 |
| Ordered on a map | 3 | 35 | $9.92 | 15 miles = $11.40 | $21.32 |
| Saved per day | 30 | $8.50 | $9.88 | $18.38 |
Per caregiver that is about $92 a week and $4,600 a year. Across 15 caregivers it is about $1,380 a week and $69,000 a year. If any of those caregivers is already over 40 hours, the saved minutes were overtime minutes and the saving is 50 percent larger.
How do you group clients so routes stay short?
Give every caregiver a home zone and fill it before you reach outside it.
- Zones. Split your service area into a handful of zones, by town, zip code or a 15-minute drive radius. Give each caregiver a home zone near where they live.
- Cluster new clients. When a client starts, choose from caregivers whose zone they fall in, or price the travel in.
- Order the day. Within a day, sequence visits so the caregiver never crosses back over ground they already covered. Time windows set the anchors; a client who needs help at 8 a.m. fixes the start.
- Fill locally. When a visit opens, offer it to nearby qualified caregivers first. A caregiver 10 minutes away is far more likely to accept a same-day shift than one 40 minutes away. See how to fill open shifts.
How should you handle time windows and visit length?
Short visits are where routing hurts most. A 45-minute visit with 20 minutes of paid drive on each side is about 47 percent road time. Set a minimum visit length so each visit carries the travel around it, and stack short visits for one caregiver within one neighborhood. When the client’s window is wide, let the route pick the exact start time.
What should you measure?
Track four numbers monthly:
- Average drive minutes between visits, per caregiver
- Paid travel hours as a share of total paid hours
- Late arrivals, by caregiver and by time of day
- Mileage reimbursed per billed hour
The second number is the one that moves margin.
When do routes break?
Routes break the moment one visit moves. A cancellation or a new client changes the best order for the whole day, so re-check the sequence each time a visit moves. Call-outs are the biggest risk: the fastest fill is often the farthest caregiver.
How Caregiver Scheduling handles this
Every client and caregiver is on one map. Each caregiver’s day is put in an efficient order, and dragging a visit into another slot or another caregiver’s day updates the route. Open shifts appear on the map so you can see who is nearby, and caregivers get directions to each client in the app. Verified GPS check-in and check-out times show the real gap between visits. Timesheets that take travel time from those records instead of estimates are coming soon. $199/month for up to 10 caregivers or $299/month for up to 50, free for 30 days.
FAQ
Do I have to pay caregivers for drive time? Yes, between clients during the workday. The commute to the first client and home from the last usually is not paid.
What is a good drive time between visits? It depends on your area. Measure your average, then work to bring it down. Under 15 minutes is a common target in suburban markets.
Do I have to reimburse mileage? Not under federal law, unless unreimbursed costs push pay below minimum wage. Some states, including California, require it. The 2026 IRS rate is 72.5 cents through June and 76 cents from July 1.
Can routing software help a small agency? Yes. Even 10 caregivers save meaningful paid time when days are ordered on a map.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check your state’s wage and hour and expense reimbursement rules.