In the room plus the hours you spent getting there
A day-rate post will tell you to multiply hourly by six or seven and call it a package. That math belongs on the generic day-rate guide — fine for a remote workshop, a half-day, a five-day week. This ping is different. They asked you to show up. The clock is not “hours in the building.” The clock is hours in the building plus the hours you type for the commute. Both use the same hourly floor from the hub — the income target, billable weeks, and tax buffer you typed there. This card does not clone that buffer and does not run a 50-state tax engine. Labels here are USD so the arithmetic stays readable. Switch currency on the hub if you invoice in something else.
On-site day labor = (billable hours on site + travel hours you type) × hourly floor. Day total = labor + extras you paste as dollars. Travel hours are not auto-halved. There is no 50% travel-time rule on this page. If a two-hour drive should bill at half, type one hour. The card multiplies what you typed. It will not invent a half-rate commute, a portal-to-portal statute, or “what serious freelancers charge for the car.”
6 hours in the room, 2 hours in the car: $720
Preset: 6 hours on site. 2 hours travel. Floor $90. Extras empty. Billed hours: 6 + 2 = 8. Labor: 8 × $90 = $720. Day total $720.
That $720 is one on-site day with the commute named. It is not a half-day of a generic package. It is not a week. It is not a project quote with a buffer. Do not start the engine until the day has a number. Copy the sentence. Confirm. Then leave.
Parking is a dollar you paste, not a mileage table
Second preset: still 6 on site, still 2 travel, still $90. Labor is still $720. You type $24 because the garage ticket was $24. Day total $744.
The extras box is not miles × a 2026 IRS cents-per-mile figure. This page will not invent $0.67/mile, $0.70/mile, or any other government rate. Paste dollars you already know — garage, train, a mileage product you calculated in a notebook. Empty extras means $0. If they reimburse parking separately, leave extras empty and keep the labor as the day.
You were going to eat the drive
Third preset: still 6 + 2 at $90. Labor still $720. The two travel hours at the floor are $180. Eating the commute does not make you easy to book. It trains the next “can you just pop by.” Name those travel hours or give them away on purpose — do not pretend the car was free.
If you only wanted a generic day with no commute in the math, stop using this card and use the day-rate guide: hourly × hours in a day, half-day, week. That guide does not add a travel clock. This one does, because they asked you to be there.
This card is not the other money cards
A generic day from hourly — 6–7 billable hours, a half-day, a five-day week — is the day-rate guide. Remote or on-site does not change that formula. Travel hours you type live here. Do not bury a two-hour commute inside “billable hours per day” and pretend it is the same package.
They did not squeeze Friday. Same hours they already asked for, fewer calendar days, is the rush-job card. Compression is lost days, not a commute. An on-site day can have a normal deadline and still cost travel hours because the body has to move. Two thefts. Two cards.
They did not park hours on Saturday. Hours that sit on Saturday, Sunday, or after the day they already bought — extra share you type, default 0.5 as a half-again example, not time-and-a-half as a law — is the weekend-hours card. A commute is not Saturday. Price the drive here; price the weekend square there.
They did not add screens. Extra NEW hours on a live quote is the change-order add-on. Showing up is not extra scope. If they also ask for more work once you are in the room, price those new hours on change-order and keep the on-site day (with travel) on this card. Stack them. Do not launder a commute into “a few extra hours.”
They did not drop a recurring Zoom. Job hours as the deliverable plus a standing call that is not in those hours is the weekly-call extra: calls per week × hours per call you type × weeks × this floor. A commute is not a standup. Price the drive here; price the Monday invite there.
A whole job with production hours, meetings, and a risk buffer is quote a project. One on-site day is not that quote. If the brief is actually a multi-day engagement, cut the project there; use this card for the days they insist you attend in person, commute included.
They did not ask you to buy stock, a font, ads, or a contractor. A vendor receipt they named lives on the expense-markup card: cost you paste times one plus a share you choose. Share 0 is repay-at-cost. A 0.15 you type is a 15% illustration, not a claimed agency percent. A commute is not a foundry invoice. Parking on this card stays a dollar you paste, with no markup share.
If $90 is still a guess, set the floor first on how to set a freelance rate. This card multiplies. It does not invent the hourly number.
Send the sentence before you leave the house
Say the hours in the room. Say the commute hours. Say the floor. Say labor. Say extras if you pasted any. Copy the sentence on this card so the number you send is the number on screen.
- 6 + 2, no extras. On-site day: 6 hours on site + 2 hours travel at my $90.00/hr floor is $720.00 (8 hours billed). Please confirm that day before I leave.
- Parking paste. On-site day: 6 hours on site + 2 hours travel at my $90.00/hr floor is $720.00. Parking/miles I’m pasting: $24.00. Day total $744.00. Please confirm that day before I leave.
- Eat the drive. On-site day: 6 hours on site + 2 hours travel at my $90.00/hr floor is $720.00. If I eat the drive, I still spend the 2 travel hours and I give away $180.00. That is not free. Please confirm $720.00 before I leave.
Skip guilt, fake scarcity, and “travel is billed at 50% — industry standard.” Those lines turn a commute into a lecture. There is no official travel percent on this page. If they will not confirm the day, do not get in the car. A remote version of the work, if one exists, still stands. If the ask is actually a multi-week job, stop here and cut a project quote. If they only wanted a generic day with no commute in the number, use the day-rate guide.
Planning math, not a travel policy
Educational only — not legal, tax, IRS mileage, or collections advice. No required 50% travel-time rule, no statutory commute fee, no 2026 IRS cents-per-mile table, no marketplace on-site schedule, and no 50-state tax engine. Use the agreement you already have. An enforceable on-site or travel clause is something a lawyer where you work writes before you book the train. Filling this card does not write that clause.
The math is: hours on site you type, travel hours you type, hourly floor, labor = (on site + travel) × floor, optional extras as a dollar paste, day total = labor + extras, one email-sized sentence. USD labels on this page; currency and tax buffer live on the hub.
Rate calculator Generic day from hourly Same hours, they need it Friday Saturday / after-hours extra Extra NEW hours on a live quote Set the hourly floor
If billable weeks changed, rebuild the hourly floor on the hub first. A day they want you physically there is named here — commute included, at the hours you type. A generic day with no travel clock lives on the day-rate guide. A Friday squeeze lives on rush-job. Saturday / after-hours of a bought day lives on weekend-hours. Extra screens live on change-order.
FAQ
How do I charge a freelance on-site day when they want me in the room?
On-site day labor is (billable hours on site + travel hours you type) × your hourly floor. Day total is that labor plus any extras you paste as dollars (parking, a mileage figure you already have). Travel hours bill at the same floor. This page does not halve them. Planning math, not a contract.
Do I bill freelance travel time at 50%?
Not on this page. There is no 50% travel-time rule here, and no official half-rate commute. If you want to bill a two-hour drive at half, type one hour. The card multiplies whatever travel hours you type by the same hourly floor as the hours on site.
Is an on-site day the same as a day rate, a rush job, or a change order?
No. A generic day rate is hourly × hours in a day, with no travel clock — that lives on the day-rate guide. A rush job is the same hours squeezed into fewer calendar days. A change order is extra NEW hours on a live quote. A project quote is a buffered fee for a whole job. This card is one day they asked you to show up: on-site hours + travel hours you type, times the floor.
How do I add miles or parking to an on-site day rate?
Paste dollars. The extras box is a dollar amount you already know — a garage ticket, a train fare, a mileage figure you calculated somewhere else. This page will not invent an IRS cents-per-mile rate and will not multiply miles for you.
Is this on-site math a contract, IRS mileage table, or legal advice?
No. Educational planning only — not legal, tax, IRS mileage, or collections advice. USD labels here so the arithmetic is readable. Set live currency and a tax buffer on the hub. This page does not clone a 50-state tax table. Typing numbers here does not create a travel clause.