Driving Between Job Sites or Commuting in a Company Vehicle? When Travel Time Counts as Paid Work
At a glance
Driving Between Job Sites or Commuting in a Company Vehicle? When Travel Time Counts as Paid Work: key takeaways
A visual summary of this post's main points. Read the article for context and limits.
Key point 1
Ordinary travel from home to your regular workplace and back is generally not paid time under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Key point 2
Travel from one job site to another during the workday is generally working time that must be paid and counted toward overtime
Key point 3
If you report to a shop first to pick up tools, a vehicle or assignments, the drive after that stop is usually paid
Plumbers, installers, home health aides, delivery drivers and field technicians often spend hours on the road for work, and many are told that drive time is "not on the clock." Whether travel time is paid depends on where the trip starts, where it ends and what you are doing when you travel.
In this article
Key takeaways
Ordinary travel from home to your regular workplace and back is generally not paid time under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Travel from one job site to another during the workday is generally working time that must be paid and counted toward overtime
If you report to a shop first to pick up tools, a vehicle or assignments, the drive after that stop is usually paid
A special one-day assignment in another city, or an emergency return to a site, can make travel time paid even though a normal commute is not
Travel away from home overnight is paid during normal working hours, including on non-working days like weekends
Keep a mileage and drive log with start and stop times, because unpaid drive time is a common source of missing overtime
Your Normal Commute Is Usually Unpaid
Under 29 CFR 785.35, ordinary travel from home to work and back at the end of the day is a normal incident of employment and is generally not working time. This is true even if you drive a company vehicle, with limited exceptions. The DOL Fact Sheet #22 summarizes the same rule.
When Travel Time Is Paid
Between job sites
Under <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-785.38" class="text-primary underline">29 CFR 785.38</a>, if you start the day at a shop or office, or report to your first job and then travel to other locations, the time spent traveling during the workday is working time. It counts toward your weekly hours and overtime.
After a required stop
If your employer requires you to go to a yard or shop first to pick up tools, materials, a vehicle or assignments, the drive after that stop is generally paid. Time spent loading or waiting there can also be work, as explained in our guide on <a href="/blogs/off-the-clock-work-unpaid-pre-shift-post-shift-and-break-time" class="text-primary underline">off-the-clock work</a>.
Special one-day assignments
Under <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-785.36" class="text-primary underline">29 CFR 785.36</a>, if you are sent to another city for a one-day assignment, the extra travel beyond your normal commute is generally paid.
Emergency returns to a site
If you are sent back after going home to handle an emergency at a site, the travel time is generally working time because the trip is not part of a normal commute.
Overnight travel
Under <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/section-785.39" class="text-primary underline">29 CFR 785.39</a>, travel away from your home community is paid when it cuts across your normal working hours, including on non-working days such as a weekend. Time spent as a passenger on a plane, train or bus during those hours is also counted.
Company Vehicles and Pickup Stops
Driving a company vehicle home does not by itself make the commute paid, but it can if you must perform work along the way, such as picking up parts, contacting customers or answering dispatch messages. If the drive is also unpaid, the missing time may be part of the unpaid overtime problem described in our post on unpaid time before clocking in.
How Missing Drive Time Hurts Your Pay
If you work two sites in a day and are paid only for time at each site, the hours in between are missing. Added to a week that already runs past 40 hours, that time is owed at overtime rates. See how hours at several locations add up. Mileage reimbursement is a separate matter and does not replace wages for drive time.
What To Do Now
Write down your route each day with start and stop times, the sites you visited and who told you where to go. Keep dispatch texts, GPS or app logs and your pay stubs. Compare the time on your drive log with the hours you were paid. You can raise unpaid time with the Wage and Hour Division complaint page, and our guide on how to recover unpaid wages explains the next steps. Retaliation for raising a wage concern is prohibited, and deadlines apply.
Free Case Review
If your employer does not pay you for driving between jobs or for required travel, our team can review your records at no cost, if you are eligible.
Is my drive to my first job of the day paid?
Usually not, if you go straight from home to your regular work site. It is generally paid if you must first report to a shop or yard for tools, a vehicle or assignments, and then travel.
Do I get paid for driving from one customer to the next?
Generally yes. Travel between job sites during the workday is working time and counts toward overtime.
Is travel on a weekend paid?
Travel away from home overnight is generally paid when it happens during the hours you normally work, even if that is a non-working day.
Does mileage reimbursement count as pay for drive time?
No. Mileage covers vehicle costs. Wages for time spent driving as part of the job are separate.
Primary Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor: Fact Sheet #22, Hours Worked Under the FLSAAccessed November 13, 2026
- Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 785.35: Home to work travelAccessed November 13, 2026
- Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 785.36: Home to work on special one-day assignment in another cityAccessed November 13, 2026
- Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 785.38: Travel that is all in the day's workAccessed November 13, 2026
- Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 785.39: Travel away from home communityAccessed November 13, 2026
- U.S. Department of Labor: Contact the Wage and Hour Division to file a complaintAccessed November 13, 2026
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