Dealerships launching mobile service often track the wrong numbers.
They measure:
But the metric that determines whether mobile is healthy — and scalable — is simpler:
Revenue per van.
If you don’t know that number, you don’t know whether your mobile operation is productive, sustainable, or ready to grow.
Let’s break down what “healthy” actually means.
Mobile service has fixed and semi-fixed costs:
Those costs exist whether the van completes 2 jobs per day or 6.
Revenue per van tells you:
Is this unit pulling its weight?
If the answer is unclear, expansion becomes challenging.
Revenue per van is driven by three variables:
For example:
3 jobs per day
$225 average RO
22 working days
3 × $225 × 22 = $14,850 per month
Annualized: ≈ $178,200 per van
Now increase output slightly:
4 jobs per day
$225 average RO
22 working days
4 × $225 × 22 = $19,800 per month
Annualized: ≈ $237,600 per van
One additional job per day increases annual revenue per van by nearly $60,000.
That’s the power of utilization.
While benchmarks vary by market, healthy mobile programs often land in these ranges:
Low performance:
Under $150,000 annually per van
Usually indicates underutilization or weak scheduling discipline.
Sustainable performance:
$180,000–$250,000 annually per van
Indicates steady routing, consistent demand, and reasonable productivity.
High-performing programs:
$275,000+ annually per van
Typically reflects tight routing, strong recall capture, and disciplined scheduling.
The difference isn’t pricing.
It’s productivity.
Dealers often assume scaling means adding vans.
But if one van is only generating $140,000 annually, adding a second van simply doubles underperformance.
Scaling before optimizing revenue per van increases cost faster than revenue.
Healthy programs ask:
Is each unit producing at a high level before we expand?
If the answer is no, the focus should be optimization — not expansion.
This number forces clarity.
If revenue per van is stagnant, it usually means:
Revenue per van exposes operational softness quickly.
And that’s a good thing.
Because what gets measured gets improved.
Every dealership should know:
What does this van need to produce to break even?
That number depends on:
But once you know that threshold, you gain confidence.
You stop guessing.
And you stop expanding prematurely.
Revenue per van is not just a financial metric.
It’s a readiness indicator.
Before adding a second or third van, ask:
If not, expansion multiplies inefficiency.
If yes, scaling becomes powerful.
Mobile service becomes transformative when it is:
Revenue per van is the number that ties all of that together.
If you want mobile to be a profit center — not a feature — start there.
Measure it.
Improve it.
Then scale it.