Here is exactly how the travel number is produced.
There is no shop, so the drive is part of the job.
I could bury it in the hourly rate and tell you travel is free. Instead it is a line you can check. Inside Zone 1, which reaches ten miles out, the trip fee is a flat $30. Past Zone 1, $30 covers the first 10 round-trip miles and every round-trip mile after that is charged in brackets that step up with distance.
Bracketed past Zone 1, not a flat fee in every zone. A flat rate everywhere means one extra mile can add about $57 to your bill. There is one step in this scheme, at the Zone 1 line, where the flat $30 gives way to the brackets and the fee moves up by about $13. That is the whole of it, and you are reading it here rather than finding it on an invoice.
ESTIMATE THE TRIP FEE
Every distance behind this number was driven and checked, not estimated.
If your ZIP is not in the list, you are likely outside the standard area. Email me and I will work it out by hand the same day.
Zone is set by the actual service address, not the booking ZIP. A lookup is an estimate; the address decides.
Output here is an estimate. It is not a quote and does not bind Outpost Tech LLC. The written estimate given before travel governs the work.
All distances are round trip except where labeled one-way. Labor, parts, and any premium surcharge are separate from this number.
The trip fee is billed in every zone whether or not the repair succeeds, and I tell you that in writing before the vehicle moves.
THE BRACKETS
Zone 1, within ten miles one way, is a flat $30 and the table below does not apply to it. The brackets run from Zone 2 out.
| ROUND-TRIP MILES | RATE PER MILE |
|---|---|
| First 10 | included in $30 |
| 11 – 40 | $1.25 |
| 41 – 70 | $1.75 |
| 71 – 100 | $2.50 |
| 101 and beyond | $3.00 |
| PLACE | ONE-WAY / ROUND-TRIP | TRIP FEE |
|---|---|---|
| Lady's Island | 12 / 24 mi | $47.50 |
| Bluffton | 30 / 60 mi | $102.50 |
| Hilton Head | 38 / 76 mi | $135 |
| 15 mi out | 15 / 30 mi | $55 |
| 25 mi out | 25 / 50 mi | $85 |
| 35 mi out | 35 / 70 mi | $120 |
| 50 mi out | 50 / 100 mi | $195 |
| 70 mi out | 70 / 140 mi | $315 |
Every row above is the same arithmetic the calculator runs. Check any of them against the brackets.
ZONES AND MINIMUMS
Rings sit at the zone edges — 10, 20, 35 and 50 miles, one way — drawn around Beaufort generally. Hover a ring for its minimum. No point of origin is marked, and no address of mine is on this map.
| ZONE | ONE-WAY | MINIMUM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Beaufort, Burton, Port Royal | 0–10 mi | none |
| 2 · Lady's Island, St. Helena, Shell Point | 11–20 mi | none |
| 3 · Bluffton, Ridgeland, Yemassee, Walterboro | 21–35 mi | $150 |
| 4 · Hilton Head | 36–50 mi | $250 |
| 5 · Beyond | 50+ mi | quote only |
Zones 3 and 4 are weekend-only for standard work. The Zone 1 trip fee is a flat $30 regardless of where in Zone 1 you are. For Zone 3 and Zone 4, the trip fee is due at booking as a deposit instead of at the end; it is charged either way, and a cancellation less than 24 hours before the visit forfeits it.
The job minimum is a floor, not an extra charge. If the work comes to less than the minimum, the minimum is what you pay — that is what makes a long drive worth doing.
No fix, no fee waives the labor, not the trip. The trip fee stands in every zone whether the repair succeeds or not, and that is said in writing first.
HOURS
One per visit. They never stack, and they never appear for the first time on an invoice.
Booked and worked the same day.
Labor continuing after nine in the evening.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, 4 July.
The 10% military and first-responder discount applies to labor only, with current ID shown at the visit. Travel, parts and premium surcharges are billed in full.