Pricing zones and distance tiers

A zone is a circle with its own rates

Zones and tiers are optional. Both live in Settings > Services & pricing > Rate cards, under Advanced. In Zonal Pricing, a zone has a Zone Name, a Zone Type, a base price, a distance price, a Zone Center and a radius. The center and the radius are what make it work: a zone without them is never applied, and the list marks it Needs center + radius.

When a zone applies

A zone is used only for point-to-point jobs, and only when every stop of the job lies inside the circle. A job that starts inside the zone and ends outside it is priced from your class rates as usual. A zone also applies only when no per-vehicle service rate applied to the job. When more than one zone contains the whole job, the smallest one wins.

When a zone applies, its base price and distance price replace the class base fee and distance rate, and any distance tiers are ignored for that job. The class minimum charge, hourly, daily and waiting rates still apply. The quote says so in its assumptions, naming the zone.

What a zone cannot do

A zone is not a price from one place to another. A circle drawn around the airport will not give a fixed price for an airport to city center job, because the city center is outside the circle. If you want one price for a route like that, the circle has to contain both ends, and then it prices every job inside that circle the same way. Check whether that is what you want before you rely on it.

Distance tiers for long jobs

Distance Tiers give a different distance rate for different bands of the same job, set per vehicle class with a start, an end and a price per kilometer or mile. Leave the end empty for the last, open band. Each band of a job is charged at its own tier's rate, and any distance no tier covers is charged at the class distance rate. A typical use is a lower rate per kilometer or mile after the first stretch, so long transfers stay competitive.

Zone or tier

Use a zone when jobs inside a compact area, such as a city center, should cost the same whatever the exact distance. Use tiers when the price should keep rising with distance but more slowly on long jobs. Test both with a short job, a job that crosses the zone boundary and a long job before you rely on them.