When kilometres rise but visits stay flat
Hypothetical example: it is the last week of the month, and a regional sales manager for a fictional distributor is reviewing travel claims for a team of six reps covering Johannesburg, the East Rand and Pretoria. Kilometres are up on last month. Completed customer visits are flat. Two key accounts were not seen at all, while one rep drove to the same hardware store three times in a week.
The instinct is to cap kilometres. But a blunt cap carries its own risk: reps may drop the visits that take longest to reach, which are not necessarily the least valuable.
That is the real challenge for field sales route planning in South Africa. The goal is not fewer visits. It is less avoidable travel for every visit that matters, so that each kilometre buys meaningful time with a customer.
A dense metro beat brings congestion and parking problems. Farming towns in the Free State bring long distances and patchy signal. The same principles apply to both.
Where unnecessary field sales travel costs arise
Fuel prices have made this more pressing in 2026. Government figures show that a litre of 95 unleaded in Gauteng fell to R25.58 from 5 August 2026. It then rose by R1.34 from 2 September and by a further R3.33 from 7 October, which takes the Gauteng price to about R30.25 a litre. Diesel (0.005% sulphur) rose by R3.14 and then R3.24 a litre over the same two adjustments.
Statistics South Africa reported that transport inflation reached 10.8% in September 2026, the largest contributor to headline inflation of 4.5%. In May, Business Unity South Africa said rising fuel prices were "no longer a short-term pricing shock that businesses can ride out".
Volatile prices make travel budgets hard to plan and every avoidable kilometre more expensive. Most avoidable travel comes from a few patterns.
Backtracking between customers
A rep who drives north for one call, south for a meeting, then north again pays twice for the same road. It usually happens when visits are booked in the order customers asked.
Poorly coordinated territory assignments
When territories overlap, or accounts are allocated by history rather than location, two reps can end up driving past each other's customers.
Repeat trips caused by incomplete preparation
A visit that ends with "I'll bring the price list next week" or "the buyer wasn't authorised to sign" creates a second journey.
Unplanned follow-up visits
Some follow-ups are necessary. Others happen because nobody recorded what was agreed, so the rep returns to find out.
Visits when customers are unavailable
Arriving at a store during a delivery window, or at a farm co-op on a closed day, turns a planned call into a wasted trip.
Manual mileage reporting and limited visibility
When kilometres are reported from memory at month-end, managers cannot see which journeys were planned, which were avoidable and which supported a completed visit.
Time is a travel cost too
Every hour behind the wheel is an hour a salaried rep is not selling. A route that saves 30 minutes a day returns about ten selling hours a month to each rep, across roughly 21 working days.
Protect customer coverage before you change routes
The safest way to cut field sales travel costs is to decide first which visits must not be lost. Route changes come second.
Start by grouping accounts, ranking key accounts by revenue, growth potential or strategic importance. Some smaller outlets may be well served by a phone call or a WhatsApp order between visits.
Then set a minimum visit frequency for each group, for example weekly for key accounts, fortnightly for regular accounts and monthly for the rest. The right frequencies depend on your products, margins and how quickly stock moves.
Be specific about which visits need a person on site: merchandising, stock counts, new listings, complaints and relationship meetings. Routine reorders often do not.
Finally, measure cost per completed visit, not total kilometres alone. A falling kilometre total is not a win if key accounts went unvisited.
Field sales route planning in South Africa: building practical call cycles
A call cycle is a repeating schedule that sets which customers each rep visits, on which day and how often. Good call-cycle planning turns the coverage rules above into a calendar.
Start with territories, then days
Sound sales territory management comes first: compact territories that do not overlap, each split into day-areas of customers close enough to visit on the same day.
Place accounts in the cycle by visit frequency, balance the workload across days and fix key-account visits at times those customers prefer.
Start each day where the rep actually starts, at home or a depot, avoid backtracking and leave a buffer for overruns.
Why the shortest route is not always the best route
Route optimisation software can suggest the shortest sequence of stops. A practical plan still has to reflect conditions on the ground:
- Receiving and opening hours. A store that only sees reps in the morning has to come first, even if it is further away.
- Time on site. A large retailer can need far longer than a small outlet.
- Peak-hour traffic. A longer route that avoids peak traffic on the N1 or N3 may be quicker.
- Distance and road conditions. In rural areas, gravel roads and long gaps between towns matter more than the order of stops.
- Safety. Some routes are better avoided late in the day.
Cut repeat journeys with better visit preparation
Many extra kilometres come from visits that could not finish the job. Ten minutes of preparation is often cheaper than a second trip.
Before each call, a rep should check:
- notes and agreed actions from the last visit
- open orders, queries and outstanding invoices
- current price lists, promotions and stock availability
- whether the decision-maker will be there, for key accounts
Reps should also carry samples, point-of-sale material or order forms as needed.
After each visit, record the outcome and next step, so that follow-ups fit into the next scheduled visit unless they are urgent.
Compare planned visits with completed field activity
A plan only saves money if it is followed, or changed for good reasons. Each week, compare planned, completed, missed and unplanned visits for every rep.
A GPS check-in is not proof of a productive visit
A check-in shows that a rep was at a location at a certain time. It does not show what happened there. To judge a visit, look at the evidence around it: time on site, visit notes, orders captured, photos and forms completed, and whether agreed actions were closed.
Route deviations are not automatically misconduct
Reps leave the plan for good reasons: a road closure, a customer emergency, an urgent delivery query or a safety concern. Ask before assuming, look for patterns over several weeks rather than single days, and use the data to coach, not to catch people out.
Be open with reps about what is tracked and why. Location information counts as personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), so collect it for a clear, lawful purpose and limit it to working time.
Review mileage and expenses against real costs
Good mileage and expense management separates two questions: what you reimburse, and what each kilometre really costs the business.
Reimbursement is not the true cost per kilometre
SARS publishes a table of rates per kilometre for each tax year. The table for the 2027 year of assessment (1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027) was approved on 25 February 2026. Where an allowance is based on actual business kilometres, it is generally tax-free up to the published rate, subject to SARS's conditions.
That makes it a useful reimbursement benchmark, not your operating cost. For a company vehicle, the true cost per kilometre includes fuel, maintenance, tyres, insurance, finance or depreciation, licensing, tolls and parking. For a rep's own car on an allowance, it is what you pay per kilometre. Either way, add the rep's driving time.
What to check each month
- Claimed kilometres against the planned route distance and odometer readings
- Fuel slips against the distance travelled
- Cost per completed visit by rep and by territory
- Any large gap, treated as a question to ask rather than a verdict
SARS also expects business travel against an allowance to be supported by a logbook. A mileage tracking app that records odometer readings and receipt photos can make these checks quicker. Confirm with your tax adviser what your records need to contain.
An illustrative calculation: the same visits, fewer kilometres
Hypothetical example. All figures are assumptions chosen for illustration, not benchmarks.
A team completes 180 customer visits a month. Plan A's call cycles need 4,200 km of driving. Plan B, with tighter day-areas and fewer repeat trips, needs 3,400 km for the same visits.
Assume a full operating cost of R6.50 per kilometre, covering fuel, maintenance, tyres, insurance and depreciation.
- Plan A: 4,200 km × R6.50 = R27,300, or about R151.67 per completed visit
- Plan B: 3,400 km × R6.50 = R22,100, or about R122.78 per completed visit
- Difference: R5,200 a month, with no visits dropped
At an assumed 8 litres per 100 km and R30.25 a litre (95 unleaded, Gauteng, from 7 October 2026), fuel costs about R2.42 per kilometre. The 800 km saved equals 64 litres, or about R1,936.
At an assumed 50 km/h average, that is also about 16 hours of driving time returned to selling.
Your result will depend on your real cost per kilometre, regional fuel prices and whether visits are of equal value. Treat this as a method, not a promised saving.
How TrackOlap supports this process
Spreadsheets and paper logbooks can support these steps, but the checks take longer and the data arrives late. TrackOlap's Field Force Management Software brings planning, visit records and claims into one mobile app for reps and one web dashboard for managers. As field force management software for South African teams, it supports each stage:
- Plan: customers and sites sit on one map, with weekly or monthly beat plans (call cycles) and an optimised daily route for each rep.
- Record: reps check in and out with GPS, and capture geo-tagged photos, digital forms and timestamps at each visit. Follow-ups can be scheduled through the sales pipeline.
- Verify: a live location map shows visit status, with missed visit alerts and route history.
- Claim: reps capture odometer readings at the start and end of the day and submit claims with receipt photos for online approval.
- Improve: reports on attendance, time on site, distance and results, plus performance dashboards, show where routes and coverage need attention.
For rural territories, check-ins, photos, forms and orders save on the phone and sync when the connection returns. On privacy, location is tracked only between check-in and check-out. Role-based access limits who sees employee data, and employee consent is recorded.
The software does not replace a manager's judgement. It gives managers better information for planning, review and coaching, which is where field sales productivity gains tend to come from.
A weekly checklist for sales managers
Each week, check:
- ☐ Were all key-account visits due this week completed? Reschedule misses first.
- ☐ For each rep, how do planned, completed, missed and unplanned visits compare?
- ☐ Did anyone visit the same customer more than once, and why?
- ☐ How do kilometres per completed visit compare by rep, territory and week?
- ☐ Do mileage claims match odometer readings and planned distances, with receipts attached?
- ☐ Are open follow-ups booked into the next call cycle?
- ☐ Do routes need changing for new customers, closed accounts, road works or safety concerns?
- ☐ Which one coaching conversation will you have, based on what the data shows?
Controlling field sales travel costs is not a one-off cut. It is a weekly habit of protecting the visits that matter and removing the kilometres that do not.
To see how call cycles, visit records and mileage claims work in practice, request a demo of TrackOlap's field management platform.
Frequently asked questions
What is a call cycle in field sales?
A call cycle is a repeating schedule, often weekly or monthly, that sets which customers each rep visits, on which day and how often. It is built from customer locations and the visit frequency each account needs.
Is the SARS rate per kilometre the real cost of running a sales vehicle?
No. The SARS rate is a published benchmark for reimbursement and tax purposes. Your real cost depends on the vehicle, who owns it, and what you spend on fuel, maintenance, insurance and depreciation, plus the rep's time.
Does a GPS check-in prove a productive visit?
No. It shows that a rep was at a location at a certain time. Judge productivity by time on site, visit notes, orders captured, photos and the actions completed.
How often should field sales routes be reviewed?
Compare planned and completed visits every week. Review call cycles whenever customers or territories change, and at least quarterly. Update your cost-per-kilometre assumptions after fuel price adjustments, which in South Africa usually take effect monthly.
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