The cost cascade: revenue down through every cost box to profit and effective hourly. Each box is a lever: raise the price and revenue moves; cluster stops and mileage shrinks; batch a second customer onto the same drive and the fixed cost splits. Run your own numbers until the cascade is muscle memory.
| Line | Basis | Worked amount | Your order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order weight | typical residential order | 25 lb | |
| Price per pound | mid-range of the market's $1.50–$3.00/lb | $2.00/lb | |
| Revenue | weight × rate (minimum applies first) | $50.00 | |
| Driving | 15 miles round trip at the IRS business rate (76¢/mile July 1–Dec 31, 2026; 72.5¢ through June) | $11.40 | ______ mi × ______ |
| Water, power, detergent | 3 loads at roughly $1–$1.50 each | $3.00–$4.50 | ______ loads × ______ |
| Card processing | about 3% of the order | $1.50 | |
| Insurance share | home-based laundry policy from about $39/month, spread across orders | $2–$4 | |
| Total costs | roughly $18–$21 | ||
| Profit before your time | about $29–$32 | ||
| Active hours | pickup, drive, wash attention, fold, return | about 2 | |
| Effective hourly | profit ÷ active hours | near $15/hr |
That is the honest number for a scattered route at typical pricing, within the band app-platform operators report ($15–$20/hr once expenses are counted). The trap in the table: a 20-pound customer at the same price and same drive is a $40 order with the same $11.40 of mileage. This is why minimums exist.
| Date | Customer | Weight (lb) | Rate | Revenue | Miles | Loads | Utilities | Card % | Insurance share | Profit | Active hrs | Eff. hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week of | Pounds processed | Collected | Costs (mileage largest box) | Active hours | Effective hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reference week from the course (composite, logged inputs: $2/lb, $35 minimum, 76¢/mile second half 2026, $1–$1.50/load): roughly 270 pounds, about $570 collected, costs near $150, about 24 active hours, $16–$18/hr. Machine capacity note: a wash-and-dry cycle runs about an hour; a single home washer-dryer pair tops out around 4–6 orders a day. Sanity check before publishing any price: order price ÷ realistic hours per order; below twenty dollars on a dense route means fix price or density, never "work faster."