Travel time is the most misunderstood part of paying people who work away from a fixed place, and construction has more of the awkward cases than most trades. The general shape is settled: ordinary commuting is not hours worked, travel that is part of the day work is. The disputes live in the middle, and they are worth understanding before payroll rather than afterwards.
Ordinary commuting is generally not paid
Travel from home to the first work location and back at the end of the day is ordinary home to work travel, which the Department of Labor addresses at 29 CFR 785.35. That holds even where the location changes from job to job, though the picture shifts if the worker is required to report somewhere first.
Travel during the working day generally is
Once the day has begun, travel from one site to another is part of the day work and counts as hours worked, which is set out at 29 CFR 785.38. This is the rule that most affects a service schedule: the drive between two jobs is paid time whether or not it is billed to anybody.
Reporting to a yard first changes the picture
Where employees are required to report to a yard, collect tools or a vehicle, and then travel to site, the journey from the yard onwards is generally working time. That single requirement can turn an unpaid commute into a paid hour, and it is a policy decision the business is making whether or not it realises.
What it means for scheduling
A schedule that assumes travel is free is overbooking every person on it. On the worked example this site publishes, 22% of the working day goes on travel, which is 144 jobs a month worth $41,081 of capacity for a six person team. That time is paid either way, so the only question is whether the schedule admits it exists.
Questions people ask about travel time pay for construction workers
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a plain summary with the regulations linked, and your own circumstances, state law and any collective agreement can all change the answer.
Does a company vehicle change things?
It can, particularly where use of the vehicle is voluntary and within the normal commuting area. This is one of the cases worth taking advice on.
How should travel be recorded?
From arrival and departure times on jobs, captured as they happen. Reconstructing it a fortnight later is where disagreements start.