I am curious to hear from folks who do whole days or whole routes of gas stations: How many can you do in an hour or a day? Given average (not optimal) spacing between shops, just how many can you average per hour?

I do them as part of larger circuits as filler between other things. I never do a whole day of just gas stations so my experience is skewed. For those who are "gas station warriors" out there:

- just how many can be done in a day or week?
- What's a typical distance / drive time between them? Obviously this varies by terrain and location so characterize your location in the response.
- Bonus question: What do you feel your sustainable equivalent hourly rate is for gas stations?

It all depends... each brand has their own requirements and while I can use an app and have the visit & report done for one brand in less than 10 minutes it might require at least 20 for another brand, possibly longer depending on station size/ how busy.

It's comparing apples to oranges.

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

It all depends... each brand has their own requirements and while I can use an app and have the visit & report done for one brand in less than 10 minutes it might require at least 20 for another brand, possibly longer depending on station size/ how busy.

It's comparing apples to oranges.

Thanks for the reply!

Taking all of the companies you do as an average. Also, what's a typical average drive time? So average total time per shop is what I'me trying to suss out. So for example if you left home to do nothing but gas stations (including a representative proportion of all the companies you shop for) and returned home ten hours later, how many completed shops would you have under your belt for your ten hours away?

There are so many discussions about this that ignore the drive time and compare to a hourly wage. Just trying to get a sense of the number that can be completed in a day and get beyond the focus on minutes to do just one in isolation.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2020 11:51PM by JustForFun.

I'll do, max, 6-7 hours of "out and about time". Usually try to plan it so I am back by 3pm. Usually at sites between 9-1 or 8-2. 9-2 (on a weekday) is a great time to inspect because of less "customer interference".

If the stations are closer together, I get more done in the day. I average 30 minutes per station. Maybe 20 for some brands, 40 for another.
Usually 2 hours or so on reports, but I don't mind that because I am in the peace and quiet of my home, and can do them in my comfort as long as its within the deadline. While I am working, I don't really consider that serious work time.

With the brand who's website stopped working around Christmas, I'll do around 12 or so as a max as they are shorter, 15 minutes or maybe even less.

My bread and butter is gas station audits, although I will do a route of gas station mystery shops when they pay well enough. I have done more than a dozen in a day, but generally I stick to 5-7 per day. I like to keep my work easy and I can do 5-7 in about 3-4 hours depending on travel. I have been known to travel 400 miles one way for audits.

They range from easiest Cheveron 5 minutes but no pics really to Exon/Mobil at say 40 minutes the average I would say is 30 minutes and normally drive time is 10 minutes between locations. I would say the average gas station I would do 5 to 8 a day. This assuming they are all in a general region and that it is within 2 hours one way of home. The closer the better but the further the more money I need. Now the Cheveron which are no longer near me as I lived out west for a time I could and did as many as 20 to 30 a day.

It totally depends on the brand. I will preface my response by stating that I rarely do stations that I don't already know what condition they will be in (I am fortunate to have done this long enough that I know which locations won't have issues so take me longer) and in my area all of a specific brand tend to be clustered together so I can get in a rhythm so I don't waste time thinking about the requirements. YMMV depending on time of year as well. Interestingly enough, I can do more in the evening because there are fewer customers to work around and I actually can get more done per hour in the colder months because I move faster to limit my time outside.

I can do 10 of the Blue Stations (I just found out that more than 11 per day and then only rarely will put you on the client's radar and leave you open to being pulled off of that project. It's actually less of an issue to ask for an extension, particularly if you offer to do the assignments as evening in exchange if that time period is needed). I have done up to 12 of the Yellow Stations and up to 15 of the Green Stations in the same day. I find the Yellow ones take me longer because there are only so many ways to say the station was clean, in good repair, and the employee did their job. In my area the brands tend to be clumped together so my driving time between stations is much more limited. I also have found that the station number restriction only is brand specific (and only to the blue brand) so I can slot in other brands to maximize my earnings.

I also find that I can do more if I can use the app because that insures that I won't forget a picture. In my experience, the editors, particularly on the yellow shops, don't tend to ask for extra pictures if you submit it on the app - maybe because they know that there is only space for 2 pictures whereas if you do it through their website there is unlimited space. The largest station that I've ever done is 25 pumps (the MSC didn't even have space in their report for that many pumps!), most are around 8 pumps although the yellow brand tends to be more likely to have 10-12 pumps. My typical time on-site is 20 minutes at a normal pace, 25 minutes if I'm not pressed for time, and recently I've been averaging around 15 minutes.

In ten hours (not an unusual day out here in the boonies), I might complete 5 gas station reveal audits; I might gross anywhere between $350 and $500, depending on the MSC.

I only do non-revealed gas station jobs. I just did 6 on Saturday for two different companies. All were in the same town and took me 1 hr 20 mins including time completing the apps. I drove 48 miles to town but I did other jobs while there. With the exception of the dark audits, I usually can't string enough gas stations together to make a route worth doing a lot of driving. If I were willing to do revealed audits I probably could make a route of just gas stations.

How confrontational are the reveal audits?

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

How confrontational are the reveal audits?

Not confrontational at all, 99.5% of the time.

There is typically some distance between gas stations when I do routes so how many a day I do depends on whether it's winter or summer. On long summer days I can usually fit 6 in. (I am not an early riser.) On winter short days I am lucky to get 4. They usually take me between 30-45 minutes. Sometimes for special routes I do get up early and get 8 or so done in a day but that is rather rare.

Great information here. Thank you all!

Who else has something to add?

The number really depends on the distances. If I'm doing a moderately urban area, I've completed 20 in a day (about 12 hours), usually of mixed brands. I've also driven 4 hours to do one. I always count my travel time when looking at the fees to make sure my fees and bonuses cover my time and effort.

I just finished some stores Monday. These were non reveal and no pictures. Just MS and small purchase. I drove a total of 149 miles, with the most miles to the first store and home from the last. But I did 12 stores between the hours of 8am - 12pm. Since most of the stores were close in this route it was easier. I did 8 stores in a different area last Sat and drove 198 miles and there was a lot of distance between each store. but I still was able to get them done by 12pm which was the time they perferred. I hope that helps. what saved me was I set my phone on recorder and was able to keep it hidden and whisper in it to remember stuff. I also made a copy of the questions for each store. I got back in the store and hand wrote everything and referred to recording if I needed it, took a pic of my receipt and moved on to the next store. I did all my reports once I got home



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2020 04:44PM by laurieknighton.

I understand they aren't confrontational most of the time, I just prefer to lay low since I live in a smallish town and my 9-5 job puts me in contact with lots of local people.

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

How confrontational are the reveal audits?