In 36 of the 45 verified states on file, the acknowledgment maximum is $15 or less. On a mobile general notary job, the travel fee is often bigger than the notarial fee, and it is the part the state maximum does not cover. That makes it the part you control, and the part most worth getting right.
What a travel fee has to pay for
A travel charge covers two costs that are easy to forget because neither shows up on a receipt at the appointment:
- The vehicle. Fuel, tires, maintenance, depreciation and the share of insurance the miles use. Put your own figure on it per mile; the calculators start from $0.65 a mile as an editable example, not a recommendation.
- Your time. A 25-minute drive each way is 50 minutes you cannot spend on another appointment.
For a 32-mile round trip that takes 50 minutes, the vehicle cost alone at $0.65 a mile is $20.80. Anything the travel fee earns above that is what the 50 minutes of driving pay you.
The four pricing methods on one trip
Using the calculator’s example rates on that same 32-mile, 50-minute trip:
- Flat $40: $40.00. The same for every trip, so it is easy to quote but it does not grow with distance.
- $1.50 per mile: $48.00. Grows with distance, and can be too little on short trips.
- $25 base + $1.00 per mile: $57.00. The base covers getting in the car; the mileage covers the distance.
- $60 per hour of driving: $50.00. Tracks traffic and slow roads, which miles do not.
None of these is the right answer for everyone. What matters is that the method you pick covers the cost of the drive across the trips you actually take: short and long, city and rural. The travel fee calculator shows your trip under all five methods, including a manual amount, side by side.
A base plus mileage, worked through
A single Ohio acknowledgment at the $5 maximum, with a $30 base and $0.75 a mile on the same 32-mile trip. The estimate counts 15 minutes at the signer’s table and 50 minutes of driving.
| Notarial acts1 × acknowledgment | $5.00 |
|---|---|
| Travel$30.00 + 32 mi × $0.75/mi | $54.00 |
| Total | $59.00 |
- Notarial acts
- $5.00
- Travel & service
- $54.00
- Est. net
- $38.20
- Per hour (1 hr 5 min)
- $35.26
The $5 maximum is from the verified Ohio record; the travel rates and costs are example values. Ohio’s source on file allows a reasonable travel fee agreed before the notarial act.
What states say about travel fees
The notary fee maximum governs the notarial act. Travel is a separate charge, but that does not mean it is unregulated. The official sources on file handle it in different ways, and a few examples are worth reading in full:
NRS 240.100: A notary public may charge an additional fee for traveling to perform a notarial act of $15 per hour if the person requesting the notarial act asks the notary public to travel between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., and $30 per hour if the person requesting the notarial act asks the notary public to travel between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. The notary public may charge a minimum of 2 hours for such travel and shall charge on a pro rata basis after the first 2 hours. The additional fee must be agreed to in advance by the person requesting the notarial act.
(5) For any notarial act under this Chapter, actual mileage at the federal business mileage rate if the travel reimbursement is agreed to by the principal in writing prior to the travel.
a notary may recover, with the agreement of the person to be charged, any actual and reasonable expense of traveling to a place where a notarial act is to be performed if it is not the usual place in which the notary performs his office.
A notary may charge a travel fee, not to exceed the approved federal mileage rate, when traveling to perform a notarial act if: (a) the notary explains to the person requesting the notarial act that the travel fee is separate from the notarial fee and is neither specified nor mandated by law; and (b) the notary and the person requesting the notarial act agree upon the travel fee in advance.
Others require agreement in advance (Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, North Dakota) or tie travel to a mileage rate (Indiana, Maryland). The travel fee calculator page lists every state whose source addresses travel.
Quote it before you go
Put the travel fee in the quote as its own line, separate from the notarial fee, and get the client to agree before you leave. That is good practice everywhere and, in several states, what the source on file requires. For how travel sits alongside the rest of the quote, see notary fees vs. travel and service fees.
This site provides pricing and statutory-fee reference information for convenience and is not legal advice. Laws and fee limits may change. Verify current requirements with your commissioning authority.