Route value calculator
A route sells on a multiple of monthly gross. That multiple is a market convention, not a law, and two routes with identical revenue can be worth very different money once churn and drive distance are in the picture.
Brokers quote a multiple of monthly gross. What that multiple is worth depends entirely on churn and density — this shows both adjustments separately so you can argue about them.
Route is worth about
$97,390
- Monthly gross
- $9,300
- Base at 11×
- $102,300
- Churn adjustment
- $-4,910
- Density adjustment
- $0
- Price per stop
- $1,623
- Months of gross to repay
- 10.5
The multiple is an input, not a fact: it is whatever your market is trading at this quarter. Ask two brokers and a seller before you accept one.
Why a multiple at all
Nobody buys the pools; they buy the invoices that keep arriving. A multiple of monthly gross is a rough proxy for how long those invoices keep arriving after the seller stops answering the phone. That is why churn hits the value so hard: at 30% annual churn you are buying a third fewer stops than the spreadsheet shows, eighteen months out.
The two adjustments, in the open
| Factor | Trigger | Effect on the base |
|---|---|---|
| Churn | Every point above 10% a year | −0.6% per point |
| Tight density | 2 miles or less between stops | +8% |
| Loose density | 5 miles or more between stops | −10% |
| Equipment | Truck, poles, vac included | added at cost you enter |
These are the calculator’s stated rules, not a published index. They are here so you can argue with them rather than with a black box.
Ask for the cancellations, not the customers
Any seller can print a customer list. Ask instead for twenty-four months of billing so you can count the accounts that stopped. That number is the whole valuation.
Before you sign
Ride the route for a week, price a sample of the stops with the pricing calculator, and check whether the current bills would even be profitable at your cost base. A cheap route full of under-priced accounts is not a bargain — it is a repricing project with a churn cliff at the end of it. The diligence checklist has the rest.