Towing: Average Response Time by Driver

Excel Formulas › Towing & Recovery

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Motor clubs score you on response time, and one slow driver drags the whole account. AVERAGEIF splits the call log by driver so you can see who is fast and who needs a talk.

Quick formula: Average the minutes for one driver's calls:

=AVERAGEIF($A$2:$A$7,D2,$B$2:$B$7)

Dave's three calls (28, 35, 27) average 30 minutes; Maria's average 41 — now the coaching conversation has a number.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

AVERAGEIF

The example

A call log of drivers and minutes-to-scene, summarized per driver on the right.

	A	B	D	E
1	Driver	Minutes	Driver	Avg minutes
2	Dave	28	Dave	30.0
3	Maria	41	Maria	41.0
4	Dave	35
5	Maria	38
6	Dave	27
7	Maria	44

The formula

One AVERAGEIF per driver reads the whole log:

=AVERAGEIF($A$2:$A$7,D2,$B$2:$B$7) // average Minutes where Driver matches

How it works

AVERAGEIF filters and averages in one step:

$A$2:$A$7 is the driver column of the call log, locked so it does not shift.
D2 is the driver to summarize — the criteria.
$B$2:$B$7 is the minutes column; AVERAGEIF averages only the rows where the driver matches.

Add calls to the log and widen the ranges — or make the log a Table so the ranges grow themselves.

Try it: interactive demo

Interactive

Enter three response times for a driver to see the average.

Call 1 (min)

Call 2 (min)

Call 3 (min)

Variations

Company-wide average

A plain AVERAGE over the minutes column benchmarks the whole shop.

=AVERAGE(B2:B7)

Calls per driver

Pair the average with a COUNTIF so a great average on two calls does not fool you.

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$7,D2)

Pitfalls & errors

An average hides outliers — one 90-minute disaster in ten calls barely moves it. Scan the MAX per driver too.

Log minutes as plain numbers, not text like "28 min" — AVERAGEIF silently ignores text and the average lies.

Practice workbook

📊

Download the free Towing: Average Response Time by Driver practice workbook

Edit the yellow Driver and Minutes cells in the call log; the per-driver averages recalculate.

Frequently asked questions

What response time do motor clubs expect?

Most club contracts target 30–45 minutes ETA, and your dispatch score tracks promised versus actual. An average by driver shows where the misses come from.

Can I do this by time of day instead?

Yes — put a shift column in the log and AVERAGEIF on the shift. Night calls usually average longer, and the split proves whether it is drivers or geography.

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Function references: AVERAGEIF