Equipment Rate Calc

Equipment Fuel Cost Calculator

Calculate fuel cost for compact equipment using working hours, idle hours, fuel burn, fuel price, and a reserve for uncertainty. Results update automatically as inputs change.

Inputs

Job assumptions

Enter engine-on hours spent working under load during the estimate period.

Include warm-up, queues, standby, and other engine-on time with no productive work.

Use telematics, refueling records, or manufacturer data for this machine at idle.

Operating cost

Use fuel attributed to work divided by working hours. A refueling average across all engine hours already includes idle fuel; see the measurement notes below.

Enter the delivered local fuel price expected during the job, including applicable service charges.

Fuel allowance

Add a percentage for price movement, delivery, handling, or measurement error; use zero if already covered.

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Quote Impact at 25% Margin 0

How this calculator works

Fuel cost = working hours x gallons per hour x fuel price + idle hours x idle gallons per hour x fuel price. Add reserve for handling or uncertainty.

Read the methodology and editorial policy

Estimate the fuel for the work and the waiting

A machine may run while a truck is loaded, a laborer checks grade, or the crew waits for material. Count that engine time separately from productive work when you have separate working and idle burn rates. Engine-off breaks use no fuel in this calculation.

The total fuel allowance is an internal cost, including your selected reserve. Add it to a job estimate only if fuel is not already included in the machine rate. The headline quote impact uses a fixed 25% margin as a reference; it is not a complete job price or a recommended margin.

How to measure gallons per hour on your machine

  1. Refuel to a repeatable level, following the machine's fueling instructions. Record the date, machine, hour-meter reading, and work performed.
  2. At the next refill, record the gallons needed to return to that level and the ending meter reading. Keep fuel for other machines out of that record.
  3. Divide those gallons by the meter-hour difference. For example, 22 gallons over 8 engine hours is 2.75 gallons per engine hour. That is an illustrative measurement, not a typical burn rate for a skid steer or excavator.
  4. Repeat on comparable work. Attachment, load, ground conditions, travel, and idle time can change the result; keep those notes beside the number.

A refill measurement is usually a blended rate. It includes both working and idle consumption. If that is all you have, enter all measured engine hours in Working Hours, enter the blended rate in Working Fuel Burn, and set Idle Hours to zero. This uses one combined bucket; do not add those idle hours again.

To use separate working and idle inputs, you need evidence that separates them, such as suitable telematics or measured idle consumption. If you subtract supported idle gallons from a refill total, divide the remaining gallons by working hours. Dividing the entire refill by working hours and then adding idle fuel would count part of the fuel twice.

Worked example: six working hours plus waiting time

The calculator defaults illustrate a job with 6 working hours at 3.2 GPH and 0.75 idle hours at 0.8 GPH. These are sample inputs to replace with your machine's records, not manufacturer specifications or market averages.

  • Working fuel: 6 × 3.2 = 19.2 gallons.
  • Idle fuel: 0.75 × 0.8 = 0.6 gallons.
  • Total: 19.8 gallons × $4.00 = $79.20 of fuel.
  • A 10% reserve adds $7.92, giving an $87.12 fuel allowance.
  • $87.12 ÷ 6.75 engine hours = $12.91 per engine hour, including reserve.
  • At the calculator's fixed 25% margin reference, $87.12 ÷ 0.75 = $116.16 of quote impact.

The reserve covers the cost uncertainty you choose; it is not profit. Use zero if the same delivery, handling, or price allowance is already covered elsewhere. The equipment cost-per-hour guide helps place fuel alongside ownership, maintenance, and labor without duplicating it.

Optional project software

Make fuel records useful for the next quote

Keep fuel receipts with the machine, date, meter readings, and job. Those records help replace a guessed burn rate with evidence from similar work and explain why a fuel allowance changed.

If you want one place for these records, Contractor Foreman's equipment logs include fuel and hour-meter entries, while its project expenses can hold receipts. For equipment job costing, rates and usage must be entered through its Cost Items Database and Daily Logs; a fuel log alone does not allocate the project cost.

Equipment Rate Calc is a Contractor Foreman affiliate. We may earn a commission if you purchase through this link.

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Check current feature availability and try the workflow with your own sample records.

Common questions

How should I use the fuel result in a rate or bid?

Use Total Fuel Allowance as the internal fuel cost for the hours entered, only if fuel is not already in the receiving estimate. Apply your chosen margin with the rest of the job cost. Do not add both the allowance and the 25% quote-impact result to the same bid.

Can I use a refill average if I do not know idle burn?

Yes, as a blended estimate: use total engine hours in Working Hours, gallons per total engine hour in Working Fuel Burn, and zero Idle Hours. Use records from similar work and idle conditions. A blended rate from a day spent waiting may not represent a day spent digging continuously.

Is there one fuel-burn figure for every skid steer?

No. Machine size, engine load, attachment, condition, and idle time affect consumption. Use records for your machine or clearly identified manufacturer data for the model and duty cycle. If the input is uncertain, test a range and replace it with measured records after the job.

Important disclaimerPlanning estimate only. Verify current costs, measurements, production, scope, access, customer requirements, contracts, permits, insurance, taxes, and local rules before quoting or committing money.