01
Ownership
The difference between the purchase price and the expected resale value, divided by the operating life in hours. This is how much of the machine’s value each hour consumes.
(Purchase price − resale value) ÷ operating life
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A tool that runs on your numbers
Equipment operating cost per hour calculator
You fill in every field from your own operation, and the cost per hour appears split into ownership, fuel, maintenance and operator. No ready-made market figures — the formula is written under the result.
Method
The formula, item by item
Four items, each calculated per hour, then added up. No hidden factor and no assumed percentage.
02
Fuel
Diesel consumption per hour multiplied by the price per litre. When you run on internal diesel, enter the actual price per litre you pay.
Consumption L/hour × price per litre
03
Maintenance
The annual maintenance cost — oils, filters, parts and workshop labour — divided by annual operating hours.
Annual maintenance ÷ annual operating hours
04
Operator
The monthly wage times twelve months, divided by annual operating hours. A machine that runs fewer hours carries its operator’s wage over fewer hours.
(Monthly wage × 12) ÷ annual operating hours
05
Total
The sum of the four items gives the cost per operating hour. Multiplying it by annual operating hours gives the annual cost.
Ownership + fuel + maintenance + operator = cost per hour
Limits
What this calculator does not include
- 01Insurance, registration, inspection and transport between sites are not included; add them to the ownership item if you wish.
- 02It does not count the cost of unplanned downtime or of a replacement machine during a breakdown.
- 03Maintenance is entered as a single annual figure. On older machines this cost grows with age, so update it every year.
- 04Financing cost, if the machine is financed, is not included because it differs from one contract to another.
FAQ
What to ask before relying on the figure
Because a default number quietly becomes a reference. Purchase, fuel and wage figures differ from one company to another, and the calculator is a tool for your numbers, not for averages.
The number of hours you intend to run the machine before selling or replacing it, not its full life until scrap. A company that sells its machines after six years enters six years of hours.
From your actual maintenance record: oils, filters, parts, tyres and outside workshop labour over a full year. If you have no record, start with an estimate and update it every quarter from your invoices.
The calculator is built on the hour because it is the unit of heavy equipment. For vehicles measured in kilometres, replace the hour with the kilometre in every field — the logic is the same.
Inside TAC Flow
Each machine’s real cost from its record, not from an estimate
The calculator works on numbers you enter once. Inside the platform, each asset’s cost builds up from the diesel fills, maintenance reports and spare parts actually recorded against it.
- Internal Diesel — Tanks, tankers, and documented refueling
- Preventive Maintenance — Plans and reminders on meter or date
- Reports Center — Cost, readiness, comparisons, and an analytics assistant