How to Compare Equipment Hire Rates

1. Convert rate periods, with a stated assumption

Hire companies quote hourly, daily, weekly or monthly rates. Converting between them is not exact: it depends on how many chargeable days are in a week or hours in a day under each company’s terms. Write the assumption down every time.

A: $2,400/week × 4 weeks = $9,600.00 ex GST
B: $465/day × 20 days = $9,300.00 ex GST
Assumption: 5 chargeable days per week → 20 days = 4 weeks
B weekly equivalent = $465 × 5 = $2,325.00/week

2. Check where daily becomes weekly

If a company offers both rates, find the break-even. For a $520 daily rate and $2,400 weekly rate:

$2,400 ÷ $520 = 4.6 days
4 days × $520 = $2,080 (daily cheaper)
5 days × $520 = $2,600 (weekly cheaper by $200)

Also check minimum hire terms. A one-week minimum makes a three-day job cost the weekly rate.

3. Hour limits and excess hours

Daily rates usually include a set number of machine hours, for example 8 hours per day, with excess hours charged on top. If your crew runs longer days, the excess adds up:

Running 9.5 h/day against an 8 h/day limit = 1.5 excess h/day
1.5 h × 20 days = 30 excess hours
30 h × $65/h (illustrative excess rate) = $1,950.00

4. Mobilisation, float and delivery

Getting the machine to site and back is often charged separately. In the worked example below, company A charges two float movements at $350 each; company B lists mobilisation as “TBA”:

A complete = $9,600.00 hire + 2 × $350.00 = $10,300.00 ex GST
B known    = $9,300.00 hire + mobilisation unknown
Break-even mobilisation for B = $10,300.00 − $9,300.00 = $1,000.00

B is only cheaper if its float charges total less than $1,000. Until it quotes them, the comparison is incomplete. Treating “TBA” as zero is how a dearer hire ends up looking cheaper.

5. Fuel, damage waiver and other charges

• Fuel: is the machine supplied full and returned full? Refuelling charges per litre are often higher than pump prices.
• Damage waiver or hire insurance: often a percentage of the hire. For example, 8% of $9,600 = $768.00. Check the excess as well as the fee.
• Cleaning, tracks and wear: some companies charge for cleaning or excess wear.
• Attachments: buckets, hammers and augers may be extra per day.
• Operator (wet hire): compare wet hire with dry hire plus your own operator and fuel.

6. Confirm the machine is equivalent

A 5 t and a 13 t excavator are different machines. So are a machine with and without a tilt hitch, or a different bucket set. Confirm the specification before comparing rates.

Checklist before you book

1. Same machine size, attachments and wet or dry basis in every quote.
2. Hire period converted with a written days-per-week or hours-per-day assumption.
3. Hour limit and excess-hour rate recorded for each company.
4. Mobilisation and demobilisation priced, included or marked unknown, never blank.
5. Fuel, damage waiver, cleaning and minimum hire terms noted.
6. GST basis the same for every figure: ex-GST amount = inc-GST amount ÷ 1.1.
7. Anything still unknown sent back to the hire company as a specific question.

Comparing hire quotes in QuantDoc

QuantDoc converts hire durations only with an explicit assumption (days per week, hours per day) that you set and that is shown on the comparison. It keeps mobilisation and other TBA items as unknown, shows break-even thresholds, and flags machines with different specifications as not equivalent. The example below is its output for the two hire quotes above.