How to Calculate Equipment Cost Per Hour for Heavy Civil Bids To calculate equipment cost per hour, add a machine's ownership costs (depreciation, cost of money, insurance, taxes, and storage) to its operating costs (fuel, lube, repairs, and wear items), then divide each annual cost by the hours the machine actually works. The operator, overhead, and profit are added separately. That sounds simple, and on paper it is. In practice, an hourly equipment rate is one of the easies

Unit Price vs. Lump Sum Bids: How DOTs Spot an Unbalanced Bid A unit price bid pays you your bid price for each measured unit of work actually performed, while a lump sum bid pays one fixed price for a defined scope. On unit price DOT work, the agency checks every line item against its engineer's estimate, looking for prices that are unbalanced. That second part is where good contractors get tripped up. You can submit the lowest total on bid day and still have your bid questi

In the fast-paced world of heavy civil construction, winning bids is everything. The competition is fierce, and every second counts....