Free calculator
Not the payment - the all-in monthly cost, what it adds to every job you run, and the extra jobs a month it takes to carry it.
A lender calculator answers one question: the payment. A contractor needs three more. What does the rig cost all-in each month once fuel, insurance, and maintenance ride along? What does that add to every job you run? And how many extra jobs a month does it take to carry it?
The all-in number is routinely double the payment - a $726 truck payment with real-world fuel, commercial insurance, and maintenance lands near $1,450 a month. Spread over twenty jobs, that is roughly $73 riding on every single one, whether the estimate accounted for it or not.
A job's revenue is already spoken for by that job's materials and hours. What pays for trucks is the profit a job leaves - so the carry count here divides by profit per job. If it says six extra jobs a month and your pipeline will not produce them, the rig is early.
Put the used option in the compare field and the answer stops being a feeling. The delta per month, times the term, is what the new-truck smell costs - and for a young business, cash kept is growth kept.
Once you know the per-job cost, it belongs in your pricing. The profit margin calculator shows what happens when overhead like this quietly is not in the estimate.
A workable test: the all-in monthly cost - payment plus fuel, insurance, and maintenance - should be coverable by profit your CURRENT job volume already produces, without counting jobs you hope the truck brings. If carrying it needs more than a handful of extra jobs a month, it is early.
Used, in most cases. The monthly delta between new and used, multiplied by the term, is cash a young business can turn into equipment, marketing, or runway. New makes sense when downtime is expensive and the used market for your rig is genuinely thin.
Commonly close to double the loan payment. Fuel for working miles, commercial auto insurance, and averaged maintenance frequently add $600 to $900 a month on top of the payment - which is why per-job cost, not the payment, is the number to price against.
No. Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the math runs in your browser. There is no account and no email.
See all contractor tools, or jump to overhead like this tracked against every job.
Compare the hours and costs you quoted against what the job actually took.
Convert between the two, and find the markup that lands the margin you want.
Work back from the take-home you want, your overhead, and the hours you can actually bill.
A payment schedule from a job total - deposit, progress draw, and balance, the three payments you will actually collect.
Load payroll taxes, comp, benefits, and paid time off into the true hourly cost of a crew member.
Trade-by-trade launch costs, the monthly bills that start on day one, and your runway.
Fixed costs divided by what a job really contributes - the first number a new business should know.
The profit that truly replaces a W2 - benefits and self-employment tax included.
FEM job costing attaches real costs to every estimate, so the rig, the fuel, and the hours show up in the margin - not as a year-end surprise. Start free - no credit card required.
Build a real estimate freeSolo is $29.99/month with every office feature. Canvass is $59.99/month plus $19.99/month per rep seat.
