TheFriendlyFelon
New Member
I have a little back story just so you understand where I'm coming from, so please bare with me.
My name is Josh. I'm 27, and I've been an equipment operator for roughly five years, with another two as a laborer. I went to prison when I was 20 and worked hard in there for two years before I finally got to run a grade tractor to grade pads for new greenhouses at my prison. At that point I knew I wanted to operate more. I got out at 23 and found a job doing underground electrical for the main utility contractor in the city my parents lived in, learned as much as I could there for 2 years, then went to a company doing heavy civil. I met my former business partner there and I worked my way up to a crew lead before they did big layoffs. After that, I was a foreman/project manager for another utility company doing water lines, worked for some other big name civil companies, and realized I hated the the politics. I kinda started exploring options and realized I had a really solid network going so I hit up my old boss and we went into business together. I was in charge of landing us work, marketing, and then running the crews in the field, and he was supposed to handle bids, logistics, and any other similar duties.
Long story short, he ended up doing nothing to help me get this started, dragged ass any time he had to actually work, then underbid a huge job by A LOT. I went to pay our guys on a Monday and found out he had emptied the bank account with my whole life savings and the clients materials money in it, and never came back. I managed to remedy the situation and finished the clients project, but then they failed to pay me the last 50%. I,m in court getting that money and the money my partner stole now, but I need to learn how to bid jobs correctly and how to properly price out the equipment I own AND the equipment I rent on an hourly rate. I have a very limited knowledge base when it comes to this. I did research and found a site in Canada giving suggested prices for equipment with operators for 2019 and figured out the exchange rate from Canadian dollars to US dollars, but I'm really not sure if that's even close. Some of the other posts I've seen about this have been helpful, but I'm still unsure. I live in Colorado, and I'm not sure if that changes anything or not.
ANYWAYS....
For my CAT 299D3 tracked skid loader, I'm billing $100 an hour.
For my CAT 305.5E2 mini-excavator, I'm billing $80 an hour.
Those prices include operator and fuel, for now. Are they correct?
What should I charge for hauling my equipment to the jobsites? How do I figure out what to charge for rental equipment on the bigger jobs? What should I be charging for laborers and other operators when I need them? I'm at a loss here. I had four guys before for the huge job my partner screwed me on and I know what I paid them hourly, but I don't know what my ex partner was billing because he took all his information with him. I'm in a bad spot here and I'm currently working small residential jobs for homeowners. I am supposed to start doing all the excavation work for a plumbing company in Januwary, and I have a few other companies interested in using me for small piecework as well, but I need to know good prices to charge them or I'm just going to f*** myself more. Help please!
My name is Josh. I'm 27, and I've been an equipment operator for roughly five years, with another two as a laborer. I went to prison when I was 20 and worked hard in there for two years before I finally got to run a grade tractor to grade pads for new greenhouses at my prison. At that point I knew I wanted to operate more. I got out at 23 and found a job doing underground electrical for the main utility contractor in the city my parents lived in, learned as much as I could there for 2 years, then went to a company doing heavy civil. I met my former business partner there and I worked my way up to a crew lead before they did big layoffs. After that, I was a foreman/project manager for another utility company doing water lines, worked for some other big name civil companies, and realized I hated the the politics. I kinda started exploring options and realized I had a really solid network going so I hit up my old boss and we went into business together. I was in charge of landing us work, marketing, and then running the crews in the field, and he was supposed to handle bids, logistics, and any other similar duties.
Long story short, he ended up doing nothing to help me get this started, dragged ass any time he had to actually work, then underbid a huge job by A LOT. I went to pay our guys on a Monday and found out he had emptied the bank account with my whole life savings and the clients materials money in it, and never came back. I managed to remedy the situation and finished the clients project, but then they failed to pay me the last 50%. I,m in court getting that money and the money my partner stole now, but I need to learn how to bid jobs correctly and how to properly price out the equipment I own AND the equipment I rent on an hourly rate. I have a very limited knowledge base when it comes to this. I did research and found a site in Canada giving suggested prices for equipment with operators for 2019 and figured out the exchange rate from Canadian dollars to US dollars, but I'm really not sure if that's even close. Some of the other posts I've seen about this have been helpful, but I'm still unsure. I live in Colorado, and I'm not sure if that changes anything or not.
ANYWAYS....
For my CAT 299D3 tracked skid loader, I'm billing $100 an hour.
For my CAT 305.5E2 mini-excavator, I'm billing $80 an hour.
Those prices include operator and fuel, for now. Are they correct?
What should I charge for hauling my equipment to the jobsites? How do I figure out what to charge for rental equipment on the bigger jobs? What should I be charging for laborers and other operators when I need them? I'm at a loss here. I had four guys before for the huge job my partner screwed me on and I know what I paid them hourly, but I don't know what my ex partner was billing because he took all his information with him. I'm in a bad spot here and I'm currently working small residential jobs for homeowners. I am supposed to start doing all the excavation work for a plumbing company in Januwary, and I have a few other companies interested in using me for small piecework as well, but I need to know good prices to charge them or I'm just going to f*** myself more. Help please!