About
Who built this, and why
The problem it solves
Most rental businesses price by looking at the yard down the road. The machine goes out, it looks busy, and the P&L at the end of the year says the fleet lost money. Nobody can say which machine, because the only tools available give one number — a day rate, a utilisation percentage — and never the whole picture.
The calculator started as a spreadsheet for deciding which machines to buy and what to charge for them. It grew into a full five-year model: profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, breakeven rate, payback, return on investment, and a what-if grid that shows whether the fix is price or hours. That is what is on this site now, free, with no sign-up.
The author
Ali Al Hajj has spent sixteen years in heavy equipment, including several running a rental fleet, where the question behind this tool came up every week: is this deal worth doing? He built the calculator in his own time and runs this site independently. It is not affiliated with any dealer or manufacturer, and nothing on it is sponsored.
Questions about a fleet, a rate card or a purchase you are weighing up are welcome through the contact page. There is no subscription and nothing to sell you.
How the site works
- The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere unless you ask for the PDF report.
- The method is published in full on How the numbers work. Every formula there is the one the tool runs.
- The default cost assumptions are industry rules of thumb, not measurements from any company. Change them to yours.
- The six guides are written to be read on their own, each with one worked example.
- Figures are indicative and not financial advice.
Typical ranges used as defaults
These are the ranges the tool starts from. They are drawn from published industry sources and common practice, rounded, and they are deliberately conservative. They are not the figures of any particular company.
| Measure | Typical range | Tool default |
|---|---|---|
| Time utilisation, general fleet | 55 – 70 % | 70 % target |
| Financial (dollar) utilisation | 30 – 45 % of cost per year | 33 % target |
| Monthly rate as % of acquisition cost | 4 – 6 % | 5 % suggested |
| Return on investment | 10 – 15 % a year | 10 % target |
| Payback | 24 – 42 months | 36 months target |
| Resale decline, forklifts and access | 14 – 20 % a year | per model |
| Resale decline, earthmoving | 10 – 16 % a year | per model |
| Financing cost | 6 – 9 % a year | 7 % |
If your own figures sit outside these ranges, trust yours. The calculator is there to run your numbers, not to tell you what they should be.
Run a machine through it
Four inputs on the home page; the full model one click further.