A compiled reference of 42 verified statistics on construction, mining, agricultural and rental heavy equipment: what an hour of a named machine costs to own and operate on the federal rate schedules. A Caterpillar 320 GC excavator runs $107.93 an hour all in, a D9 dozer $360.30, and a 130-ton rough-terrain crane $229.36 working against $63.10 idle. The page also compiles what the public rental fleets disclose about size, age, utilization and repair spend (United Rentals at $22.48 billion of original equipment cost across 1,095,000 units and 49.5 months, spending $1,087 million on repairs; H&E on rent 66.0 percent of the time), how often the law requires the machine to be looked at, what OSHA's own rulemaking priced those rules at, and what working around the equipment costs in casualties. The unsourced downtime figures that dominate this query are listed separately and not used.
Key statistics
7 highlights from this report
Key statistics
Key takeaways
Nothing on page one of this query cites a filing, a rate schedule or the CFR. Everything below does, which means the numbers are smaller, more specific and actually checkable.
FEMA's 2025 schedule prices an hour of heavy iron all in, operator excluded: $107.93 for a Caterpillar 320 GC excavator, $160.75 for a D6 dozer, $293.14 for a Broderson RT-300 15-ton rough-terrain crane, $21.18 for a 6,000 pound forklift.
The hourly rate multiplies by 5.9 across FEMA's excavator ladder and by 9.1 across the dozer ladder, so an hour of downtime is a different sized event on different machines.
United Rentals spent $1,087 million on repairs and maintenance on $13,806 million of rental revenue in 2025, 7.9 percent, and about $993 per unit across 1,095,000 units.
H&E's 66.0 percent time utilization and 38.3 percent dollar utilization are the only publicly filed answers to what share of the time rental equipment is actually earning.
Fleet age converges near four years across the public fleets: 49.5 months at United Rentals, 49 at Ashtead, 45 at Herc, 41.7 at H&E.
OSHA's inspection cadence is three-tiered for cranes (each shift, monthly documented, annual comprehensive) and daily for forklifts, with operator re-evaluation every three years.
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting carried one of the highest fatal injury rates among private industries in 2024 at 20.9 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, against 9.2 in construction and 3.3 across all industries.
How we built this report
Every figure was compiled in September 2026 from the publisher's own filing, rule text or rate schedule and verified against the original before publishing.
- Heavy equipment only, not the factory floor
Excavators, dozers, loaders, cranes, forklifts and aerial lifts in construction, mining, agriculture and rental. Factory-floor and process-plant downtime figures are on our manufacturing downtime page and are excluded here.
- Federal rate schedules over vendor cost claims
The hourly figures come from FEMA's Schedule of Equipment Rates and the Army Corps of Engineers' ownership and operating expense schedule, both of which state what the rate covers. No per-hour downtime cost from a vendor blog appears anywhere on this page.
- Filings, not press releases
Fleet size, age, utilization and repair spend come from the companies' own Form 10-K filings and Ashtead's annual report, quoted to the line item. Where a company does not disclose a figure, the table says so rather than substituting an estimate.
- Regulation quoted from the CFR itself
Inspection cadence comes from the 2024 edition of 29 CFR 1926.1412 and 29 CFR 1910.178 as published by the Government Publishing Office, cited to the paragraph.
- The most repeated forklift figure was traced and rejected
The 85 deaths and 34,900 injuries line attributed to OSHA does not appear in OSHA's rule text. The rule's own estimate, 101 fatalities and 94,570 injuries a year on early 1990s data, is used instead and labeled with its vintage.
- Independent review
Written by one co-founder, reviewed by the other before publishing.
Scope caveat: FEMA's rates are for applicant-owned equipment in good mechanical condition and exclude operator labor; the Army Corps figures are 2015 equipment values in 2018 dollars for Region VI, and other regions differ. Rental fleet figures come from different fiscal year ends, and H&E's fiscal 2024 filing is its last as a standalone company. MSHA's fatality table regenerates daily and was captured in September 2026. OSHA's rulemaking estimates are from 1998 and 2010 and describe the conditions of those years. Factory-floor figures are on our manufacturing downtime statistics page.
What an hour of machine time costs, by machine
Selected machine rates from both schedules on one scale, dollars per hour, operator excludedGold bars are FEMA's 2025 all-in ownership and operating rates for applicant-owned equipment in good mechanical condition. Green bars are the Army Corps of Engineers' Region VI schedule, 2015 equipment values in 2018 dollars, average rate unless marked standby. The two schedules are built for different purposes and are not directly comparable machine to machine; both exclude operator labor. FEMA's rates apply to disasters declared on or after July 1, 2025.
What the large rental fleets publish
Fleet size, age, utilization and repair spend, as disclosed, with the gaps left visible| Company | Filing and date | Fleet at original cost | Units | Average age, months | Utilization | Repair and maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Rentals | Fiscal 2025 10-K, at Dec 31, 2025 | $22.48 billion OEC | 1,095,000 | 49.5 (51.3 in 2024) | Defined but not disclosed | $1,087M R&M on $13,806M rental revenue |
| Herc Holdings | Fiscal 2025 10-K, at Dec 31, 2025 | $9.5 billion OEC (ARA guidelines) | Not disclosed | 45 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed; sells used equipment to manage repair cost |
| H&E Equipment Services | Fiscal 2024 10-K, at Dec 31, 2024 | About $2.9 billion original acquisition cost | 63,630 | 41.7 (up 2.0 months in the year) | 66.0% time, 38.3% dollar | Not disclosed |
| Ashtead Group (Sunbelt Rentals) | Annual report, at Apr 30, 2025 | $18,538 million at original cost | Not disclosed | 49 (45 in 2024) | 48% dollar, North America General Tool | Not disclosed |
OEC is original equipment cost, the industry convention for sizing a rental fleet. Fiscal years differ (Ashtead's runs to April 30) and H&E's fiscal 2024 filing is its last as a standalone company before the Herc acquisition, so the rows are not a like-for-like snapshot. Blank cells are genuine non-disclosures, not omissions on our part. H&E was acquired by Herc during 2025, so its fiscal 2024 fleet is reported inside Herc's fiscal 2025 original equipment cost; the rows are not additive.
The inspection cadence the law actually requires
Federal minimums for cranes and forklifts| Asset | What is inspected | Frequency | Documentation | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crane or derrick in construction | Visual inspection by a competent person for apparent deficiencies | Before each shift the equipment is used | Not required | 29 CFR 1926.1412(d)(1) |
| Crane or derrick in construction | The shift inspection, documented | Each month the equipment is in service | Items, results, name, signature and date; kept at least 3 months | 29 CFR 1926.1412(e) |
| Crane or derrick in construction | Comprehensive inspection by a qualified person, disassembly as necessary | At least every 12 months | Documented and kept at least 12 months | 29 CFR 1926.1412(f) |
| Powered industrial truck (forklift) | Examination before being placed in service; defects reported and corrected immediately | At least daily, and after each shift where used round the clock | Not specified in the paragraph | 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7) |
| Powered industrial truck operator | Evaluation of operator performance | At least once every three years | Required as part of the training and evaluation record | 29 CFR 1910.178(l)(4)(iii) |
Regulatory text is paraphrased; the citations point at the paragraph that governs. Modified equipment and repaired or adjusted equipment carry their own inspection triggers before return to service.
What a city charges on top
| Crane in New York City | Fee | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Registration, Certificate of Approval | Initial $300 (boom up to 50 ft, capacity over 3 tons) to $3,000 (boom over 400 ft, or climber and tower cranes); renewal $200 to $400 annually | NYC Administrative Code table 28-112.7.1 |
| Certificate of On-Site Inspection application | $150 up to a 250 ft boom, $250 above, $750 with weekend inspection | NYC Administrative Code table 28-112.7.1 |
The Department of Buildings serves an undated fee sheet; the amounts above were checked against table 28-112.7.1 of the New York City Administrative Code and match it.
Heavy equipment downtime, by the numbers
All 48 figures, grouped by theme: 42 quoted from the publisher's own filing, rule or rate schedule and independently verified, plus six RapidEye computations that name their inputs, followed by the figures that dominate this query and could not be verified.
Rates the sources imply
Six figures below are RapidEye arithmetic on the verified sources that follow: the repair line as a share of rental revenue and per unit, fleet age converted to years, the hourly cost spread from the smallest machine to the largest, the share of an hourly rate that accrues on standby, and what OSHA's own rulemaking implies per fatality prevented. Each names its inputs and every input appears as a cited card further down this page. No federal or filed source publishes unplanned downtime hours per machine per year for construction equipment; the closest public quantity is rental time utilization, which mixes demand with availability.
Statistic 1
United Rentals' repairs and maintenance line was 7.9 percent of equipment rentals revenue in 2025, against 8.0 percent in 2024 and 8.3 percent in 2023, so the repair line has eased slightly as a share of revenue for two straight years.
RapidEye Research, computed from United Rentals' fiscal 2025 Form 10-K segment note
Statistic 2
Spread across the 1,095,000 units United Rentals reported at December 31, 2025, its repairs and maintenance line works out to about $993 per unit per year. That excludes the technician labor booked in the filing's labor and benefits line, so it is a floor, not the full maintenance burden.
RapidEye Research, computed from United Rentals' fiscal 2025 Form 10-K
Statistic 3
Converted to years, the published rental fleet ages cluster tightly, a range of 3.5 to 4.1 years across the four disclosed fleets: United Rentals 49.5 months is 4.1 years, Ashtead 49 months is 4.1 years, Herc 45 months is 3.8 years and H&E 41.7 months is 3.5 years. H&E was acquired by Herc during 2025, so the four figures are not four separate fleets today and must not be summed. Within H&E's fleet the spread is wider than the spread between companies: aerial work platforms at 52.9 months (4.4 years) against earthmoving at 31.8 months (2.7 years).
RapidEye Research, computed from the fiscal 2025 filings of United Rentals and Herc, H&E's fiscal 2024 Form 10-K and Ashtead's 2025 annual report
Statistic 4
Across FEMA's 2025 excavator ladder the hourly owning-and-operating rate multiplies by 5.9 from the smallest machine to the largest: $57.14 for a Caterpillar 305 CR against $336.18 for a 395. The dozer ladder multiplies by 9.1, from $60.28 for a D1 to $550.14 for a D11. An hour lost on the big machine is not the same event as an hour lost on the small one.
RapidEye Research, computed from FEMA's 2025 Schedule of Equipment Rates
Statistic 5
On the Army Corps of Engineers' Region VI schedule a 130-ton rough-terrain crane still costs $63.10 an hour standing idle against $229.36 an hour working, so standby is 27.5 percent of the running rate. For the Caterpillar 320F L excavator the standby rate of $10.54 against $44.97 is 23.4 percent. The Corps charges a separate idle rate, roughly a quarter of the working rate, for a machine that is on site and not producing.
RapidEye Research, computed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers EP 1110-1-8 Volume 6 rate tables (2018)
Statistic 6
OSHA's own rulemaking estimates price a prevented fatality very differently by machine: the 2010 crane standard costs $154.1 million a year to prevent 22 deaths, about $7.0 million per death prevented, while the 1998 forklift training rule costs $16.9 million a year to prevent 11 deaths, about $1.5 million per death prevented. Both figures are nominal dollars twelve years apart and count only fatalities, not the injuries each rule was also expected to prevent, so they are not a like-for-like cost-effectiveness comparison.
RapidEye Research, computed from OSHA's 2010 crane and 1998 forklift training final rules as published in the Federal Register
What this means: Two numbers carry most of the argument: the largest rental fleet in the world runs a repair line near 8 percent of rental revenue, and roughly a quarter of a machine's hourly cost accrues while it sits still.
How often the law says to look at the machine
According to 29 CFR 1926.1412 as published by the Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov), OSHA's crane standard runs on three tiers: a competent person begins a visual inspection before each shift the equipment is used, the same inspection is documented monthly and kept three months, and a qualified person performs an annual comprehensive inspection with disassembly as necessary, documented and kept twelve months. According to 29 CFR 1910.178 (govinfo.gov), powered industrial trucks are examined at least daily before being placed in service and after every shift when run round the clock, and each operator's performance is re-evaluated at least once every three years. According to the New York City Department of Buildings' published fee schedule (nyc.gov), the city also charges for the privilege.
Statistic 7
OSHA's crane standard requires a competent person to begin a visual inspection of the crane before each shift it is used.
29 CFR 1926.1412(d)(1), as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024 CFR edition
Statistic 8
Each month a crane is in service it must receive the shift-level inspection, documented, and the record kept for at least three months.
29 CFR 1926.1412(e), as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024 CFR edition
Statistic 9
At least every 12 months a crane must be inspected by a qualified person, with disassembly as necessary, and the record retained for at least 12 months.
29 CFR 1926.1412(f), as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024 CFR edition
Statistic 10
OSHA requires forklifts (powered industrial trucks) to be examined at least daily before being placed in service, and after each shift when used round-the-clock.
29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7), as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024 CFR edition
Statistic 11
Forklift operators must be re-evaluated at least once every three years.
29 CFR 1910.178(l)(4)(iii), as published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024 CFR edition
Statistic 12
NYC Department of Buildings crane registration (Certificate of Approval) initial fee runs from $300 (boom up to 50 ft, capacity over 3 tons) to $3,000 (boom over 400 ft, or climber and tower cranes); renewals are $200 to $400; a Certificate of On-Site Inspection (CN) application is $150 (boom up to 250 ft) or $250 (boom over 250 ft, derricks and work platforms), $750 with weekend inspection. The department's published fee sheet carries no effective date, so each figure was checked against table 28-112.7.1 of the New York City Administrative Code, which governs fees for the testing, approval, inspection and use of power-operated cranes, derricks and cableways, and matches it line for line.
New York City Administrative Code, table 28-112.7.1, fees for the testing, approval, inspection and use of power-operated cranes, derricks and cableways
What this means: The shift inspection is the one that catches a machine before it fails and the only one OSHA does not require in writing, which is exactly why it is the tier that quietly stops happening. Everything on this page about downtime cost is downstream of whether that walkaround was real. A shift walkaround that leaves no record cannot be audited later, so the tier most likely to catch a machine before it fails is the one tier with no evidence trail.
What OSHA thought the rules were worth
According to OSHA's 2010 cranes and derricks final rule as published in the Federal Register (govinfo.gov), the standard was expected to prevent 22 fatalities and 175 injuries a year at a total cost of about $154.1 million annually, $59 million of it operator certification, against $202.3 million in monetized benefits. According to OSHA's 1998 powered industrial truck operator training final rule (govinfo.gov), unsafe forklift operation was then causing an average of 101 fatalities and 94,570 injuries a year, 16 of those deaths in construction, and the training rule was expected to prevent 11 deaths and 9,422 injuries for about $16.9 million a year. According to OSHA's fiscal 2025 citation ranking (osha.gov), the forklift standard is still one of the ten most cited in the country.
Statistic 13
OSHA estimated that its 2010 cranes and derricks in construction standard would prevent 22 fatalities and 175 injuries a year, derived from 88 avoidable fatalities in its 2004-2007 incident reports.
U.S. Government Publishing Office, Federal Register, OSHA cranes and derricks in construction final rule, 75 FR 47906 (August 9, 2010)
Statistic 14
OSHA put the total cost of the 2010 crane standard at about $154.1 million a year, of which crane operator certification is about $59 million a year, against monetized benefits of $202.3 million a year.
U.S. Government Publishing Office, Federal Register, OSHA cranes and derricks in construction final rule, 75 FR 47906 (August 9, 2010)
Statistic 15
When OSHA issued its forklift operator training rule in 1998 it estimated an average of 101 fatalities and 94,570 injuries a year from unsafe powered industrial truck operation. That is the primary figure behind the forklift casualty numbers repeated online.
U.S. Government Publishing Office, Federal Register, OSHA powered industrial truck operator training final rule, 63 FR 66238 (December 1, 1998)
Statistic 16
OSHA estimated the 1998 forklift training rule would prevent about 11 fatalities and 9,422 injuries a year at an annualized cost of about $16.9 million across all affected industries.
U.S. Government Publishing Office, Federal Register, OSHA powered industrial truck operator training final rule, 63 FR 66238 (December 1, 1998)
Statistic 17
OSHA's 1998 analysis estimated 16 powered-industrial-truck fatalities and 2,380 injuries per year in the construction industry, and that forklift accidents were about 12 percent of construction accidents reported on OSHA Form 170.
U.S. Government Publishing Office, Federal Register, OSHA powered industrial truck operator training final rule, 63 FR 66238 (December 1, 1998)
Statistic 18
Powered Industrial Trucks (29 CFR 1910.178) was OSHA's 8th most frequently cited standard in fiscal year 2025; Scaffolding (1926.451) was 6th; no crane standard made the top 10.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, top 10 most frequently cited standards, fiscal year 2025
What this means: The forklift numbers circulating online come from a 1998 rulemaking, and the version most often quoted is not the one in the rule text. The figures OSHA actually published are 101 deaths and 94,570 injuries a year, on early 1990s data, and they should be labeled with that vintage every time they are used.
What working around the machine costs in people
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2024 (bls.gov), 5,070 workers died on the job at a rate of 3.3 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, with construction and extraction occupations accounting for 1,032 deaths and transportation and material moving for 1,391; agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting carried one of the highest industry rates at 20.9 per 100,000 and 756 deaths came from contact incidents, including 213 workers struck, caught or compressed by running powered equipment. According to the same agency's crane fact sheet (bls.gov), 297 crane-related deaths were recorded from 2011 to 2017. According to CPWR's Construction Chart Book, 7th edition (cpwr.com), struck-by events were 14.3 percent of construction deaths in 2023. According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration's fatality table (msha.gov), powered haulage killed eight miners in each of 2024 and 2025. Occupation and industry are separate BLS classifications, so the two construction figures are not the same population.
Statistic 19
There were 5,070 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2024, a rate of 3.3 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 news release and tables (February 2026)
Statistic 20
Construction and extraction occupations had 1,032 fatalities in 2024 (1,055 in 2023); transportation and material moving occupations had 1,391 (1,495 in 2023).
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 news release and tables (February 2026)
Statistic 21
Private construction recorded 1,034 fatal work injuries in 2024, a rate of 9.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 news release and tables (February 2026)
Statistic 22
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction recorded 92 fatal work injuries in 2024, a rate of 13.8 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 news release and tables (February 2026)
Statistic 23
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting recorded 475 fatal work injuries in 2024 at a rate of 20.9 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 news release and tables (February 2026)
Statistic 24
Transportation and warehousing recorded 865 fatal work injuries in 2024, a rate of 12.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 news release and tables (February 2026)
Statistic 25
In 2024, 756 workers died in "contact incidents"; 357 were struck by a propelled, falling, or suspended object; 213 were struck, caught, or compressed by running powered equipment; 369 died in pedestrian incidents involving motorized land vehicles (up from 310 in 2023); transportation incidents accounted for 1,937 deaths (38.2 percent).
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024 news release and tables (February 2026)
Statistic 26
From 2011 to 2017 the CFOI recorded 297 crane-related deaths, an average of 42 per year; just over half involved being struck by an object or equipment; 43 percent occurred in private construction; Texas alone had 50.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, fact sheet on fatal occupational injuries involving cranes, 2011-2017 data
Statistic 27
Among construction's 2023 "Focus Four" deaths, falls to a lower level were 404 (37.6 percent of all construction fatalities), struck-by 154 (14.3 percent), electrocutions 66 (6.1 percent) and caught-in/between 40 (3.7 percent); half of struck-by deaths (77) were from a propelled, falling or suspended object and 37.7 percent (58) were pedestrian incidents involving motorized land vehicles.
CPWR, The Center for Construction Research and Training, Construction Chart Book, 7th edition (2025), citing BLS CFOI 2023
Statistic 28
MSHA counted 28 mining fatalities in 2024 and 33 in 2025; powered haulage caused 8 in each year, machinery 2 in 2024 and 4 in 2025; 2023 had 40 deaths of which 13 were machinery and 7 powered haulage. Both 2024 and 2025 are complete calendar years as of this September 2026 capture; 2026 is in progress and is excluded here.
Mine Safety and Health Administration, daily fatality report accident-classification table, accessed September 2, 2026
What this means: The equipment-specific slice is small against the total but it is the slice an inspection touches: 213 deaths from running powered equipment, 369 pedestrians struck by motorized land vehicles, 42 crane deaths a year, and eight powered-haulage deaths a year in mining. These are the incidents that begin as a deficiency somebody could have seen.
What the rental fleets disclose
According to United Rentals' fiscal 2025 Form 10-K (sec.gov), its fleet held $22.48 billion of original equipment cost across 1,095,000 units at an average age of 49.5 months, it spent $1,087 million on repairs and maintenance against $13,806 million of equipment rentals revenue, and it estimates a 15 percent North American market share. According to Herc Holdings' fiscal 2025 Form 10-K (sec.gov), its fleet was $9.5 billion of original equipment cost at 45 months. According to H&E Equipment Services' fiscal 2024 Form 10-K (sec.gov), the last before its acquisition by Herc, its 63,630 units averaged 41.7 months and ran at 66.0 percent time utilization and 38.3 percent dollar utilization. According to Ashtead's 2025 annual report (sunbeltrentals.com), Sunbelt's parent ran an $18,538 million fleet at 49 months and models a $100 asset returning $455 over a seven-year life.
Statistic 29
United Rentals' fleet had an original equipment cost of $22.48 billion, 1,095,000 units and an average age of 49.5 months at December 31, 2025 (51.3 months in 2024).
United Rentals, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed January 2026 (sec.gov)
Statistic 30
United Rentals spent $1,087 million on repairs and maintenance in 2025 against $13,806 million of equipment rentals revenue (7.9 percent), plus $2,670 million of rental-equipment depreciation.
United Rentals, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, segment note (sec.gov)
Statistic 31
United Rentals' repairs and maintenance line was $1,087 million in 2025, $1,041 million in 2024 and $1,003 million in 2023, against equipment rentals revenue of $13,806 million, $13,029 million and $12,064 million; labor and benefits, which carries technician time, was $2,161 million in 2025.
United Rentals, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, segment note (sec.gov)
Statistic 32
United Rentals estimates a 15 percent North American market share based on ARA's 2025 industry revenue estimate; its fleet spans 1,768 rental locations, 28,500 employees, with aerial work platforms 22 percent of equipment rental revenue on the filing's revenue-by-fleet-type split, against 39 percent for general construction and industrial equipment.
United Rentals, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (sec.gov)
Statistic 33
H&E Equipment Services' rental fleet time utilization was approximately 66.0 percent in 2024 (68.8 percent in 2023) and dollar utilization was 38.3 percent (40.3 percent).
H&E Equipment Services, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2024, management discussion and analysis (sec.gov)
Statistic 34
H&E's fleet at December 31, 2024 was 63,630 units with an original acquisition cost of about $2.9 billion and an average age of 41.7 months; aerial work platforms averaged 52.9 months, earthmoving 31.8, material handling 43.6.
H&E Equipment Services, Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2024 (sec.gov)
Statistic 35
Herc Holdings' rental fleet had an original equipment cost of $9.5 billion and an average age of 45 months at December 31, 2025; earthmoving is 13 percent of OEC, aerial 26 percent, material handling 22 percent.
Herc Holdings Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed February 2026 (sec.gov)
Statistic 36
Sunbelt Rentals' parent Ashtead ran a rental fleet of $18,538 million at original cost (April 30, 2025) with an average age of 49 months (45 in 2024); LTM dollar utilisation was 48 percent in North America General Tool, 74 percent in Specialty and 53 percent in the UK.
Sunbelt Rentals' parent Ashtead Group plc, annual report and accounts for the year to April 30, 2025, financial review
Statistic 37
Ashtead's rental economics model: buy an asset for $100, generate $60 revenue a year (60 percent dollar utilisation), sell it for 35 percent of cost after a seven-year life, for $455 of return on $100. The company states in the same passage that costs are incurred against that return, principally employee, maintenance, property and transportation costs and fleet depreciation.
Sunbelt Rentals' parent Ashtead Group plc, annual report and accounts 2025, business model section
What this means: H&E's 66.0 percent time utilization is the only public answer to the question every fleet owner actually asks: what share of the time is the iron on rent. A third of the time it is not, and Ashtead's model shows why that is tolerable at a 60 percent dollar utilization assumption and painful below it.
What an hour of machine time costs, by machine
According to FEMA's 2025 Schedule of Equipment Rates (fema.gov), the hourly rate for applicant-owned equipment in good mechanical condition covers depreciation, overhead, all maintenance, field repairs, fuel, lubricants, tires and OSHA equipment, excluding the operator: $107.93 for a Caterpillar 320 GC excavator, $160.75 for a D6 dozer, $293.14 for a Broderson RT-300 15-ton rough-terrain crane and $21.18 for a 6,000 pound forklift. According to the Army Corps of Engineers' Region VI schedule (usace.army.mil), a Caterpillar 320F L excavator costs $44.97 an hour to own and operate on a $237,509 equipment value, with a standby rate of $10.54, and the schedule builds its annual hours by deducting weather, holidays, equipment maintenance and repairs, mobilization and miscellaneous downtime from 2,080 available hours.
Statistic 38
FEMA's 2025 Schedule of Equipment Rates puts a Caterpillar 320 GC hydraulic excavator at $107.93 an hour and a 340 GC at $291.49, covering depreciation, overhead, all maintenance, field repairs, fuel, lubricants, tires and OSHA equipment, but not the operator. The published excavator ladder runs from a 305 CR at $57.14 to a 395 at $336.18.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Schedule of Equipment Rates, 2025
Statistic 39
On the same 2025 schedule a Caterpillar D6 crawler dozer costs $160.75 an hour to own and operate and a D9 costs $360.30. The dozer ladder runs from a D1 at $60.28 through a D4 at $99.70 and a D8 at $242.63 to a D11 at $550.14.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Schedule of Equipment Rates, 2025
Statistic 40
Also on the 2025 schedule: a Caterpillar 950 wheel loader at $139.80 an hour, a Caterpillar 420 loader-backhoe at $110.03 and a 60 horsepower, 6,000 pound forklift at $21.18, all excluding the operator.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Schedule of Equipment Rates, 2025
Statistic 41
FEMA prices lifting equipment for 2025 at $293.14 an hour for a Broderson RT-300 15-ton rough-terrain crane, $285.76 for a Grove GMK3055 60-ton all-terrain crane and $83.67 for a Manitex 30100C truck-mounted crane.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Schedule of Equipment Rates, 2025
Statistic 42
FEMA prices aerial work platforms for 2025 at $59.10 an hour for a JLG 600AJ 60-foot boom lift, $176.48 for a JLG 1500AJP 150-foot boom lift and $62.86 for an Altec AA55 55-foot truck-mounted aerial lift including the truck.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Schedule of Equipment Rates, 2025
Statistic 43
The Army Corps of Engineers' Region VI schedule prices a Caterpillar 320F L crawler excavator (47,400 pounds, 161 horsepower) at $44.97 an hour average ownership and operating cost on a $237,509 equipment value, and a 336F L (80,500 pounds, 303 horsepower) at $80.49 an hour on $415,674.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EP 1110-1-8 construction equipment ownership and operating expense schedule, Volume 6 (Region VI), 2018
Statistic 44
The same Corps schedule prices a Caterpillar D4K2 XL dozer at $33.32 an hour on a $137,338 equipment value and a Grove RT9130E-2 130-ton rough-terrain crane at $229.36 an hour on a $1,520,197 machine, with a standby rate of $63.10 an hour for the crane and $10.54 for the 320F L excavator.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EP 1110-1-8 construction equipment ownership and operating expense schedule, Volume 6 (Region VI), 2018
Statistic 45
The Corps' schedule builds annual operating hours by starting from 2,080 available hours (40 hours x 52 weeks) and deducting lost days for weather, holidays, "equipment maintenance and repairs", mobilization and "miscellaneous downtime"; repair cost is charged per hour as (equipment value less tires) times a repair factor divided by economic life in hours, and tire repairs are assumed to be 15 percent of tire wear cost.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EP 1110-1-8, Volume 6 (2018), paragraphs 2.16, 2.25 and 2.27
Statistic 46
The Corps' Region VI schedule assumes 1,430 working hours a year for the region, and its equipment factors table gives a crawler hydraulic excavator over 40,000 and up to 100,000 pounds, the class that holds the 320F L and 336F L, an economic life of 12,000 hours under average operating conditions and 10,000 under severe, at a salvage value of 25 percent of equipment value.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, construction equipment ownership and operating expense schedule, Region VI (2018), Appendix B area factors and Appendix D equipment hourly calculation factors
What this means: Two federal schedules price the same machine class very differently because they answer different questions: FEMA reimburses a disaster applicant for an all-in hour, the Corps negotiates a cost-reimbursable contract rate on a stated equipment value. Both are defensible anchors, and both are more traceable than any per-hour downtime figure circulating in the trade press.
The agricultural half of the fleet
According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service's farm production expenditures summary for 2024 (usda.gov), U.S. farms spent $24.0 billion on farm supplies and repairs, 5.0 percent of $477.6 billion in total production expenditures, alongside $21.0 billion on tractors and self-propelled machinery and $8.3 billion on other farm machinery, with 78.7 percent of farms reporting supplies-and-repairs spending at an average of $12,766 each.
Statistic 47
U.S. farms spent $24.0 billion on farm supplies and repairs in 2024 (5.0 percent of the $477.6 billion in total production expenditures), $21.0 billion on tractors and self-propelled machinery and $8.3 billion on other farm machinery.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, farm production expenditures 2024 summary (July 2025)
Statistic 48
78.7 percent of U.S. farms reported supplies-and-repairs spending in 2024, averaging $12,766 per farm; 14.3 percent bought tractors or self-propelled machinery, averaging $11,170 per farm across all farms.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, farm production expenditures 2024 summary (July 2025)
What this means: Four in five American farms report a repair bill every year and only one in seven buys a machine, which is the clearest available statement that agricultural iron is kept running rather than replaced.
The numbers that rank for this query and could not be verified
These figures are widely repeated online. Each was traced as far as the trail went and is listed here so a writer does not re-chase it.
Unverified claim
Construction equipment runs at 20 to 30 percent unplanned downtime. The headline figure on every inspection-app and fleet-software blog ranking for this query. No OEM, federal or peer-reviewed origin was found behind it, so it is not stated here.
Unverified claim
Heavy equipment downtime costs $500 to $5,000 per hour. Same vendor lineage, no primary. The traceable hourly figures on this page are federal owning-and-operating rates, which are a different quantity and are labeled as such.
Unverified claim
Emergency repairs cost three to nine times a scheduled repair. Widely repeated with no source. Not verified, not used.
Unverified claim
78 percent of hydraulic failures show warning signs two to six weeks in advance. A vendor claim with no study behind it. Not used.
Unverified claim
Forklifts cause 85 deaths and 34,900 serious injuries a year. The most repeated forklift line online and attributed to OSHA. Those figures do not appear in OSHA's 1998 final rule, which states 101 fatalities and 94,570 injuries a year. This page uses OSHA's own numbers.
Unverified claim
The American Rental Association's industry size estimate. ARA's releases blocked every fetch path we have, so no industry revenue figure is stated. The page cites only United Rentals' filed statement that it holds about 15 percent of ARA-measured North American revenue.
Unverified claim
ANSI A92 requires an annual inspection of aerial work platforms. The A92 standards are paywalled and the OSHA section that incorporates ANSI A92.2 states no annual frequency, so no ANSI inspection interval is claimed.
Unverified claim
Twelve of the 28 mining deaths in 2024 were powered haulage. A trade-press summary that conflicts with MSHA's own classification table, which shows eight. The agency table is used.
Unverified claim
A count of certified crane operators in the United States. The certifying body's site blocks every fetch path; no certification count is stated.
Cite this study
Academic or press use: copy a ready-made reference. RapidEye is the publisher.
Quick FAQ
What does an hour of heavy equipment actually cost?
FEMA's 2025 Schedule of Equipment Rates gives the cleanest federal answer, covering depreciation, overhead, all maintenance, field repairs, fuel, lubricants, tires and OSHA equipment but not the operator: $107.93 an hour for a Caterpillar 320 GC excavator, $291.49 for a 340 GC, $160.75 for a D6 dozer, $360.30 for a D9, $139.80 for a 950 wheel loader and $21.18 for a 6,000 pound forklift. The Army Corps of Engineers' Region VI schedule, built for contract negotiation on a stated equipment value, prices a Caterpillar 320F L excavator at $44.97 an hour. The two schedules answer different questions and are not interchangeable.
What percentage of the time is rental equipment actually on rent?
H&E Equipment Services reported approximately 66.0 percent time utilization for 2024, down from 68.8 percent in 2023, with dollar utilization of 38.3 percent. United Rentals defines time utilization in its filing but does not publish the number, and Herc does not disclose it, so H&E's figure is the only clean published answer among the large public fleets. Ashtead publishes dollar utilisation instead: 48 percent for North America General Tool, 74 percent for Specialty and 53 percent for the UK.
How much do rental companies spend on repairs and maintenance?
United Rentals reported $1,087 million of repairs and maintenance in 2025 against $13,806 million of equipment rentals revenue, which is 7.9 percent, or about $993 per unit across 1,095,000 units. The comparable prior-year ratios from the same filing are 8.0 percent in 2024 and 8.3 percent in 2023. Technician labor sits in a separate labor and benefits line, so the true maintenance burden is higher than the repairs and maintenance figure alone.
How often does OSHA require a crane or forklift to be inspected?
Under 29 CFR 1926.1412 a competent person must begin a visual inspection of a crane before each shift the equipment is used, the same inspection must be performed and documented monthly with records kept at least three months, and a qualified person must perform a comprehensive inspection at least every 12 months with disassembly as necessary and records kept at least 12 months. Under 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7) forklifts must be examined at least daily before being placed in service and after each shift when used round the clock, and under 1910.178(l)(4)(iii) each operator's performance must be re-evaluated at least once every three years.
Is there a reliable figure for how much heavy equipment downtime costs per hour?
Not from a primary source. The widely repeated ranges of $500 to $5,000 an hour, and the claim that construction equipment runs at 20 to 30 percent unplanned downtime, trace only to vendor blogs with no underlying study, so this page does not state them. What is verifiable is the federal owning-and-operating rate for a named machine, and the standby rate that keeps accruing when the machine is not working: on the Army Corps of Engineers' schedule, $63.10 an hour for an idle 130-ton rough-terrain crane against $229.36 working.
Data sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these publishers' own documents, each checked against the original before publishing. Sources are named at the publisher level and shown by root domain.
U.S. Government Publishing OfficeCode of Federal Regulations title 29 (2024 edition) and Federal Register notices for OSHA's 2010 crane and 1998 forklift training final rulesgovinfo.gov
U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCensus of Fatal Occupational Injuries 2024 release, tables and industry chart; crane fatality fact sheet covering 2011 to 2017bls.gov
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)Form 10-K filings of United Rentals and Herc Holdings for fiscal 2025 and H&E Equipment Services for fiscal 2024sec.gov
New York City Department of BuildingsCranes and derricks fee schedule and the corresponding New York City Administrative Code fee table: registration, renewal and on-site inspection feesnyc.gov
Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationTop 10 most frequently cited standards, fiscal year 2025osha.gov