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Equipment guides and preparation checklists
Know which specifications, documents and inspection items to review for your equipment.
Contractor planning toolkit
Prepare your equipment.
Understand your costs.
Find the documents and equipment issues you need to address. Then work out whether your own rates cover labor, ownership, travel and a season with less work than expected.
Detailed guides, personalized readiness reports and all profitability calculators are included in one paid toolkit.
Try a free calculation before you buyComplete toolkit · 12 months
$29.99 USD
One business. One payment.
No automatic renewal.
- Detailed equipment guides and checklists
- Personalized readiness and correction plans
- All calculators and cost helpers
- Season analysis and printable financial estimates
Any applicable tax is shown at checkout. Already purchased? Open your toolkit.
Free calculation · no sign-in
What do your fixed costs add to each paid day?
Insurance, ownership and overhead continue when your equipment sits idle. Fewer paid days mean each working day has more of those costs to cover.
Try the example: $30,000 spread over 60 paid days is $500 per day. Change the days to 30 and it becomes $1,000 per day, before operating expenses.
Build your complete estimate with the paid toolkit
Include labor, fuel, maintenance, travel and ownership costs. See break-even results, test profit scenarios and print your estimate. Equipment guides and preparation checklists are included.
Get the full toolkit · $29.9912 months for one business. No automatic renewal.
Your fixed cost per paid day
Example values are filled in. Change them to try your own costs and days.
Ownership costs, insurance, storage and allocated overhead for one year. Use annual costs, not the full purchase price.
Your planning assumption for this equipment. Work is not guaranteed.
Fixed costs to cover per paid day
$500.00
$30,000.00 per year ÷ 60 paid days.
This is only your entered fixed costs. Fuel, labor, maintenance, travel and profit still need to be added. It is not a complete break-even rate.
No sign-in required. These entries stay in this page and are not saved or sent to us.
Inside the paid toolkit
See what is left after your costs.
The full calculator combines your ownership and operating costs, then shows what an assignment and a whole season could leave you.
Fictional example · one piece of equipment
Assume $30,000 in annual fixed costs, 60 paid days, $700 in operating costs per paid day, and an entered daily rate of $1,500. Travel costs are $0 in this simplified example.
- Total cost per paid day
- $1,200
- $500 allocated fixed costs + $700 operating costs.
- 10-day assignment surplus
- $3,000
- $15,000 revenue − $12,000 costs, including allocated fixed costs.
- Season break-even
- 38 paid days
- Each day leaves $800 after operating costs to cover $30,000 in annual fixed costs. Rounded up.
Illustration only. These are invented inputs, not market rates or a bid recommendation. Results are planning estimates before income tax, not guaranteed profit. The paid calculator uses your own costs and assumptions.
Calculate my complete costs · $29.99
All calculators and equipment guides.
12 months for one business. No automatic renewal.
Free article
You know the season is unpredictable. Do you know your break-even point?
See what 40 or 60 paid days mean for one fictional equipment operation, after annual and operating costs.
Read the break-even exampleIncluded with paid access
The detailed work is inside the toolkit.
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Your readiness report and correction plan
Work through the equipment you own and see the missing or uncertain items to resolve.
03
Complete profitability calculators
Include employee and owner pay, travel, maintenance, replacement savings and borrowing costs.
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Assignment and season analysis
Test your own costs, daily rates and paid days. See break-even results and print your financial estimate.
Guides cover dozers, water tenders, potable-water trucks, handwashing stations and masticators. The calculators cover additional equipment categories.
Browse the guide titlesFree to everyone
A short introduction, basic terms, official government links and a fixed-cost-per-day calculation.
Unlocked by your purchase
Full equipment guides, preparation checklists, your readiness results, all calculators and printable financial estimates.
Free basics and official links
Start with the basic terms.
These introductions and government links are available to everyone. Detailed equipment preparation, personalized reports and financial tools are included with paid toolkit access.
SAM.gov
System for Award Management
The federal government’s business-registration and contracting-opportunity website. A UEI identifies your business; it is not the same as an active registration.
Official SAM registration informationVIPR
Virtual Incident Procurement
The Forest Service’s system for offering equipment and services under certain incident agreements. Use the official vendor guidance for current instructions.
Official VIPR vendor guidanceDPL
Dispatch Priority List
An official list used to prioritize contracted resources. Being listed does not guarantee an assignment.
Official VIPR reports and dispatch listsAIMS
At-Incident Management Support
Forest Service contracting support for certain incident and preseason agreements. The official page explains which process applies.
Official AIMS informationSAM registration and government information are free. Complete registrations on the official websites. Our purchase covers independent planning tools and organized guidance; it does not register you, inspect equipment or approve you for government work.
Use your equipment. Enter your costs.
The full toolkit is $29.99 for 12 months, for one business.