Equipment downtime cost calculator
Put a dollar figure on a breakdown: lost work, idle crew and replacement rental for every hour a machine is down, plus the repair, per breakdown and per year.
Your numbers
One breakdownCost of each hour downOver a yearResult
Cost per hour down $200 Cost of this breakdown $4,000 Cost per year $24,0006 breakdowns × $4,000 Hours lost per year 120 hThe formula
Downtime cost = Hours down × Cost per hour down + Repair cost
Cost per hour down is the work the machine would have earned, plus the people standing around, plus anything you rent to cover. With the default numbers: 20 hours × ($120 + 2 × $40) = $4,000 before the repair, the same worked example as the downtime cost guide.
Using the numberWhat to do with it
- Compare the yearly figure with what preventive maintenance on that machine costs. If an hour down costs $200 and a PM visit costs two hours of a technician, skipping PM is rarely the cheap option.
- Set one rate per machine or category and reuse it, so every breakdown gets a cost without a new estimate.
- Rank machines by downtime cost, not by number of breakdowns: one long failure on a busy excavator can outweigh ten small ones on a trailer.
Guides behind this calculator
How to calculate downtime cost How to reduce equipment downtime Equipment downtimeFleetZap Maintenance Pro (full CMMS)
Everything a maintenance team needs in one place: work orders and PM plus a parts store with purchasing, compliance and certificate tracking, multi-location assets with a full lifecycle, and the KPIs that prove it’s working.
- Parts & purchasing
- Compliance
- Assets & lifecycle
- Reports & KPIs
Good to know
How do you calculate equipment downtime cost?Multiply the hours a machine is down by its cost per hour of downtime, then add the repair. Cost per hour is the work it would have earned, plus the wages of people left idle, plus any replacement rental. A machine down 20 hours at $200 an hour costs $4,000 before the repair.
What should be included in the cost of downtime?Lost revenue or output, idle labor, replacement rental or subcontracting, overtime to catch up, late penalties and the repair itself. Leave out costs you would pay anyway, such as the machine's own depreciation.
Should every machine use the same downtime rate?No. A busy excavator on a billable job costs far more per hour down than a spare trailer. Set a rate per machine or per category and review it once a year.
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