When managing construction, demolition, road building, or other heavy duty projects, your equipment and fuel represent substantial investments that directly influence your operating costs. Excessive engine idling can drive these costs even higher. For instance, a 36 ton excavator that works 1,000 hours a year will generally consume about 400 gallons of fuel while idling. To optimize your machine efficiency, minimize idle times, and avoid waste, we’ve outlined several practical tips and best practices that you can follow with your equipment.
Engine idling occurs when machinery runs without actively performing tasks. This common practice on jobsites can harm your profitability, lower machine efficiency, and waste valuable resources. Here’s how excessive idling affects your operations:
The negative effects of “ghost hours”, or excessive idle times, are not always immediately apparent. Consider two machines, A and B, with 5,000 working hours each. Machine A, with significantly more idle time, accumulates 10,000 total hours versus machine B’s 7,500 hours. A difference of 2,500 lifetime hours can cost you significantly on the sale; even up to $20,000, depending on the machine size and type.
Although idle times negatively impact profitability, engine idling remains common practice on construction, demolition, and road building projects. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce idling and improve machine efficiency.
Operators play a critical role in minimizing engine idling. It’s important to train them on the financial impact of idle times and instill the habit of shutting down equipment when it’s not actively in use. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if the machine isn’t working, idling for more than 10 seconds isn’t necessary. Some companies even implement rewards programs to incentivize operators who consistently reduce idle times, leading to substantial savings.
Improving machine efficiency starts with understanding how idling occurs. Modern monitoring tools track equipment performance, including idling data. If you recognize when engine idling is occurring, you can take the proper steps with educating the operator or changing the workflow on the jobsite and better planning your operation to avoid excessive waiting around.
Careful planning helps avoid having equipment sitting around and minimizes delays that lead to unnecessary idling. Assign the correct number and type of machines to each project and ensure they’re appropriately sized for their tasks. For example, an excavator loading an articulated truck should fill the truck bed in three to five bucket loads. When it takes more than five loads, you will typically start to have machines waiting around, idling, and wasting time and fuel.
Modern equipment often includes features that automatically limit engine idling and increase machine efficiency. These systems, known by names like auto idle, auto start, auto stop, or idle stop, can significantly reduce idle times without operator intervention. When purchasing new machinery, prioritize models equipped with these types of efficiency boosting technologies.
