What is a daily equipment report?
A daily equipment report records every machine on a site for one shift: who operated it, what it did and where, how many hours it worked, idled, waited and stood broken down, what it produced and how much fuel it took. Site engineers send it to the project manager, the equipment manager and often the client.
Collected day after day, the reports show which machines earn their place on site. The log in this template turns them into availability and utilization, the two measures equipment managers use, and compares each machine's output with the plan.
How to use the daily equipment report
- Register the machines in the Excel log with the planned output per working hour, from the project plan or the Excavator, Loader & Dozer Productivity Calculator.
- Complete one report per shift, with a line for every machine on site, also those that did not work.
- Split the shift hours into working, idle (engine on, no work), standby (engine off, ready) and breakdown. They should add up to the shift.
- Read the hour meter at the end of the shift and note the fuel issued to each machine.
- Write the cause of every breakdown and delay, and the machines that arrived, left or moved.
- Enter the report in the log the same day, clear the flags and review the monthly summary.
How does the log calculate availability and utilization?
Availability and utilization follow Mike Vorster's definitions: availability is the time a machine is required and able to work divided by the time it is required, and utilization is the time it works divided by the time it is required and able to work. The alert limits on Settings are your choice.
Source: Mike Vorster, Understanding Equipment Utilization and Availability Metrics, Construction Equipment, 30 July 2025. Source: Construction Equipment. Last reviewed 21 October 2026.
Worked example: three day shifts on an earthworks package
The example has six machines on 10-hour day shifts from 18 to 20 October 2026. Planned outputs are examples.
- EX-01 excavator: 30 required hours, 23.5 working, 3 idle, 1.5 standby and 2 of breakdown for a burst hose. Availability (30 − 2) ÷ 30 = 93%; utilization 23.5 ÷ 28 = 84%.
- It moved 3,430 BCM: 3,430 ÷ 23.5 = 146 BCM per working hour, 97% of the planned 150. Its 730 L of fuel is 31.1 L per working hour and 0.21 L per BCM.
- EX-02 on 18 October: the hour meter ran 9.3 hours but working plus idle was 8.5, a 0.8-hour difference over the 0.5-hour allowance. Idle was 2.5 of 8.5 engine hours, 29%, while it waited for trucks.
- WL-01 on 20 October: 1,080 LCM in 7 working hours is 154 LCM an hour, 77% of plan, with 22% idle.
- DZ-01 on 20 October shows 1.5 hours of breakdown with no cause written, so the row is flagged until the engineer adds it.
Common mistakes with daily equipment reports
- Leaving out machines that did not work. Standby and breakdown machines still cost money and lower utilization.
- Counting idle as working. An engine running while the machine waits is not production, and it burns fuel.
- Hours that do not add up. Without a full split of the shift, availability and utilization mean little.
- Output with no unit. Bank m³, loose m³, tonnes and loads cannot be added together.
- No cause for breakdowns. Repeated causes are what the maintenance team needs to see.
- Filling the report the next morning. Hours and output written from memory are rounded.
What the template does not do
The log works with what the site engineer records; it does not read the machines. Planned outputs and alert limits come from your plan and your choices. A gap against plan is a question for the site, not a verdict on the operator. For hire invoices, compare hours with the Equipment Timesheet and Hours Reconciliation Template; for when machines arrive and leave, use the Project Equipment Plan and Histogram.