ONE PROBLEM, IN DETAIL

EXCAVATION: HAUL-OFF AND TRUCKING

QUICK ANSWER

Moving thousands of tons is the job. When hauling distances grow past the bid assumption, profit disappears by the load. Idle trucking subs bill $85 to $125 per hour each when the site isn't ready for them.

This page covers one problem. The full picture for this trade, including the other places margin leaks, is on the excavation operating system page.

BY JOSH LUEBKERPublished 2026-08-06Updated 2026-08-06
WHAT BREAKS

WHERE THE MONEY GOES.

Haul-off and trucking (the profit that leaves by the ton)

Covered in full in the quick answer above. The sourced numbers and what controls it are below.

WHAT THE TRADE PRESS SAYS

THE SAME PROBLEM, WRITTEN UP.

If hauling distances increase unexpectedly, profits disappear quickly. Know where material will be taken before submitting your bid.

Excavating Insurance Partners estimating guide, 2026

When your trucking sub shows up and the site isn't ready, you're paying for idle trucks at $85 to $125 per hour each.

Projul, 2026

WHAT THIS TRADE SHOULD EARN

THE NUMBER TO MEASURE IT AGAINST.

Excavation contractors run about % net profit at $1M to $5M, rising to roughly 10% at $5M to $10M. The CFOS target at $1M to $5M is10%, set at 10 percent before taxes or 3.5 points better than your trade's average at your revenue, whichever is higher. A problem like this one lives in the distance between those two figures rather than in a loss on any single job.

Gross margin over the same bands runs % to 23%, against a CFOS target of 10%.

Full excavation benchmark bands by revenue

WHAT CONTROLS IT

THE SYSTEM THAT FIXES THIS.

Job Profitability System

Cost codes built against the estimate, so a job can be read while it runs.

How the Job Profitability System works

COMMON QUESTIONS

FREQUENTLY ASKED.

Excavation contractors at $1M to $5M in revenue net 5.5 percent on average, rising to 8.5 percent by $25M to $50M. The CFOS target at $1M to $5M is 10 percent, and it rises with revenue. The gap usually sits in untracked production rates, haul-off cost drift, and iron that bills nothing. Every net profit figure here is stated before taxes, the same basis CFMA reports on, so the two are directly comparable.
Because the trade pays you last and charges you first. Equipment payments and fuel run daily, trucking subs bill weekly, and the receivable lands 60 to 90 days later, minus retainage. Add one rock surprise or one failed compaction test and the quarter's cash is spoken for.
Classify soils in the bid, carry unit prices for rock and unsuitable material, and tie both to a written changed-conditions clause. The cost of extra spoil gets spent before any dispute resolves; the paper trail is what turns a surprise into a paid change order instead of a donation.
Three tiers, and which one you are in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. Core is where you stop guessing: job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a monthly meeting that ends in decisions, while your bookkeeper keeps doing the books. Executive is where you stop touching the books, because we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Strategic is where every job shows its margin while it is still running, because the job costing and WIP platform is set up and managed for you. No payroll. No scope gaps.
Sixty days. We migrate your books back to the start of your last taxable year, set up ControlQore, and build your job costing structure from scratch. Fully operational in two months.
WHAT THIS TIES INTO
Josh Luebker, The Construction CFO
Josh Luebker
FRACTIONAL CFO · THE CONSTRUCTION CFO

Former commercial construction project manager and master electrician. Managed 150+ projects worth more than $2.1B combined, with individual jobs from $50,000 to $300M, including data centers, military bases, hospitals, and high-rises. Now fractional CFO for commercial subcontractors doing $1M to $12M through Sulphur Prairie Management.About Josh  | LinkedIn

IS THIS COSTING YOU MORE THAN YOU THINK?

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