What is mobilization?
Mobilization is the cost of getting to work before the work starts: loading and hauling machines to the site, crew travel, setup, and permits. It's a real cost of every job and belongs in every bid, either as its own line or built into the price.
A tri-axle and a lowboy don't move for free. Neither does the hour spent loading, chaining, unloading, and walking the machine to the back of the site. On a two-week job that cost disappears into the total; on a one-day job it can be a third of the real cost, which is why small jobs priced like big ones lose money.
What to include
- Trucking the equipment in and out (both directions, every mobilization)
- Load, unload, and setup time
- Permits, markout coordination, and pre-job walkthroughs
- Re-mobilization when a job pauses for an inspection, other trades, or weather
Line item or built in?
Commercial work usually shows mobilization as its own line, and re-mobilization language protects you when the schedule slips. Residential customers sometimes read a "mobilization" line as a junk fee, so many contractors build it into the price instead. Either is fine; forgetting it is not.