When is it cheaper to rent a Portable Diesel Air Compressor by the week than by the day?

From day 5. 5 days at the $400 day rate would be $2,000, but the weekly rate caps it at $1,600.

When is it cheaper to rent a Portable Diesel Air Compressor on the 28-day rate?

From day 16. At that point the week-and-day composition reaches the $4,000 28-day rate, and the price stops climbing for the rest of the cycle.

Break-even duration

Equipment rents on three rates — a day rate, a week rate and a 28-day rate — and the cheapest one changes as the job runs long. This finds the two days where it changes, on a real listing’s real published rates.

Portable Diesel Air Compressor

See the listing →

Daniel Sheridan · Compressors - Air Compressors

Day: $400
Week: $1,600
28 days: $4,000

Daily stops winning on

day 5

5 days at the day rate would be $2,000. On the week rate it is $1,600.

Weekly stops winning on

day 16

16 days at the day rate would be $6,400. On the 28-day rate it is $4,000.

The working

Whole weeks bill at the week rate; the leftover days bill at the day rate but never add up to more than one extra week; and a whole 28-day cycle never costs more than the 28-day rate. That is the rule, applied one day at a time.

Rental price by duration for Portable Diesel Air Compressor, days 1 to 35
Days	At the day rate	On the ladder	Difference	Rate in play
1	$400	$400	—	day
2	$800	$800	—	day
3	$1,200	$1,200	—	day
4	$1,600	$1,600	—	day
5	$2,000	$1,600	you save $400	week
6	$2,400	$1,600	you save $800	week
7	$2,800	$1,600	you save $1,200	week
8	$3,200	$2,000	you save $1,200	week
9	$3,600	$2,400	you save $1,200	week
10	$4,000	$2,800	you save $1,200	week
11	$4,400	$3,200	you save $1,200	week
12	$4,800	$3,200	you save $1,600	week
13	$5,200	$3,200	you save $2,000	week
14	$5,600	$3,200	you save $2,400	week
15	$6,000	$3,600	you save $2,400	week
16	$6,400	$4,000	you save $2,400	28-day
17	$6,800	$4,000	you save $2,800	28-day
18	$7,200	$4,000	you save $3,200	28-day
19	$7,600	$4,000	you save $3,600	28-day
20	$8,000	$4,000	you save $4,000	28-day
21	$8,400	$4,000	you save $4,400	28-day
22	$8,800	$4,000	you save $4,800	28-day
23	$9,200	$4,000	you save $5,200	28-day
24	$9,600	$4,000	you save $5,600	28-day
25	$10,000	$4,000	you save $6,000	28-day
26	$10,400	$4,000	you save $6,400	28-day
27	$10,800	$4,000	you save $6,800	28-day
28	$11,200	$4,000	you save $7,200	28-day
29	$11,600	$4,400	you save $7,200	day
30	$12,000	$4,800	you save $7,200	day
31	$12,400	$5,200	you save $7,200	day
32	$12,800	$5,600	you save $7,200	day
33	$13,200	$5,600	you save $7,600	week
34	$13,600	$5,600	you save $8,000	week
35	$14,000	$5,600	you save $8,400	week

Rental rates only. Protection and the marketplace service fee are added on top — see the checkout figure below.

What checkout will quote you

Rental · 16 days: $4,000
Rental protection (RPP): $600
Service fee: $400
Estimated total: $5,000

Pick a listing

The numbers come from one operator’s published rates, so the tool needs to know whose.

Where these numbers come from

The rates are the operator’s own, read live from their listing. The arithmetic is the same best-price billing engine that produces 2Quip invoices — not a second copy written for this page — run on the industry-standard terms: a 28-day cycle, whole weeks at the week rate, leftover days at the day rate capped at one more week.

An operator can agree different terms on an individual rental, and a long rental bills per 28-day cycle rather than in one lump. So treat this as what the rate card says, and the operator’s quote as what you are agreeing to.