An excavation inventory specialist keeps filters, bucket teeth, cutting edges, hoses, fluids and fuel on hand for the company's excavators, dozers, loaders and dump trucks. They log every fuel fill and hour meter reading by machine, reorder before a crew runs short, and keep spill kits stocked on every job.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Responsible for efficiently managing inventory and equipment for excavation and site work operations to ensure seamless project execution and optimal resource utilization. Plays a crucial role in tracking parts and fuel usage, conducting timely reorders, and logging equipment status to support operational stability and efficiency.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Monitor equipment and supply levels to maintain uninterrupted project work.
Track parts usage and fuel consumption accurately to forecast future needs.
Coordinate with vendors for timely reordering of essential supplies.
Update and maintain detailed equipment status logs.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review inventory reports and adjust orders based on current usage and project requirements.
Inspect equipment onsite to log operational status and identify maintenance needs.
Communicate with suppliers to arrange delivery schedules and manage supply contracts.
Collaborate with the project management team to ensure inventory supports day-to-day excavation and site work operations.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Inventory Accuracy Rate: 98% or higher.
Fuel Consumption Efficiency: Maintain within 5% variance of projected usage.
Equipment Downtime: Less than 3% through proactive maintenance logging.
Order Fulfillment Time: 24 hours or less from request to order placement.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or equivalent; technical certification preferred.
Minimum of 2 years’ experience in inventory management within the construction or home services industry.
Strong analytical skills and attention to detail for tracking and forecasting inventory needs.
Proficiency with inventory management software and basic computer skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in excavation, site work, or construction operations.
Familiarity with fuel management and parts supply chain processes within heavy equipment industries.
Prior experience collaborating with cross-functional teams in a fast-paced environment.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds safely.
Frequent movement around warehouse and outdoor sites in varying weather conditions.
Capability to work in environments that may include hot, cold, or noisy conditions.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Occasional overtime and weekend work may be required during high-demand periods.
Limited travel to project sites and supplier locations.
On-call duties may be required for urgent inventory or equipment issues.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Hourly rate range from $18.00 to $25.00 per hour, based on experience and qualifications.
Performance-based bonus structure available.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance plans provided.
401k retirement plan with company matching contributions.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking company with a strong commitment to operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Our team values collaboration, innovation, and professional growth while maintaining a supportive and inclusive environment.
We encourage employees to contribute ideas and take initiative in driving success and excellence in every project undertaken.
Join us to be part of a culture that celebrates achievement and invests in personal and professional development.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
In site work, stock exists to keep machines running. The shelf follows the fleet: what each machine burns, wears out and leaks, and what has to reach the job before the machine does.
Fuel is logged by the machine
Each fill from the fuel truck or the yard tank gets logged against a machine number and its hour meter. Then gallons per engine hour, machine by machine, shows what a total fuel bill hides. A sudden rise can mean a leak, a clogged filter, a machine left idling through lunch, or fuel going somewhere it shouldn't. Each week, the specialist checks what the fuel truck pumped against what the supplier delivered.
Teeth and edges wear with the ground
Sand, gravel and broken rock grind down bucket teeth and cutting edges fast. The specialist tracks each set by machine and job. That way a month of trenching through gravel shows up in the next order, not as an excavator digging with worn stubs. Pins and retainers sit with every tooth size, since a lost pin parks a machine just like a lost tooth.
Spill kits on permitted sites
Builders who hold EPA's construction stormwater permit, issued by EPA in New Hampshire, must follow its fuel and oil rules. Cans and pails under 55 gallons stay sealed when not in use, on a spill pallet if outdoors. Drums and tanks of 55 gallons and up sit 50 feet or more from waters, ditches and storm drains, or as far as a tight site allows with the reason on file, under cover or with containment. Each site needs a spill kit that isn't damaged, expired or used up. Source: EPA: 2022 Construction General Permit, as modified (fuel and oil storage, Part 2.3).
DEF has a shelf life
Many newer diesel machines and trucks also need diesel exhaust fluid. A truck maker's service bulletin lists the basics. It must meet the ISO 22241 standard. It freezes at about 12 degrees Fahrenheit. It keeps best sealed and out of the sun, and it goes bad sooner when stored hot. So the specialist buys only what the fleet will use, uses the oldest first, and keeps DEF away from fuel cans. Nothing else belongs in a DEF tank. Source: Navistar service bulletin: Diesel exhaust fluid tips (NHTSA file).
Same model, different parts
Two excavators of the same model can take different filters, belts or hoses if they were built in different years. The specialist orders by serial number and builds a kit for each machine's next service, with filters and fluids bagged and labeled. The mechanic or the field service truck then grabs one box instead of hunting the shelves.
How much excavation inventory specialists make
The closest BLS group for excavation inventory specialists is shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks. Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $25.00 an hour ($51,990 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $45,260 median for shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks in all industries. About 490 of the 816,870 shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks in that survey work for other specialty trade contractors.
Pay is hourly plus a bonus in this template. At the starting rate you're hiring below almost every inventory clerk BLS counts at these contractors, which suits someone you'll train, and the top rate equals their median. Fuel logs that reconcile each week and machines never parked for lack of a stocked part are fair grounds for the bonus.
Other specialty trade contractors
$51,990$51,990 median Middle half $46,640–$63,270 10th–90th $37,960–$69,970
All industries
$45,260$45,260 median Middle half $38,200–$51,570 10th–90th $34,650–$62,190
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Other specialty trade contractors
$37,960
$46,640
$51,990
$63,270
$69,970
All industries
$34,650
$38,200
$45,260
$51,570
$62,190
BLS doesn’t publish pay for excavation contractors on their own. These figures cover other specialty trade contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has kept parts for heavy equipment, trucks or a rental fleet
Orders filters and wear parts by serial number, not just by model
Logs every fuel fill with its hour meter reading, every time
Notices when one machine's fuel or parts use jumps and asks why
Keeps fuel, oil and DEF stored where they belong and spill kits full
Teach these on the job
Your machines and the service kit each one takes
Your dealers' parts portals and their lead times
Your fuel truck meter and weekly fuel reconciliation
Your fleet software, its machine numbers and job codes
The stormwater rules on your permitted sites
The specialist works in the shop's inventory or fleet software, dealer parts portals, hour readings from each machine's telematics, and a fuel log fed by the fuel truck's meter or fuel cards. Bins carry barcode labels, and the parts truck that makes site runs keeps a spill kit behind the seat.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Count discrepancies
The system shows six hydraulic filters for your excavators, but the shelf has two. What do you do?
A strong answer: Recounts, checks recent work orders and checkouts, finds where the record broke down, corrects it with a note, and reorders if needed.
Behavioral · Working with the shop
Tell me about a time you worked with mechanics to have the right parts on hand before a big service or a rock job.
A strong answer: Reviewed the service schedule and upcoming jobs with the shop, pre-staged filter kits and wear parts by machine, and cut the time mechanics or crews waited on parts.
Fuel and parts use swing with the work: a month of trenching in gravel burns teeth and diesel faster than a month of finish grading. Compare like months before you set targets.
Inventory Accuracy Rate
Count the parts that park a machine every week and the rest monthly, against the system. When one part comes up short again and again, look at how it leaves the shelf.
Fuel Consumption Efficiency
Gallons per engine hour for each machine, from the fuel log and hour meters, set against that machine's own average on similar work and checked every week.
Equipment Downtime
Hours a machine sat waiting on a part or fluid the shelf was meant to hold, kept apart from repair time the shop needed. Name the missing part each time so the stock list gets fixed.
Order Fulfillment Time
Time between a mechanic's or foreman's parts request and the order going to the dealer, from the request log's timestamps. Rush orders and dealer back orders go on their own lines.
Career path
Dealer parts counter or yard handKnows filters, teeth and hoses by sight and by part number.
Excavation inventory specialistKeeps parts, fuel and machine logs straight so crews never wait on stock.
DispatcherPuts the same machine knowledge to work on each day's moves and fuel runs.
Whatever the mechanic's next day of services and likely repairs will use: filter kits for the machines due, grease, the common fluids, a few hoses for lines that fail often, and a box of teeth, pins and retainers. The specialist restocks the truck each evening from the work orders and logs what left the shelf against each machine. Every trip back to the yard for a missing filter is time a machine sits.
How much does an excavation inventory specialist make?
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $25.00 an hour ($51,990 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $46,640 and $63,270 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Which parts should we keep on the shelf instead of ordering?
Keep a part when two things are true: a machine can't work without it, and the dealer can't get it to you by the next morning. Everything else can come on order. Go over the list after each season with the downtime log, and add anything that parked a machine. Big parts such as a final drive or a hydraulic pump usually make more sense to order when needed.
Who keeps the silt fence and seed?
Often the specialist. A hard rain can knock down silt fence on several sites in one night, so keep a set stock of fence, stakes, straw wattles, seed and mulch, and refill it after every big storm. When crews head out the morning after to repair erosion controls, the material should already be on the truck, not on order.
How should the posting explain the template's 50-pound, outdoor and noise lines?
Keep the lines as written, then show the work behind them. In this job that means carrying boxes of filters and pails of hydraulic oil, loading teeth and cutting edges onto the parts truck, and walking a muddy site to read hour meters beside running machines. It also means an unheated parts room in winter and the yard in summer. Put those tasks in the post, plan a hoist or a second person for the heaviest edges, and list a contact for accommodation questions.
