Now think about what it would take to finance a cold milling machine. With smaller contractors, typically it makes the most sense that they finance over a five-year (60 month) period of time. At today's terms, a $300,000 machine financed over 60 months would come to about a $5,800 monthly payment - or $69,600 annually. Looking back to that $84,000 spent yearly on a subcontractor compared with the annual payment to purchase the equipment, that's $14,400 of potential profits that they are simply giving away to another contractor.

Of course, given the current demand for milling, most contractors are engaging these services much more than twice a month. Therefore, the potential profits that they can add to their own operation are quite compelling. But the key to remember is that even if a contractor on average is using the mill less than twice per month, it would still be enough to realize a positive return on investment while putting a little extra money in his pocket.