diff --git a/scripts/loadtime b/scripts/loadtime
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..af7371d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/loadtime
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+import time
+import argparse
+
+import semidbm
+
+
+def measure_laod_time(db_path):
+    num_loads = 10
+    times = []
+    o = semidbm.open
+    for  i in range(num_loads):
+        start = time.time()
+        db = o(db_path, 'c')
+        times.append(time.time() - start)
+        db.close()
+    print "%.5f milliseconds average load time" % (
+        (sum(times) / float(num_loads)) * 1000)
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument('db_path')
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    measure_laod_time(args.db_path)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()