diff --git a/hc_spider/timer.py b/hc_spider/timer.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e80260c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hc_spider/timer.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import os
+import threading
+import time
+
+from hc_spider.model import SharedObjects
+
+
+class Timer(threading.Thread):
+    _shared_objects: SharedObjects
+
+    def __init__(self, **kwargs) -> None:
+        self._shared_objects = SharedObjects(**kwargs)
+        super().__init__()
+        self.daemon = True
+        self.name = "Timer"
+
+    def run(self) -> None:
+        print(f"{self.name} started with pid [{os.getpid()}]")
+        runtime = self._shared_objects.config.get("timer_runtime", 0)
+        if runtime == 0:
+            return
+        time.sleep(runtime)
+        print(f"{self.name} timer reached the end of runtime, exiting")
+        self._shared_objects.shutdown_event.set()
+        print(f"[{self.name}] is shutting down", flush=True)
+
+    def __del__(self) -> None:
+        print(f"[{self.name}] exited")