When heavy equipment or large trucks are needed for a project, you’ll need to decide whether to rent, lease, finance or buy that equipment outright. There are, of course, pros and cons to every decision, so evaluating your company’s current situation and capabilities will be helpful there.
Buying your equipment will require a large initial investment but will provide you with possible tax advantages; however, if you don’t really need it after a particular job, then the truck will sit unused. Financing a truck will often have a low initial investment with possible tax benefits for your business, but again the vehicle will belong to you whether you need it or not.
For any short-term or one-off jobs or equipment needs that are very specialized, renting equipment may make more sense.
You will need to keep in mind that renting equipment does require a pre-qualification, and demand can create challenges in obtaining the vehicle you need. If there is a lot of storm damage in your area, for example, it may be difficult to find vehicles that are used for electrical issues.
Here at Utility Equipment Service, we have over 25 customers that have gone through a pre-qualifying process that includes keeping their insurance information on file. This significantly expedites the rental process for these customers. Our team also takes the steps to obtain vehicles in advance if we know that they will be needed in the future by one of our clients, and we are fully committed to working with all our customers as an extension of their team in order to get the job done.
A number of our customers primarily rent their equipment, since they are not sure they are ready to purchase a new truck outright. UES applies a percentage of rent to ownership costs, so it’s a great way to prepare for that ownership!
Here are a few reasons why renting equipment can be a great business option:
- Avoid Initial Cost of Purchase. Purchasing equipment is very expensive and will tie a business owner down to particular items while renting avoids those costs and allows owners to better allocate their resources.
- Lower Maintenance and Repair Costs. Vehicles and heavy machinery require significant upkeep and maintenance, and when the equipment is purchased, the upkeep is the owner’s responsibility. With rentals, the time and labor costs are more manageable since they are usually part of the rental agreement.
- Market Fluctuation. Many factors influence the construction market, and changes in costs of equipment or number of jobs are out of a business owner’s control. Renting instead of committing to a piece of equipment through ownership will make it easier to handle those fluctuations.
- Depreciation. Owning machinery means an owner will incur considerable depreciation costs while renting equipment will avoid those associated losses.
- Storage. When a business owner is an equipment owner, storage solutions must be found, while when that equipment is rented, the company need not worry about long-term storage. Warehouse costs can be very high, so again, renting equipment can be a great option for your business.
At Utility Equipment Service, we offer Bucket Trucks, Digger Derricks, and Utility Trailer rentals for the week or the month, or until your project is complete. All units have a one-week minimum, and rental rates are based on the size of the unit. Call us today at (931) 489-0900 for availability of equipment.
