The rental industry is experiencing a great boom at the moment. People are now more careful than ever when it comes to investments and they don’t want to spend a lot of cash on something that they don’t need very often, or at least not often enough to justify the purchase. Trailers are no different to any other product that can be both rented and bought. Of course, there are situations in which owning a trailer is the best and shrewdest option for companies.
However, there are even more situations in which renting a trailer makes much more sense. Needless to say, each business owner and manager needs to evaluate pros and cons of buying a trailer vs. renting one before they arrive at the right decision. In this text we are going to take a look at some of the most important benefits of renting a trailer.
Duration of use
It’s vital you correctly estimate how long you’ll need a trailer for. If you only need it for a short duration or a one-time event, then renting is a much more sensible alternative. You have the convenience of getting in and out fast and there is no hassle of arranging for financing.
What’s more, you don’t need to deal with all the licencing, registration and insurance paperwork. Basically, with short-term renting, you don’t have those upkeep responsibilities that you do as an owner and you don’t have to worry about other aspects of ownership.
Financial aspect
If you decide to buy a trailer, you need to take into account the fact that you’ll most likely have to splash a considerable amount of cash as a down payment. That means that your cash reserves will take a serious blow. Also, you might have a significant existing debt-to-service ratio, which makes financing a challenge. On the other hand, there are no such issues with renting a trailer.
The financial aspect should be seriously considered, and all options need to be analysed carefully for the right decision to be made. You shouldn’t take this criterion as the only one, but you mustn’t exclude it from any analysis either.
Storing
Owning a trailer means you need to find space to store it when it isn’t used, which can be a real challenge. Trailers take up quite a lot of parking room, which is another reason why you’d better contact a reputable trailer rental company, which boasts a range of various trailers and which allows you to pick it up and drop it off at its premises, rather than trying to store it where you have little or no room.
Though it’s true that by renting you’re actually sacrificing availability which turns into time spent getting a trailer and sending it back, but in the long run the advantages can easily outweigh the cons. So, think carefully about whether you have enough parking space for such an addition to your fleet.
Having more options
When you buy a trailer, you’re stuck with your choice. It may turn out rather soon that the trailer you bought is either too big or too small for your needs or you simply realize that you should ideally have a range of different trailers for each need.
Since that is unlikely to be an option for your company, because it would require substantial investments and extremely difficult management of your fleet, it makes most sense to opt for renting. Depending on the type and size of the trailer you need, you can simply rent the one that suits your current needs best, without having to worry that your trailer is unsuitable for your business.
Maintenance
Every maintenance company has the responsibility of maintaining their inventory. Reputable rental companies need to keep their fleet well-maintained because it makes good business sense. They want their reputation to remain at a high level and want people to trust them. On the other hand, your company may not be in position to do so, because that requires substantial investment of human and financial resources.
On the other hand, you can be sure that regular maintenance is built into your rental agreement, which gives you peace of mind. Needless to say, there is no guarantee that you won’t have problems on the road, but the chances are really minimal.
As you can see, there are quite a few advantages to renting a trailer. Each of the five listed above is good enough in its own right to make you opt for renting instead of buying a trailer for your business. Basically, if you can’t afford a down payment, don’t need to use a trailer most of the time, can’t invest in its maintenance or your needs vary during the year, you should most certainly choose the option to rent a trailer when you need one.
