In your personal life, it might make more sense to buy things rather than rent them. However, this mindset might not work out as well in the world of business. Renting commercial fleet vehicles means you can free up your revenue to put into other things, including higher-caliber tools and better vehicle security. Renting a commercial fleet means you can help your cash flow breathe easier while letting your business enjoy more mobility, provided you know the right tips.
5 Tips To Rent A Commercial Fleet
Whether you're looking to start or grow your rented commercial fleet, there are a few pointers that can help you maximize the situation to your company's benefit.
Use the 90/10 Rule: If your company can do 90% of its work with vehicles already in your possession, then bringing in rentals when necessary can accomplish two things. First, you'll expand your options for transportation. Second, you'll reduce your costs because you're not overloading any fleet you own.
Assign a Fleet Manager: You can possibly manage your daily fleet activities and still focus on other business aspects if your commercial rental fleet is between two and 10 vehicles. Once you get past 12, then the workload can become too much when you factor in driver performance, vehicle readiness, logistics, and the like. Whether you assign someone internally or hire someone, a commercial fleet manager can be a dedicated resource to handle your rental fleet.
Be Smart About Upgrades: The right commercial vehicle rentals might help you fill needs for your business that your current vehicles don't. If you carry lots of passengers around, getting a big van might mean suddenly making one trip instead of two. If the price of fuel concerns you, then renting electric vehicles might save you money.
Remember to Advertise: Even a rental vehicle can be a platform for branding and advertising. Some long-term rental agreements might allow for repainting a vehicle, but you can always use temporary options. Possibilities include magnetic vinyl signage or vehicle wraps with your branding, name, logo, and contact information.
Check the MPG: If you don't aim for electric vehicles as mentioned already, then always check out the MPG of vehicles you rent. Commercial rental vehicles might be newer than permanent members of your fleet and feature the latest technology. Having access to higher-MPG vehicles for your work projects that cover the most miles can do wonders for your fuel budget.
Two Steps To Function And Fit
When you start looking for commercial rental vehicles to lease, you might begin your hunt by looking for exactly what you think your business needs. However, that might not be the right way to go about it. While you might find just what you want, there is another possibility to consider.
An alternative approach is to look for vehicles that fit your budget and could be what you're looking for.
You can use a third-party service to modify the vehicles into an asset that your business can use. This one-two combination can be cheaper overall at times. It also might be your only choice if you can't find rental vehicles to lease that would work for your company as they are currently.
According to Basin Upfitting, one of the commercial truck upfitters in Salt Lake City UT, “While your truck is being upfitted we can also customize a wrap design to turn your daily driving into a rolling advertisement.
Upfitting services can help you customize leased vehicles to exactly what you need, whether it's making customizations for handling bulk materials, or wrapping your fleet vehicles with custom logos and designs. Instead of using a general pick-up truck, landscapers and contractors can have vehicles that cater to their unique needs, such as floor materials, hoists, side accessories, and storage compartments. Trucks can be upfitted for professionals of any industry.
Weatherproof toolboxes that feature stainless locks and latches help professionals in any sector keep their tools handy and safe. Worklights offer portable illumination at worksites that might not have electricity available. Adjustable shelving lets you rearrange the storage capacity on a per-job basis.
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Why Fleet Leasing Is Getting More Popular
If you're considering leasing your vehicle fleet, whether partially or fully, then you're far from alone. Forbes has reported on how many commercial leaders are turning to vehicle rentals. There are quite a few reasons why this has been happening in the last several years.
The trends fueling commercial vehicle leasing were already in motion before the pandemic, and they're still very much in play after the height of the crisis. Operating any commercial vehicle fleet is a complex affair, but technological advancements are expediting the sophistication.
Onboard technologies, emission controls, and digitally connected engines all offer vehicle operators and users increased benefits and value, but they also mean more knowledge and skills are necessary.
Among major companies, one in three vehicles in a commercial fleet is leased. That might go up due to taxes and changes to transportation, logistics, and supply chains. One thing that leasing has a definitive benefit over ownership is maintenance.
Many motor vehicles handle themselves well until around 80,000 miles before entering a maintenance "trough" from there until 120,000 miles. Leasing vehicles and then returning them before that point means your company can possibly skip the most expensive repair bills.
Leasing commercial vehicles should help you keep your fleet up to date with reliable, safe, and physically comfortable models. In a time when retaining the best talent in your workforce is getting harder to do, letting them spend their many hours a week in something they like might be just enough to keep them all from bolting.
Ownership of your own vehicles does have advantages, but leasing commercial vehicles is becoming increasingly attractive as an option to many businesses. New tax rules, combined with structural changes to transportation, supply chains, and logistics in general, add up to making renting company vehicles a smart move in many cases. These tips should help you make the most out of the situation.