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Instead of investing in heavy machinery that the company may only need a few times in their lifetime, most leaders in the corporate world are opting for rentals.
If you are just getting in the business, say you are a landscaping professional who does not have tonnes of money to put into expensive machinery, you will certainly need to start somewhere. Lawn mowers, gardening tools, safety gear and leaf blowers will certainly set you back a pretty penny, and it’s not like you will use them every day. Therefore, instead of taking a loan, it would be a prudent financial move to get them on rental for the days you will need them.
Equipment rentals vary from small seemingly inconsequential lawn mowers to large and heavy forklifts. Even though these machines may differ in their cost, losing any of them while they are in your care is not an expense your business may have planned for.
How Can You Keep You Rentals Safe?
GPS tracking is one of the most efficient ways of keeping track of your equipment. It has become increasingly popular, with rental companies losing equipment through both fraud and genuine mistakes. When a renter gets equipment for your business, they sign a binding agreement. While you trust their word, it is prudent that you keep an eye on your asset once they leave your premises.
Track Their Movement
In the US, the equipment rental market grew by 8.1% to reach $38.5bilion in 2015 alone. Take for instance a truck. A rental company rented out three of their vehicles, as was their mode of business, to a trusted distributor, with whom they had an agreement on the areas to be covered. The manager of the transport company had them all installed with GPS trackers in one afternoon without alerting the distributor. Over the weekend, the transport manager tracks one of his company’s trucks hundreds of miles away from the agreed perimeter. The company calls the head of transport in the distribution company, only to find that he had no idea of what the fleet drivers do with the trucks after working hours.
The only way to keep track of your vehicles and to tell whether your agreement is being honoured is by installing tracking devices on them. The visibility will give you peace of mind. Besides, you will be getting your asset’s worth, even when the renter uses it outside of the agreed parameters. How’s that, you ask? By showing them the record of their usage, you can prove that they went beyond the set boundaries and they should pay for the extra mileage. Additionally, you can help the police track and recover them if they are stolen.
Locating them in Storage and In Transit
Smaller items have a way of ‘disappearing’ in storage. You can track them easily by installing trackers on them. That way, you will cut your search time by half.
This one may be a bit sensitive, but unfortunately, it happens. Sometimes items get lost in transit. If you have lost one too many farm inputs when being transported to the customer, you may want to install trackers on them to ensure that they get the renter safely. Essentially, you will be tracking your employee’s movements, to make sure that they get to the client as expected, instead of taking detours that could lead to unexpected delays or losses.
Parting Shot
A study conducted on fleet drivers showed that their behaviour improved when they learned they were being tracked. Their delivery efficiency went up by 11% while idle time was cut by 9%. Using GPS tracker systems you will lose fewer or no equipment, and you will sleep better.
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