7 great reasons why short term forklift hire could help you out

Even if your warehouse operation is running smoothly and you’re happy with your forklift fleet, there can still be times when you need a little extra help to meet peaks in demand. Short term forklift hire is often used by logistics professionals to make these busy periods easier, but there’s also plenty of great reasons to hire trucks for short periods even at quieter times of the year.

No matter the size of your material handling operation, this option could really help you out. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages.

You don’t tie up capital

When you buy trucks to allow your operation to expand, you naturally tie up a large amount of money which could be used elsewhere. Why not try short term hire next time? If demand continues to be high in future, you can think about buying. If not, forklift rental has saved you money in the long run.

You can try out new trucks before committing to a purchase

Getting the right truck is important, and you don’t want to make such a big purchase lightly. To make this easier, you could hire a few trucks on a short-term basis, allowing you to test them before making a decision. European road freight company, Knights of Old in Northampton, in the UK, originally did this with UniCarriers trucks, letting drivers test forklifts from different suppliers as part of their decision-making process.

You know all your costs from the start

Your accountants’ lives can be made a lot easier with short term hire. With many suppliers, the costs for your desired hire period are set from the start. This makes costs predictable, and could stop you being taken by surprise when it’s time to pay the bill.

Short notice? No problem.

One of the really big advantages of short term hire is that the time from order to delivery is often very short. There’s no need to spend a long time waiting for production, meaning you can get up and running at higher capacity very quickly.

You can get rid of it whenever you want

Your hired truck may have helped you have a stress-free Christmas period, but what about afterwards? Rather than having your truck sitting on the warehouse floor, some suppliers let you send it back at no notice, paying only for the transport costs.

Maintenance cover is usually included

Warehouses are challenging environments, and although they can be minimised, breakdowns and accidents can never be fully eliminated. Fortunately, your supplier may provide maintenance cover to keep your uptime to a maximum. 

There’s a huge choice available

When renting a forklift for a short period, you’re typically not limited to the trucks which happen to be in production at a given time. Many suppliers’ rental fleets contain trucks of all ages and levels of use - so no matter which task you need them for, or how much you want to spend, there’s usually something perfect available.

Short term hire is a great way to supplement your fleet at times of peak demand - but these don’t need to be the only times you should consider it. To find out more about the benefits for you, click the button below.