Renting a truck?

Just my opinion but I wouldn't throw away money on a rental you will never see it again.

 

Very easy process with Penske,kinda like renting a regular car, there is no need to make an account like with Ryder. Just gotta have them added to your commercial insurance. After getting a truck slap your DOT number on the door and you are good to go.

 

Soooo much cheaper to buy an older truck and make sure it is the route you want to go.

 

I am going to strongly disagree with these two posts. The OP is not in the trucking business, he is in the flooring business. They are only using trucks to be able to transport their people, products and equipment which are what produce the business revenue. They probably don't have a shop, nor mechanic and their trucks are not a profit-centre, but rather they are strictly an expense. In my experience--having been in their position--a full-service rental/lease is absolutely the way to go. You don't worry about anything more than putting fuel in and paying the bill. Most importantly, the transportation side of the business doesn't take anything away from the revenue side of the business.

I also don't believe the "cheaper to buy an older truck" mantra. I ran a fleet of trucks in the oilfield / heavy-haul segment... all rentals. My fixed cost for the trucks plus maintenance was about 12% of revenue. I had no capital tied up in depreciating assets, no additional costs for mechanics, tools, shop, shop supplies, parts inventory, never had to spend any time on maintenance, etc. Heck, I didn't even have to worry about parking on home-time as the dealer had secured parking available for "their" trucks... with plug-ins! (ultra-important in the frozen north). And, despite operating the infamous International / Cummins ISX cluster****, and going through innumerable EGR, DPF, etc., parts and even grenading a transmission and a few turbos, my up-time was nearly 100% and there were no additional costs for such calamities.

I made more revenue per truck and spent less time doing it than the other O/Os / fleet owners we were working beside. And I had no long-term commitment, like a purchase, so when rates went south our trucks just went back and no headaches about carrying payments or disposing of assets. Likewise, I could increase my fleet simply and quickly.

 

Just to add...

Don't get me wrong, some guys like to work on their truck(s) and don't really look at that time as an expense or part of their business. If they do... great, all the power to them! In my case it was strictly a business and trucks were just tools to do a job.

 

Less headache. Tax write off.

 

I have dealt with them a bit on the commercial side and a lot on the personal side (I went for a year and-a-half with no personal vehicle and rented one almost weekly) and in many different locations across Canada and the U.S. They were always good to deal with, but of course it varies from location-to-location. We rarely had any dispute and if we did it was resolved quickly and always in our favour.

Compare rates for similar vehicles between local locations... you will likely find some variance (sometimes surprisingly large--there's something like 15 locations in the city I live in). Your options in this regard are more limited on the commercial side though. You might find much more agreeable rates from a location that's a bit farther out, but which doesn't have a big demand for the vehicles you need.

 

Everyone has opinions.