Each time a contractor has a large job and needs a specialized tool or piece of heavy equipment, sometimes the best thing to do is always to contact an equipment rental place rather than purchasing it. While rental equipment may appear to be less of a good thing than owning it, the liability of maintenance and storage when not being used is a headache saver for many companies. Unless the contractor has a large garage and storage facility just for euipment that is not in use, the ability to secure expensive equipment is compromised.
The news do not often portray the enormity of the price of equipment thefts, but sometimes there will be a story that is so extreme they will run it. A case where five items of heavy equipment that were stolen from a job site where they had been parked by the contractor and then sold was one such story. The general cost of the loss was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and most of the apparatus had been sold before the authorities discovered who the thief was. If the equipment was rented, it would probably not have now been stored irresponsibly. Still, losing five major pieces of equipment like heavy earth movers, track hoes, back hoes and asphalt layers does not appear to be a loss any business wants to deal with.
The insurance might cover the loss, but replacing depreciated equipment just isn’t an easy thing to swallow financially. Used equipment offers some tax breaks, but rental equipment does aswell and increases the ability for a business to cash flow with no overhead of equipment payments.