Renting a delivery van for your business can really be the smart option. It extends your operational capabilities without building in ongoing overheads.
If you’re still small, it’s the occasional workhorse that lets you fill a big order. If you’re serving a seasonal crowd, it means you don’t have unused capital equipment depreciating throughout the slack time. If your own vehicle is off the road, it is the backup that keeps things rolling. Let’s look at delivery van hire in a little more detail.
On-road capacity on demand
One of the biggest hurdles in business are the upfront costs you need to spend to have a chance to grow. You need capital equipment to get new business, but you need new business to fund the capital equipment!
Too often this means that, as business lack capacity, their opportunities go begging. However, it also doesn’t make sense to own a lot of equipment if it’s just there on hope. In the case of a commercial vehicle, paying for rego, loans and insurance on a vehicle you are not deriving full benefit from is dead money.
This is why it can make sense to rent. While every business is different and has unique needs, hiring a delivery van – and, if need be, a driver – to make your business more mobile, replace a downed unit in your existing fleet or just to ship an unusually big order can be the smartest move. You’re accessing the capacity you need to grow, not stuck in the common small business trap of trading just to cover too many overheads.
Why businesses need to hire a van
Ranging from car-like load-luggers up to bigger units that rival small trucks, a rented van means flexibility.
From our 20 years of experience, we have identified three main categories of businesses looking to hire a delivery van instead of buying one: repeat, occasional and replacement. Which one are you?
- Repeat van rental – These are businesses that know when they will need a van in advance. It’s often for regular or repeat bookings, but those bookings are too far apart (such as businesses that only trade heavily during school holidays) or where their operations are too small to fund owning a van (such as stallholders at weekend markets).
- Occasional van rentals – These are businesses that are doing something new. Examples of this are that they are attending a trade show or filling an unusually large order. If you’re attending a trade show, you’ll know what you need well in advance, but if you’re filling a large order you might just need the van as soon as possible!
- Replacement – These are businesses that already have their own delivery vehicles, but for whatever reason they need to replace one. Perhaps your usual work van has broken down or is being sold. Closely related to replacement are those businesses that temporarily need something larger than their usual fleet units.
Why rent a delivery van over renting a truck
At first glance, vans and trucks seem like they do exactly the same job, but there are important differences in how they move cargo from A to B. Vans offer many unique advantages:
- Higher security – vans are fully lockable and use the integrated security systems of a purpose-built vehicle
- Full weather protection – all cargo is kept clean and out of the elements inside the vehicle
- Easier to manoeuvre – more car-like dimensions and handling mean vans are easier to park in tight areas like markets and inner-city loading zones
- Easier to unload – vans have side and rear access and a low loading height
- Climate controlled interior – the load space of a van can be kept at the same temperature as the cab, important for perishable stock
- Higher comfort for long-distance trips – often based around a passenger vehicle platform, vans are more refined on long journeys than trucks.
If gross cargo capacity is not the controlling factor for you, then a van is usually the best commercial vehicle choice. They are perfect for transporting non-palletised, fragile, expensive, or awkward loads such as:
- Food, flowers and wine
- Furniture, artworks and antiques
- Clothing and clothing racks
- Valuable electronics and tools
- Printed materials and promotional items.
Renting a van for your business
Whether you have a recurring need, a once-off need or you’re replacing one of your own fleet, renting a van is a great value-conscious choice.
Simply, if you need to safely haul equipment, stock or raw materials and then unload them easily, a van is your best bet.
When you hire one, always choose a trustworthy vehicle rental company that specialises in commercials. They’re the experts who’ll make it simple.Choose a company like Southern Cross Truck Rentals next time you are hiring a van.
Contact Southern Cross Truck Rentals today to find out more about van hire.
