In our previous article, we touched on the benefits of having moving truck rentals available at your facility. Let’s continue the discussion and cover a few more points that should be considered in making such a big decision.
The financial health of your business really needs to be your top priority when you are trying to decide on becoming a dealer or an owner. If you are looking to only supplement your self storage business with adding rentals, you will more than likely be set with a dealer partnership. Nut before you jump right into it, make sure that you take the time to assess the budget and figure out what the right solution is for you.
Time to Organize and Get Started
If you have done all the proper research and decide that bringing truck rentals into the home is the best thing to do, you will want to make sure that you have thought about all the things you will need to make the service work. It would not be beneficial to your tenants or to your business if you started it halfheartedly. Imagine having the truck, but no gas in them. Or double booking a truck because you don’t have a scheduling system implemented. Remember to have the following things planned out before you begin offering and renting moving trucks:
Weekend Hours
In most cases, big moves happen on the weekends. No one wants to take time off from work during the week to move. Because of this, you are going to make sure that your facility has implemented weekend access so that they can pick the truck up and drop it off when it is convenient for them.
Enough Space for Parking Extra Trucks
This may seem obvious, but just having the extra space isn’t enough. This space ideally will be close to the entryway or wherever they will be most visible to passing traffic. If your trucks are hidden, no one will know you have them available. It’s also good to keep them in a visible location so that your staff and managers can keep a close eye on them.
Records of Drivers Licenses and Payments
This one is so easy to be overlooked. In order for an individual to rent a truck, it is reasonable to need a valid drivers license and a credit card on file. The credit card will be used to secure a deposit for the truck just in case of damage. Most dealers will require $100-$200 depending on the size and location of the truck. And the valid drivers license necessity speaks for itself.
Detailed Record-Keeping for Lease Agreements.
When renting a truck, the individuals will need to sign an agreement that is similar to their store unit lease. Dealers will require that this be done through their documents and software, but if you are an owner, it will be up to you how to do this. It will be important to keep these documents separate from your storage documents. These documents will save you from “he said, she said” situations.
Renter’s insurance.
As with a car rental, house rental, or rental of a storage unit, your moving trucks will need to have rental insurance as well. If the renter does not opt in for this, they will be financially responsible for any damage that may come to the truck. Make sure that you team is familiar with this policy so that they can explain the importance of it.
In our next part of this article, we are going to chat about the best practices you can institute to take your revenue up a notch.
