The question about whether to buy or rent when it comes to aerial platforms has long been debated – in fact, it’s one of the most important financial decisions that affected businesses have to make. After all, we’re talking about equipment that might require significant upfront investment and making the wrong choice could have disastrous results. From our experience, there are a variety of things to consider when deciding between boom lift rental and purchase.
6 reasons why boom lift rental is better than buying
- Higher Upfront Costs – Buying is expensive. Regardless of whether you’re a small construction company or a major warehouse, price matters. This is the number one reason why companies ultimately choose to rent. Purchasing a lift requires a significantly larger investment, and its value drops once it’s driven off the lot.
- Maintenance – Let’s face it – things break and they need to be fixed if you want to continue using them. Once you’ve bought the machine, you’re not only responsible for fixing it you also have to pay for any replacement parts and often for having an expert on staff to make necessary repairs and keep it running.
- Hauling – Aerial platforms need to be hauled to the jobsite. When you own the machine, you’re responsible for moving it between sites – which means that you need something bigger than it to move it. You are also responsible for any permits and speciality escorts that are required to move large equipment on the road.
- Multiple Pieces of Equipment – If you’re working on more than one job, it’s likely that you’ll need more than one piece of equipment to service each location. The length of the job, as well as the distance from your headquarters, can have major implications on whether one lift is enough for you to get everything done.
- Higher Insurance – When you purchase a lift, remember that you must insure it for the entire year and for as long as you own it. It might be tempting to forego insurance, but it’s not worth the risk of a worker or even a member of the general public being involved in a serious incident. With rental, insurance is taken care of for you.
- Lifetime – Such industries often involve hard work, particularly construction, which means that equipment can take a real beating. In some cases, you’ll find that the lifts will age long before your investment has been paid off. This can make purchase feel like a waste of money, as you’re not actually getting its worth.
We hope that the information provided above has shown you why boom lift rental is preferable to purchasing for many businesses. Not only is there a lower up-front cost, maintenance and upkeep will be the responsibility of the supplier (rather than of you). The supplier will also take care of haulage and in many cases will even guarantee that the lift will be onsite at a specific time. This makes the whole process far smoother for you in the long run.
