Renting equipment on a per-project basis offers contractors the flexibility to expand their business and take on more projects, even when their current equipment is already booked. Navigating the rental market for hydroexcavation and vacuum trucks can be challenging due to its competitive and often complex nature. Joe Johnson Equipment (JJE) provides valuable support to contractors, helping them navigate the rental process and make informed decisions to secure the right equipment for completing projects safely, efficiently and within budget.
Why contractors choose to rent vacuum trucks
Cost efficiency: Renting vacuum trucks helps avoid the substantial upfront investment associated with purchasing, freeing up capital for other critical project expenses.
Flexibility: Rental agreements offer the ability to choose from a wide variety of models and equipment options for your application, ensuring that the specific needs of each project are met effectively. Additionally, rental units should offer the latest features and technology.
Maintenance savings: Rental companies typically manage the maintenance and repair of vacuum trucks, reducing operational burdens and ensuring optimal performance. Make sure you understand your rental agreement to avoid any surprises.
Challenges of renting heavy equipment
Renting high-demand equipment for contractor projects can get pricey and competitive quickly; and come high season for construction and excavation, it’s a seller’s (or in this case, renter’s) market.
Availability: The high demand for vacuum trucks often leads to shortages. So booking your truck in advance is ideal, but not always possible when you’re trying to turn around smaller projects quickly. This leads to contractors having to push back deadlines, incur extra costs, and potentially walk away with damage to their reputation.
Cost management: Price is always a guiding factor for vac truck jobs. There are a multitude of unknowns that impact what contractors earn on each project. Pricing out rental equipment can quickly become more than they bargained for, and with vacuum truck rental prices rising, contractors need to be careful.
Compliance: Regulations for excavation, construction and considerations like axles and payload capacity differ from state to state and province to province. A knowledgeable rental team can help contractors remain compliant and safe, while avoiding costly fines.
The 5 must-haves on your vacuum truck rental checklist
Here’s the essential checklist that will help you more easily find and rent the equipment you need, when you need it.
- Project requirements: The biggest mistake you can make is applying the “one-size-fits-all” strategy to vacuum trucks. Pricing, features, power and capacity all come into play here. If you’re contracted for sewer cleaning, you might look at different Vactor models. For slot trenching, cold-weather applications, and utility locating, you’ll want to consider a TRUVAC unit.
- Budget: Next, look at your budget allocation and the size of your team. Determine if the job is small enough for a trailer or if you need a full-sized unit. You’ll be glad you did because stepping out of your budget can quickly cost you either your reputation or impact your bottom line. Also, be sure to ask about the vintage, make, model and mileage of the unit you’re considering to be sure the rate you’re quoted is competitive.
- Availability: You always want to have project requirements and budgets done first, because it will help you find the right equipment faster and help you more easily outline your needs to suppliers.
- Condition: This one might feel obvious but always check to make sure your vac truck has the options and features you need to do the job effectively. Your local dealer should be able to confirm that the unit is in the proper condition and complies with state and municipal guidelines for safety and highway regulations. Understand what options and accessories are included, like hoses, nozzles, vacuum excavation lances and safety features, to eliminate surprises and additional cost.
- Reputation: Only work with the best. You might be tempted to rent from anyone who has units available. However, be sure to partner with trustworthy experts in infrastructure maintenance to avoid problems that can arise with less experienced vendors. Be sure operator training led by a professional OEM factory-trained expert is included. Finally, your company’s image and reputation are important, so be sure you can add your own logo and branding to the unit.
Renting vac trucks from the Joe Johnson Equipment team
Joe Johnson Equipment is proud to serve and support contractors across the United States and Canada. We continue to grow and expand the number of areas we service. Additionally, we maintain a large and diverse fleet of rental equipment for nearly any application.
Visit www.jjei.com to learn more about JJE’s complete offering, including sales of new and pre-owned equipment, rentals, service, parts and training.
