Equipment Rental Inspection

 

Managing multiple equipment rental operation locations can be a logistical nightmare. 

After all, you can’t be at all locations at all times. Without a system that gives you visibility to your rental operations, you’ll be hard-pressed to detect and address gaps in your processes that could hamper your operations.

That’s why you need a proven system that lets you manage your equipment rental operations even when you’re offsite.

With the right systems and solutions, you can optimize managing your equipment rental operations remotely — from tracking your assets’ condition, accessing equipment inspection information to comprehensive damage reporting.    

This article highlights an interview with Perco Rentals Service Manager, William Strength. We went over the importance of using reliable technology to establish rental processes that streamline managing various equipment rental locations.

Expedite your asset condition monitoring process

One of the biggest challenges you can face as a rental equipment company is knowing your assets’ actual condition throughout the rental process. This can be even more difficult when you’re managing multiple locations and a fleet of dozens, hundreds, or especially thousands of equipment assets.

Relying on paper-based methods to track your equipment’s condition before, during, and after renting is inefficient. Documenting the details and getting copies of the information would take too much time and effort.

What’s more, it’s easy to overlook equipment damages when inspections are done manually, causing your company to rent out malfunctioning equipment to your customers.

This can lead to your rental equipment breaking down in the field, delaying your customer’s project. You’d be left with frustrated clients on top of additional expenses to send replacement machinery and fix the malfunctioning one.

Perco Rentals found a way to address these challenges with Record360. 

I’ve been in this industry for 15 years… and the fact that everyone isn’t using this system blows my mind.

Record360’s web and mobile app let you capture and track your equipment’s condition throughout the rental process. 

You can capture high-resolution videos and photos of your equipment, add the necessary information, and upload everything to the cloud. 

All the information is stored and easily accessible on the web app, giving you a centralized location where you can find out everything about your assets.

As William put it, “We’re really remote, and I control 17 locations. So i’m able to see what the equipment looks like when it’s rent-ready before it goes to a customer. So I’m ensuring that the customer is getting something that they are paying for. And then, in return, we’re getting what we’re supposed to be returned.”

William added, “So we’ll use Record360 a lot to see the equipment because I’m not there (in the company’s other locations) every day. So we’re paying the vendor to make sure and record the data, so I’m able to see it remotely, such as hours documented for PMs and fuel charges there and back.”

With a powerful asset condition recording and monitoring system, you ensure you’re documenting your equipment regardless of the location, including maintenance, availability data, and damages.   

“… I couldn’t even calculate the amount of money we’ve saved so far just by holding people accountable.”

According to William, “Having Record360 sets the right processes in place such as putting the right checklist, but it’s more than our vendors in our various locations being able to take the pictures and document the damages. I couldn’t even calculate the amount of money we’ve saved so far just by holding people accountable.” 

The process for getting started was also simple and efficient according to William, ” We’re talking about a 10 minute process that can save you thousands upon thousands of dollars. And that is not an exaggeration.”

Leverage customizable equipment inspections technology

Efficient rental inspections are vital to knowing your assets’ true condition and detecting damages instantly. 

However, this requires the right technology that best fits your company’s needs, one that goes beyond the basic equipment photo and video capturing features.  

Record360 provides a robust solution. The app lets you create digital inspection forms and checklists you can load into your tablet or smartphone, allowing you to capture your equipment rental data in a single standard format. 

William stated, “After I spoke with some people at Record360, I realized how customizable it was. So for us to be able to use it for more than a purpose of the images, we went back to the app and built a checklist. We needed something to determine whether or not we’re checking our equipment out properly, because we have 17 locations that I can’t be at.” 

He added, “So I need to be able to see what’s going on with these locations. So we use Record360 not only as an insurance, but to be able to document the progress of this equipment through the steps of the shop and be able to monitor it before it goes out. And the maintenance intervals on it as well for all 17 locations.”

With a customizable checklist, you have a reliable and efficient system to conduct equipment inspections that your multiple locations can easily adopt. This ensures thorough documentation of all the damages on your rentals after they come back from your customers.

Cross-check your equipment’s condition with the pre-release equipment inspection information, helping your teams identify defects and issues caused by customers and alert them immediately.    

This is what William had to say on how Record360 tailored the solution for Perco Rentals, “So I built a checklist and emailed Support at Record360 saying, ‘Hey, look, this is kind of what I want this generic checklist to look like until we get more specific.’ She immediately called me and elaborated on more of what we could do, even with the checklist we had, even if it was something as simple as maybe a radio button that would be easier than a dropdown menu or things like that we can add to it. She perfected the checklist.” 

Implement comprehensive damage reporting

Repairing equipment damages can get very expensive. If you’re not documenting asset damages properly after they come off a customer rental, you incur additional expenses that you shouldn’t have to.  

Failing to document all your equipment damage properly also leads to the lack of evidence to back up your claim in a dispute, which is challenging enough when monitoring damages remotely.  

You would need to go through the long back and forth with your customer to negotiate the repairs they’re responsible for. 

This can increase equipment downtime, and you’ll lose a lot of money on broken or malfunctioning equipment you can’t rent out on top of potentially shouldering hefty damage expenses.  

An excellent solution to reduce potential disputes and expenses is Record360’s damage reporting features. 

… there was no argument. The customer is aware of it and is buying the ranger because we had proof with the help of Record360.” 

William stated, “We had a ranger come back that was pretty torn up. It needed repairs, and it was going to cost more than the unit’s worth. But there was no argument. The customer is aware of it and is buying the ranger because we had proof with the help of Record360.” 

He added, “Record360 has made it (damage reporting) to where it’s painless. We get a piece of equipment back, and it’s damaged. We download the Record360 app immediately, and email it to the customer with a quote on what the damages are. There are no questions asked. You have damages they’re visible before and after, making the process really painless.”  

The app allows you to capture, create, store, and access damage reports easily, getting your workflows moving smoothly even when your equipment rental operations are working in multiple locations. 

As William put it, “At Perco where we’re remote, we don’t have any other employees except for what we have here in the main hub. So we rely on these vendors to be able to do the job that we’re paying them to do. So not only is Record360 insurance against our customers, but it’s also insurance against our vendors to ensure that they’re doing what we’re paying them to do.”

Capturing equipment damages becomes a smooth and swift process with reliable asset documenting and equipment damage inspection technology, saving you thousands of dollars on damage expenses. 

What’s next?

What challenges are you facing while running your equipment rental company in multiple locations remotely?

If you are ready to eliminate damage disputes and reduce damage expenses by optimizing your rental equipment operations, contact us today to schedule a free consultation or product demo.

The success of your rental equipment business relies heavily on your asset’s condition. 

If your methods for inspecting and monitoring your assets are paper-based, you won’t have a clear, consistent, and accurate picture of their condition.

Manual processes are error-prone and can lead to  critical equipment issues or damages that shorten their service life, rent out malfunction equipment, or worsen your equipment’ damages — all of which can hurt your bottom line.

The good news is, using the right technology can help you protect your assets’ real condition, status, availability, value, and readiness for operations.

This article covers highlights from our case study interview with Michel Allen, President and Co-Owner of Pioneer Equipment. We cover how using robust technology can put your mind at ease knowing you have a clear picture of your assets’ condition. Read the full case study here.

Make documenting damage reports more efficient

Many equipment rental companies struggle to monitor and document their equipment condition, especially those with huge fleets that deliver equipment across the country and overseas. 

Anything can happen during transport that can cause significant equipment damages. Without a reliable damage documentation system, proving responsible parties can be challenging. Your company could shoulder damage expenses when your client is at fault.

Pioneer Equipment found a solution in Record360. According to Michel, one of the most significant advantages of using Record360 is it “Gives you cover, especially in terms of damage reports.”

When transporting equipment overseas, Michel said, “So if there’s damage in the port or anywhere that it happens over there, we have it on record as of date X, Y, Z. We can refer back to that date easily.”

Record360 allows you to document your equipment’s condition efficiently through our mobile app and web portal.

For instance, you can take high-quality videos and photos of all your gear and create a digital checklist of its parts so you can cross-check any damages that occur before and after releasing machinery.

You’ll have everything on record and ready to be accessed. 

Regarding Record360’s damage reporting features, Michel said, “And that’s very important to us because that’s how you maintain a rental fleet. But in addition to that, that carries over to an export situation where you have a record of what you did for this machine. So if there are any issues when it gets to the other side of the ocean, you go back to the record and say, this is what we did.”

With the Record360 you can protect your equipment and your company’s revenue, saving you from potentially hefty damage fees.

Streamline the equipment servicing process

Keeping track of your assets’ maintenance and servicing schedules using manual methods such as paper logs isn’t just inefficient; it’s also tedious and time-consuming.

If you’re releasing over 10 rental equipment assets in a day, you could easily miss out on critical preventative maintenance schedules and unintentionally send malfunctioning machinery to customers. 

This leads to equipment breakdown in the field, which can frustrate your customers and ruin your relationships.

This is where Record360 comes in. 

“Before Record360, we were using the Fred Flintstone method, which was writing everything down and trying to keep up with data on a marker board.”

Record360 provides you crystal clear visibility for all your assets by letting you upload and store your equipment’s recent videos, photos, inspections, and damage histories. This makes reviewing your inventory’s condition and scheduling inspections more efficient. 

Pioneer Equipment also benefited from the customized checklists offered by Record360 for a more personalized solution. 

According to Michel, “As a condition to getting Record360, we needed its software also to cover the service aspect of what we do. So besides the in and out of our rentals, we needed the app to cover servicing the equipment. So that’s one format we came up with and that Record360 worked with us to basically design and also implement.” 

The right technology will streamline your equipment servicing process. 

You’ll be at ease knowing your asset’s actual condition and avoid delivering faulty machinery to your customers due to missed servicing schedules. Using a mobile app to conduct your inspections also reduces errors and inaccuracies, which frequently happens when documentation is done manually through pen and paper.

According to Michel, “Before Record360, we were using the Fred Flintstone method, which was writing everything down and trying to keep up with data on a marker board. And so once you get five, ten units going a day, that system doesn’t work too efficiently.”

He added, “One of the biggest challenges is to record damage in terms of actual physical evidence, photos, and also reporting that damage where things move very fast in a rental world. So a machine frequently comes in and goes out within a day or two. If you’re not recording that damage, you lost that data, and you have nothing to stand on.”

Michel said investing in Record360’s damage documenting and reporting technology will both save and make you money. 

“One is the damage, which is thousands of dollars, that if you don’t record and back up your claim with any customer, then you don’t have a good footing to stand on. So as we’re charging for damages, you have to have a clear picture. Otherwise, it gets into dispute.” 

He added, “So if we’re doing it (capturing damage) on a very regular basis and recording that down, it’s actually contributing to a long life of our equipment.” 

Using reliable software lets you capture all the equipment information you need to refute damage claims your company didn’t cause, which is a huge time and money-saver. It gives you peace of mind knowing any damages your team didn’t cause will be covered by responsible parties.

Improve team collaboration

An airtight equipment inspection and documentation process gives you the confidence to know your assets are in tip-top condition.

However, achieving this requires reliable tools to make equipment inspections and damage reports easier to accomplish.

Record360 removes the complexities of conducting inspections and damage recording and reporting, streamlining workflows, and improving team collaboration. 

Michel said, “But if you have a good format and it’s simple to navigate, then it gets done accurately and quickly. That’s what’s important. And what you see with Record360 is it’s integrated all of our departments to be able to use one single application.” 

He added, “So as we have rentals going out and coming back in, the administrative side of our business works closely with the techs, with one report so that we can process equipment in and out quickly.”

The more efficiently and effectively your team works, the better the condition of your equipment and your company’s quality of service. This increases customer satisfaction, encourages repeat business, and helps you build client relationships. 

What’s next?

What challenges have you been facing with running your equipment rental company?

Are you struggling with getting a clear and accurate picture of your assets’ condition? Have you been losing disputes because you lack irrefutable evidence that proves your clients caused damage to your equipment?

If you are ready to modernize and improve your rental operations, request a Record360 product demonstration today.

With competition in the equipment rental industry steadily growing, offering an exceptional rental experience for your customers is more critical than ever.

For your rental business to thrive you need reliable, repeatable, and efficient rental management tools to streamline your processes. And one tool that can drive success and growth for any rental business is cutting-edge inspection software.

With the right inspection software and streamlined processes you can:

• Cut costs
• Maximize your ROI
• Get more mileage out of your client relationships
• Increase your equipment rental revenue
• Position your company for predictable growth

This article offers insights from our case study interview with Hunter Hinson, Corporate Rental Manager at Flint Equipment Co, a John Deere dealership with locations in three states and 450+ rental assets. The interview is packed with practical insights to help streamline your rental management.

Streamline the rental process

Many rental companies continue to manage their equipment rentals manually or with inefficient tools.

For example, they use basic emailing systems to keep tabs on equipment status and send contracts. They use an assortment of digital cameras and shared drives to document unit conditions, and often use spreadsheets to organize their clients and rental details.

At Flint Equipment Co., photo and written documentation and reporting were cumbersome and inefficient. Hinson says, “Everything was done on a digital camera. Our pictures had to be individually uploaded by attaching the camera to a USB cord, then to a computer. We also had a separate document stating where the machine came from, what its fuel level was, who brought it back, etc.”

These manual processes take time and effort and increase your operational expenses — which ultimately hurts the bottom line.

That’s why a simpler, cost-efficient way to manage your rentals is by using reliable software with automation features, comprehensive dashboards, and other powerful capabilities.

The Record360 app is one such tool.

Record360 helps us get things done more quickly, more easily, as photos are uploaded

It allows you to inspect your equipment remotely and include customized, electronic inspection forms and checklists to speed up your rental processes.

It synchronizes your data, files, and tasks from any digital device — a smartphone, tablet, desktop or laptop computer.

Plus, you can capture high-resolution photos and videos, upload them to the cloud, and instantly alert your team members or customers of any damage.

Hinson describes how Record360 turned their workflows around:

“Record360 helps us get things done more quickly, more easily, as photos are uploaded [in the cloud]… I’m not getting pools of emails with just pictures and another of the checklist. No phone calls to say, ‘Hey, how many gallons of fuel did we put in this machine?’ The application has it all right there. I don’t have to call anybody. They just know how to do it. And I know where to find it.” Read the full case study here.

Protect your rental equipment

When renting out your equipment, your clients can also pose the biggest threat to the condition of that equipment. They can break or lose parts, impacting your primary revenue-generating assets.

If you use manual methods to protect your equipment’s condition while in your clients’ hands, you can get inaccurate reports, detect client-inflicted damages too late, and assign repair expenses to the wrong party (including your company).

Reliable equipment rental software can help you avoid all those potential pitfalls. You’ll have a more solid, documented guarantee of your asset’s status before releasing it to your clients.

Hinson cites how Record360 can help their company handle that scenario:

Record360 will track if it comes back with the same dent and cracked mirror

“A machine can go out with, say, a dent or a broken mirror, and Record360 will track if it comes back with the same dent and cracked mirror. The shop can say, ‘Oh, well, the customer had that. They’re the ones liable for it.’

“I can say ‘No, it was like that before it went to them, so the costs for the repairs are not going to go to them,’ but to this previous customer who actually did the damages.”

The Record360 app becomes a type of preventative insurance policy for the rental companies who use it.

Besides using the right equipment rental inspection software, you can also do the following:

• Register your equipment with the American Rental Association (ARA). ARA members can list up to 1,000 pieces of their mobile, off-road machines on the National Equipment Register’s database. Law enforcement officers can access it 24/7 and more quickly recover any recorded asset that the database reports as stolen.
• Enforce proper documentation trails. Keep track of your clients, their contact details, and their identification measures.
• Apply for insurance. Protect your business from financial and equipment losses by getting insurance, conversion, and business income coverage.

Through measures like these, you can document your equipment’s condition and safeguard innocent parties from incurring losses due to false claims.

Improve collaboration within your team

Managing rentals without reliable mechanisms in place for your staff workflows and communications can result in operational inefficiencies and communication breakdowns.

This leads to poor performance and service delivery that can wreck your client relationships and customer satisfaction.

Prevent this by organizing and clarifying your team workflows. Make all relevant information visible to the concerned parties when they need it.

Hinson explains that he can do that and his managerial tasks seamlessly through Record360:

We can do all these in one, easy-to-use application.

“Record360 allows us to input checklists into our smartphone and upload photos to be stored in the cloud database where everyone can have access to it anytime. We can do all these in one, easy-to-use application.”

He added, “We don’t have to call to nag anyone about information that’s needed because it’s already there.”

Reliable software can help your team create and submit inspection reports in real-time anywhere, especially on the field. This minimizes delays for the assigned personnel to implement repairs, damage cost computation, client contacts, or other next steps in your rental management processes.

Modernize your equipment rental operations

If you want to give your rental equipment business an advantage over your competitors, start by modernizing your rental operations now.

Manual processes will sap your team’s productivity and cause needless, costly, firefighting. With a modernized rental operation, however, managing your business becomes easier, you can get more done with the least amount of time and resources, and you give your clients a pleasant experience working with your company.

Interested in learning more about Record360? Schedule a demonstration today.

Multiply your equipment revenue with these critical steps

Why make just enough from your equipment rental business when you can multiply your revenue tenfold?

I know this may sound difficult to some, but 10Xing your equipment rental revenue is not as difficult as you think. Most equipment rental companies could achieve this if they only followed the right strategies.

While there is no one-size-fits-all formula for growing equipment rental revenues, you can build upon the tried and tested tips in this guide to 10Xing your equipment rental revenue.

1. Scale your rental business

Work with domain experts to scale your operations and increase your revenue.

Collaboration lets you combine their industry knowledge with your business experience. They can help you understand your industry’s dynamics better, build relationships with key players, and leverage industry-specific know-how to plot the best approach to scale your operations.

Technology is another crucial factor for scaling.

Developing a reliable technology infrastructure increases your efficiency and reduces disruptions as you scale. It allows for easier data access and migration and streamlines your team’s collaboration internally and with third-party agencies.

What’s more, robust technology platforms have data and analytics features you can leverage to track and quantify the efficiency of your equipment rental business. By studying the data generated you can identify which parts of your processes aren’t bringing you meaningful results and which ones do.

2. Develop a culture of customer service

What does customer service have to do with equipment rental revenue? It’s the key piece of the puzzle to develop long-lasting relationships with your customers.

By making customer trust and rapport a central part of your company’s culture, you cultivate a team that’s genuinely interested in your customers’ welfare. This paves the way to higher levels of customer satisfaction, which leads to more loyal customers for your equipment rental business.

Bolster the customer-focused culture by leveraging the right technology to streamline your workflows, allowing you to deliver exceptional customer support.

Develop your tech stack and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system from a long-term perspective. This helps you avoid adding unnecessary or duplicate tools that cost you more and hinder efforts to scale your business.

3. Build strategic partnerships

Unless you have every piece of equipment under the sun, from aerial, earthwork, to general construction, you can’t accommodate all of your customers’ equipment needs.

Cooperate with your competitors so you can help each other out. Partner with your competitors, assess what each company does well, and determine the best way to work together to establish a win-win situation for both your businesses.

Entering into Coopetition can also give you access to your competitors’ customer base.

Most customers stick with an equipment rental company because they trust the people, the process, and the services’ quality.

Partnering with competitors can earn you a bit of that customer trust since working with competitors can indicate how your competitor trusts you enough to partner with you.

This way, the next time your competitor doesn’t have the customer’s needs, your business could be their next choice.

4. Hire good blue-collar workers

Blue-collar workers know how your equipment works and understand the hassle your customers go through when the equipment breaks down. This allows them to empathize with your customers even more so than sales people who often do not have hands-on experience and knowledge with your equipment.

Empathy lets your blue-collar workers help with both their hearts and minds instead of merely going through the motions or the list of tasks to get things done.

When you have a team that’s genuinely interested in helping your customers, you can be sure your customers can feel their sincerity. This, in turn, makes them feel valued and important, which ultimately makes them want to stick with you and refer people your way.

5. Digitize your inspections

Recording your fleet’s condition is vital to protecting your assets and ensuring you don’t lose money in case of damages caused by the carrier and equipment misuse and abuse.

Recording your inspections also keeps you from handing off damaged or malfunctioning equipment to your customers, which could ruin your relationship and impact your revenue.

Record360 allows you to streamline your inspection process through digitization. The app lets you take high-resolution photos and videos to document your rental equipment’s actual condition, upload them to the cloud, and immediately inform your customer.

Doing so gives you irrefutable proof in case of disputes, eliminates arguments with your customers, and avoid paying for repairs for equipment damages you didn’t cause.

With the right technology, you’ll get a more granular view of your equipment’s condition and components before handing it off and after it comes back from the customer.

6. Bill customers for damages while preserving your relationship

Equipment wear and tear is inevitable. As long as you’re reasonable and fair about identifying damages and wear and tear, your customers are more likely to accept responsibility and pay for their part.

That is why the before and after photo and video records are crucial to determine how much is damage and wear and tear.

Tracking and documenting everything can help you settle disputes properly and maintain a healthy relationship with your customers.

What’s next?

While this guide is incomplete, you can use the tips as a starting point to 10X your revenue. These tips are tried and tested to work, so if you put in the effort to implement them, you are bound to skyrocket your equipment rental revenue.

Interested in learning more about Record360? Schedule a demonstration today.