Everybody needs to get around, especially companies whose operations involve hauling heavy cargo from one place to another. While the general convention is to purchase and maintain your own fleet of trucks, there are several situations wherein hiring a fleet is actually a better choice. 

Hiring a fleet of vehicles, such as trucks or mine spec utes, is great for smaller outfits that mainly rely on projects that are shorter-term and smaller-scale projects, but more and more to big-ticket projects are seeing it as the smart move. Compared to the cost of purchasing and maintaining a fleet that may not always be utilised, going with a fleet hire is a more cost-effective move. It also allows you to scale up much easier when a bigger contract does appear on the horizon. 

If you are a business owner working in any of these three industries, you should consider looking for a commercial hire vehicle company: 

• General Construction Industry

Trucks play a big role in general construction projects. They transport construction materials, haul off debris and waste, and even move heavy equipment, such as cranes in the beginning and end phases of the construction work. Renting is particularly ideal in this industry because it allows construction companies the flexibility to scale up and down as needed between projects. 

This is important because big projects can be few and far in between. When these projects do come, they can be located in places whose distances are so far from your base of operations that the costs of transporting your own trucks would overshadow the costs of renting. 

• Solar Power Industry

While still in its nascent stages, especially if compared to oil and coal operations, the solar power industry has gained much traction in recent years. Companies in this field, which typically build large solar farms to support clean and renewable energy to cities, often haul hundreds, if not, thousands of solar panels during construction. 

However, because the technology is relatively new and often more expensive initially than oil or coal, many cities and even countries have been slow to adopt the new technology. As a result, big-ticket projects can be rare, and heavy equipment might not always be necessary, especially for small scale projects like those used in residential applications. In this case, renting a fleet of trucks for the duration of a big project is better than even long-term leases. 

• Oil and Natural Gas Industry

While the oil and natural gas industry is not a cyclical industry in itself, the process of sourcing, extracting, and refining the oil for use are large projects that often employ specialised equipment to get the job done. Specifically, oil production comes in three phases: Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream. 

• Upstream: This phase involves pre-drilling activities like looking for sources of natural gas and oil fields. Building and drilling the well commences once a source is found, and all legal obligations have been met. 
• Midstream: This phase generally involves transportation, storage, and processing of crude oil and gas to a refinery that may not necessarily be in the same region or state. 
• Downstream: Once retrieved, the refinery goes to work and processes the oil and gas and turns them into the forms that are used today, such as jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, among others. 

Across the three phases, it is common to see companies employing different types of trucks and vehicles. As such, it would be unwise to purchase and maintain a fleet of trucks that may not be in use regularly or will incur additional costs in modifications because the oil production shifts to prioritise different phases. 

Conclusion

There are certainly advantages to owning a fleet, such as being able to use company logos for branding and marketing. However, when it comes to getting the job done, you can be sure that outsourcing your truck needs will give you a competitive edge in the long run while saving your finances.

Get in touch with us today for a quote, you might be surprised by how cost-effective spec vehicle leasing can be.