Need Help ASAP with an Equipment Rental Agreement

[arbor pro]

Guys,

I'm looking into renting out my newly-acquired Genie TZ50 towable aerial lift to some local service contractors - electricians, painters, etc. I will only be looking to rent it to insured service contractors - absolutely no homeowners.

The lift just sits around when I'm not using it during the day when I'm at my full-time job so I figure I might as well let some other guys help me make the monthly payment to the bank.

I called my insurance company and got the equipment and liability insurance in place for doing this and am now working on drawing up an equipment rental and liability waiver for the renter to sign. I know most of what needs to go into the agreement but, do any of you have a standard agreement form that specifically addresses the rental of an aerial device that I could take a peek at to make sure that I have my bases covered?

I can find some standard rental agreements online but they don't specifically address aerial devices and I was thinking that maybe I should address this in the waiver of liability section. Maybe one of you has your own rental agreement already drawn up or maybe one of you has rented one lately from a rental store and could fax or scan a copy of the agreement for me??? (pretty please).

Also, do any of you have any constructive advise you'd like to offer? I'm sure the safest route would be to NOT rent any equipment out but, I hate to see the lift just sit there when I could rent it out a couple days a month and have that make my bank payment for me.

Thanks.

 

[arbor pro]

Forget it. I found a couple of good templates online and modified them to meet my needs. Thanks though for reading...

 

[ASD]

Could you post what you found ?

Thanks
scott

 

[Mike W]

Guys,


Also, do any of you have any constructive advise you'd like to offer? I'm sure the safest route would be to NOT rent any equipment out but, I hate to see the lift just sit there when I could rent it out a couple days a month and have that make my bank payment for me.

My biggest 2 things I can say are, make darn sure that ALL the safety warning labels are on it, and consider sending a fall protection device with it. The contractors may have them, but why not cover your butt with as sue happy as people are these days. I work for a rental company and we get it drilled into our heads every day.

 

[Toddppm]

Funny you mention this. I was calling around today to find one for a job we have coming up and they seem to be real popular. Most places were out or already had them reserved and I was wondering about buying one and renting it too!
One place specifically prohibits tree removals with theirs and if it gets damaged doing trees you have to pay for the damage and the rental while it's being repaired.
The only other problem could be what if somebody wants to rent it longer term when you need it? I guess it'd almost be worth it to rent one yourself at that point since yours would be being paid for?

 

[arbor pro]

Funny you mention this. I was calling around today to find one for a job we have coming up and they seem to be real popular. Most places were out or already had them reserved and I was wondering about buying one and renting it too!
One place specifically prohibits tree removals with theirs and if it gets damaged doing trees you have to pay for the damage and the rental while it's being repaired.
The only other problem could be what if somebody wants to rent it longer term when you need it? I guess it'd almost be worth it to rent one yourself at that point since yours would be being paid for?

Mine won't be getting rented out for tree work nor to homeowners for any kind of work - only professional service contractors with the proper insurance in place to cover every and any kind of loss that could possibly occur!

This is the document I came up with after modifying some templates I found online. If you use it, you do so at your own discretion knowing that I am NOT a lawyer and that you should not utilize this document for your own use without having your lawyer review it for completeness and accuracy. In other words, I am not liable for any shortcomings or errors so use it at your own risk.

 

[lxt]

Arbor pro, just a couple things you might want to consider, 1-make sure the lift goes out with all the paper work, owners manual, Safety manual & manual of responsibilities Ansi/Sia A92.6....Include the annual boom inspection certificate!!

2-make sure the lift has had its annual inspection!!!!! If you fail to provide any of these documents mentioned above, Regardless of your contract you will be at fault!!! should something go wrong.

3-It would be wise to obtain the operator/trainer certification, if you are not Certified by the manufacturer at operating the lift or dont have the trainer certificate AGAIN Regardless of your contract you will be at fault!! should something go wrong.

Genie offers a course for operator training & a course for trainer Cert., actually this is an osha/Ansi regulation.....I went & got mine so that I could train my guys & that way all is legit.......especially now that im working for the State, the course is a breeze & kinda elementary.....but I guess you gotta have the right paperwork uhh?

Good luck & be carefull in this rental market thing!!!!!


LXT.............

 

[arbor pro]

Update

So, I have rented the tz50 lift out 3 times now - twice to an electrical contractor to work on parking lot lights and once to a painter. I'm requiring $1m liability insurance and naming me as the loss payee. I also require a cash deposit that is typically 1/2 the estimated rental fee.

Total rental income so far has been around $2k so, the lift payments are practically making themselves so far. In addition, I've been charging $50/hr on top of my usual labor and small equipment fee when I use the lift for tree work. I'm averaging about 8-10 hours a month (only part-time use) so, income has been around $400-500 a month (about what I expected).

Other than the cost of electricity to recharge the unit which I can't believe could cost very much, the lift is certainly cash-flowing well. It's pretty maintenance free - just grease it and keep the batteries charged.

With the income that I'm making off of it, I'm making double payments during the summer months so that I can just make interest payments during the winter.

So far, I'm very happy with how the lift is working out. I wish it would go over-center like a bucket truck but, then again, it also goes into tight spaces where a bucket truck can't get to so, I guess it's a wash. I'm getting lots of back-yard pruning jobs just because I have the lift - even a few removals that the big cranes can't get to.

The lift isn't perfect for every situation by any means but, i'd have to say that I'm very pleased so far and have definitely found a niche in my local market by being the only arborist in the area with one. Luckily for me, the local rental stores won't rent them for tree work so, I guess you could say I'm sitting pretty good right now with tree jobs. Just booked a big cabling and bracing job yesteday that isn't accessible by bucket truck (back yard with landscaping) and would be a real bugger to climb with all the weak branches in it. But, I can get the towable lift in there with some maneuvering by the mini skid steer so, I'm the only tree service able to even take on the job (qualifications aside).

Yep, I'm pretty happy so far with my decision to buy it. If the rental income continues, it'll be like having the lift to use for free - let everyone else make my loan payments for me...

 

[crashagn]

Funny you mention this. I was calling around today to find one for a job we have coming up and they seem to be real popular. Most places were out or already had them reserved and I was wondering about buying one and renting it too!
One place specifically prohibits tree removals with theirs and if it gets damaged doing trees you have to pay for the damage and the rental while it's being repaired.
The only other problem could be what if somebody wants to rent it longer term when you need it? I guess it'd almost be worth it to rent one yourself at that point since yours would be being paid for?

We rented a lift that went up about 45ft to put a new roof on the barn. Seemed like the shorter amount of time for renting the lift the higher the cost. We rented the thing for a month for 1300$ i think. That way we wernt in a rush to get the roof put on, the tree cut down, house painted, tree's trimmed, windows installed on the barn and etc. Now this wasnt exactly a new lift. The control panel buttons- the rubber was tore off, paint peelin from the boom. And a couple times it decided it just didnt want to come down. Imagine being all the way up and the emergency relief doesnt work and then after10 minutes of pushin buttons on it it finally comes down on its own and starts working like its sapposed to. From the same rental service we also got a mini excavator for a month. It was a little bit more in rental cost but we did more for less $$ then hiring a digger.

 

[arbor pro]

Need some quick advice on what you would do...

I get my lift back today after a 7-day rental period that will cost the customer $1375. He told me yesterday that a stabilizer pad fell off of the stabilizer arm while he was driving down the road and it took him over 3 hours to backtrack and search ditches in order to find it.

Considering that he rented the lift for an entire week, would you discount the price of the weekly rental to accomodate his trouble or allow him 3-4 extra hours use on the lift and charge him the agreed price? Should I expect him to ask for a discount for his troubles in addition to the extra rental time?

How would you want to be treated if you were the renter?

 

[crashagn]

If he returned the pad and it looked like it did fall off, how much would a new 1 cost and how long of a wait period after it would be ordered? Did this happen while taking the lift home or returning it? If this happened while he was taking it home he should have called you 1st thing to let you know of the damage. If it happened while returning it then it sounds like the guy made a effort to return all of the lift regardless if it there were extra pieces. When we returned the lift and escavator we rented we atleast power washed them off and made em nice and pretty. The rental company didnt charge us the cleaning fee and was glad we took care of it. Regardless its your call and hopefully you can make the right decision that is good for business and also to have a returning customer in the future

 

[arbor pro]

I should clarify - the lift pad is just a 12" circular pad that rotates on a steel ball on the end of the lift arm. It swivels according to the slope of the ground and is held onto the lift arm simply by the curvature of the steel ball. It doesn't sound like there is any damage to the lift pad - it just came off for whatever reason and he had to find it in order to use the lift properly. It was during the week rental period - he was not finished using it yet.

So, I am not concerned about any loss on my account - I am more concerned with what is appropriate, if anything, to appease the customer for his lost time in dealing with what may have been a defect in the stabilizer arm/pad vs possible abuse by the customer (perhaps driving too fast on a road filled with potholes or something like that).

Should I give the guy a discount on the rent price or just give him more time on the machine since there is no $ damage involved - only a loss of time by the customer...?

 

[crashagn]

Should I give the guy a discount on the rent price or just give him more time on the machine since there is no $ damage involved - only a loss of time by the customer...?

You could either figure up the per hour rental fee and reimburse him on that or give the customer the choice of getting 4 hours free next time he rents the machine and that way you will still make more $ in another rental. Really a hard call to make. But of course i do seem to piss people off with my straight forward answers

 

[STLfirewood]

Tell him you want to reward him for the effort. Why not a free day. I'm sure that will make him happy. What would a free day cost you? Not much. If you make sure he is more then happy the word of mouth he give you will be worth it.

Scott

 

[gr8scott72]

Should I give the guy a discount on the rent price or just give him more time on the machine since there is no $ damage involved - only a loss of time by the customer...?

Let him pick.

 

[Toddppm]

I'd want to see the machine and how it fell off first but a few$$ off the bill should help make him happy if it wasn't his fault.

 

[arbor pro]

So, he returned the lift last night all covered in paint overspray. The lift was also 2 hours past the due back time.

Considering the extra 2 hours rental and the time it will take me to clean up the lift, would it seem fair to call things 'even' this time around?

 

[Pete M]

call it quits. The 3 hours he spent searching probably balances out the time to clean and the 2 hours late back...he may have figured this out for himself which is why he returned it late.

 

[Torquin]

You must make a determination of the failure, whether the customer caused it by their actions, including transport, or you caused it by not securing the pad or that the securing of the pad was expected to be sufficient but is a manufacturer's design flaw/defect. In the latter two cases you would be at fault and should offer some restitution to the customer, of whatever value you and the customer agree on. In the case of the customer's fault, if the equipment was returned in its entirety and the pad isn't damaged to the point of needign to be replaced, then the customer just lost the time they had to spend looking for it and shouldn't expect anything from you.
If the pad is not secured well, and perhaps the manufacturer did not intend for the unit to travel with the pads on, or in such a position as they could fall off, e.g. maybe the outriggers should be put down on the trailer (I don't know the exact style of this lift so I and just supposing here), then you should look into how it can be better secured, perhaps by instructing customers on best transit practices. If this is a possibility to fall off in the future it may be worth your while to set up some kind fo tether for it, using small chain and a clip hook that can be connected to an eye on the outrigger when installed and if removed the entire tether gets stored with the pad. If the pad is design to never be off, but has a manufacturer's design flaw, you may just want to put a permenant tether in place, such as a bolt through the chain, into pad or outrigger.
In my exerience, I rented an SC252 from a fairly new rental place several times. After the first couple of rentals I had problems with it because the maintenance had not been done properly, such as getting on the job and the belts were loose enough that I could not cut the stump. The rental guy came out and fixed that immediately, but did not compensate me for the hour I sat waiting for him to get there and fix the machine. I would have tightened it myself but the rental company did not want me doing anything to the grinder except checking the oil. After that episode I had several other problems with the units, including some arc welding around the voltage regulator and teeth falling off. After the rental company wanted to charge me for the "lost" teeth, even though I had found the teeth that were flung off and left them at the rental company (they didn't see them in the place where they told me to leave the key, as I had always done), and their inability to use a credit card machine (charged me twice and then charged the wrong amount, refunded it and charged the right amount, but it still tied up 3 times the actual rental fee in my account for 2 days), I decided that this rental company is not competent enough to deserve my business.

Just my opinion here.

Chris

 

[arbor pro]

I responded in another thread that the problem with the outrigger pad turned out to be a manufacturer defect. The problem should have been recalled; instead, the manufacturer is sending me retrofit parts at no cost to solve the problem.

The renter of the machine felt that, because I did not ask for compensation for the two hours late that he returned the machine, that we were even for his time looking for the pad. He had no problem with it.

I have rented equipment that was not properly maintained and lost valuable work time because of it. The rental store, upon my complaint, did not charge me for the lost hours but, it's still no excuse for sending out equipment with dull teeth or broken parts. In my case, I had no idea that the manufacturer of my lift was having problems with the outrigger pads falling off. As I said, they should have issued a recall - then, I would have known and gotten it fixed.