|
How we charge for rental equiment depends on the equipment and how big the job is and whether the job is t&m. At the least though you need to charge enough to pay for the cost of the machine, delivery, fuel, etc. If you rent a skidsteer for one day you probably have to charge more than the going rate per hour just to break even on the rental. If you rent it for a month you can probably charge a standard hourly price for equipment/ operator and make a profit on it.
I might rent a backhoe for a month for $2000 including delivery. If I plan to use the machine for only 50 hours then it will cost me roughly $40/hr. That makes the cost of the machine plus operator about $85/hr which is probably an average rate around here. I could probably charge another 5 or 7 dollars an hour and be okay or if I use it more than 50 hours I know that I am making a profit on the equipment at that point. On the other hand if I need to rent a mini-ex for one day and it cost me $400 but I only need it for two hours I can't charge $30 or $40/hr and lose all that money. I've got to charge enough to at least break even on it. I that makes the price too high then I need to either find a better way to do the work or the clients need to hire someone else.
Bottom line is that you may not always be able to make a profit on rental equipment but you should never lose money either.
|