Every day, businesses ask us if hiring a forklift is better than owning one. The truth is, there are different circumstances where forklift rental might be the right option for a business.

Unlike buying a new forklift, rental options offer a world of flexibility in terms of hire type, the period of hire, make/model and maintenance packages. Renting is also an opportunity to minimise operational costs, achieve greater control of monthly expenditures, and get equipped with the right resources to cater for busy periods or seasonalities.

How forklift rental can benefit your business

There are three key benefits to renting a forklift for your business:

Scalability

Choosing to rent offers your business the flexibility to easily increase or decrease the number of forklifts you have at any one time if your needs change. Many businesses also experience demand changes seasonally which impacts on their requirements. For example, during the busy Christmas holiday period, your business might require an additional forklift, and you can easily access this through renting. On the other hand, you might only want to move one or two items using a forklift. In this case, you could rent a forklift for only a few hours along with a trained operator.

Additionally, if you have multiple forklift rentals you can consolidate all mobile equipment under a single fleet management package, depending on the period of time you will be hiring for.

Financial Predictability

Managing a business is rarely straightforward and chances are you’ve reviewed your budgets for new ways to keep costs low and productivity high. Choosing smaller investments such as a forklift rental solution can be a good option for reducing operating costs. This is because your business profit is generated through equipment you’ve paid for, and so you can be sure the funds you’re spending are directly impacting your bottom dollar.

If you’re short on staff, a wet-hire option eliminates the time and resources you would have had to put towards training, safety inductions and other HR-related activities. Unlike dry-hire, which is where you hire without an operator, you’re guaranteed operator productivity and efficiency, coupled with the latest technology in manual handling.

Even if you need to rent a forklift for an extended period of time, your business capital won’t be tied down, giving you a greater level of financial flexibility for your business and the opportunity to move forward no matter what the current economic condition may be.

Operational Efficiency

In Australia, all rental forklifts must comply with Australian standards, health and safety legislation, and forklift rental businesses generally provide forklifts that are less than two years old. This means your staff will be using the latest equipment with the most up to date features, helping your business to get the job done quicker and faster.

Rental also consists of only a single charge and no extra costs, which not only provides peace of mind but also simplifies and improves your monthly/quarterly budgeting.

Maintenance and repairs are other reasons renting is an effective short-term solution for your businesses. For example, when an unanticipated breakdown of a forklift that you own occurs, work is put on hold until you can have it repaired or replaced. Hiring the forklift helps you overcome these hurdles as you’ll have access to a computer-based fleet management system and reliable support, allowing you to meet your deadlines and targets.

An affordable solution for your business

When renting a forklift, make sure to speak with a forklift dealer to get one that matches your precise requirements, ask for any special equipment which you may require, and inspect the forklift’s current condition before taking it.

Lencrow Forklifts is an Australian owned, family operated business that offers new and used forklifts for sale and facilitates forklift rentals in the Australian Market. Contact us today to discuss your business requirements for forklift

If your business needs to move goods from one place to another, there is a high likelihood that you will have a forklift to do it. But, having a good forklift driver can have a massive impact on productivity in your business. There are qualities you need to keep in mind when hiring a forklift driver so that they can meet your expectations.

How does a good forklift driver impact your business?

The difference between a good forklift driver and a bad one can mean thousands of dollars of difference to your bottom line. It is important to know what qualities to look out for, so you can have peace of mind that your products and equipment will be handled with the highest standard, and that they will exercise safety requirements daily. Otherwise, you could be left with costly damage to your products and equipment, and be open for liability.

A good forklift driver will:

Implement safe driving practices

A well trained forklift driver will always operate the forklift safely. The little things can add up quickly, such as unnecessary spinning of the front drive tyres that can cause the tyres to wear quicker than normal, making it necessary to change them as a cost to your business. Unnecessary braking can also cause wear and tear to the forklift, again meaning your business will have downtime and repair costs.

A good forklift driver will always drive safely and carefully, ensuring that the forklift and your business products are well looked after while taking into account the safety of others.

Always look for the most efficient procedure to load and unload

Loads come in all different shapes and sizes, with no two loads ever loaded exactly the same. A well-trained forklift driver will always take the time to inspect the load before trying to unload.

Taking that time to inspect the load can be the difference between your products being safely unloaded and your products being damaged.

Effectively communicate to all

Effective communication is crucial in any business to ensure smooth operations. A good forklift driver knows and understands this, and will communicate to everyone. It’s important to notify pedestrians that might walk in front of a forklift that it is unloading. Forklift drivers will communicate to supervisors regarding potential safety hazards and service related issues that the forklift might need attention.

More importantly, a good forklift driver will communicate with a stakeholder, which is the main point of contact between where the load is and where the load needs to be moved to.

Always adapt to the surrounding environment

Environments can change quickly. It’s important that a well trained forklift driver knows how to assess the environment that they might be operating a forklift in. If they work outside, they need to be able to assess changes in weather and how it might affect the forklift, including the loading and unloading of products. Unloading in windy conditions might necessitate additional care and restraints when operating the forklift.

If a forklift is operating inside, they might need to allow for pedestrians walking through a warehouse. Forklifts are equipped with safety devices such as horns, flashing lights and reversing alarms, which drivers can utilize to notify pedestrians of their surroundings. They are particularly useful within high traffic areas. This prevents accidents from happening in the workplace and ensures pedestrian and driver safety. Whatever the environmental changes might be, a forklift driver is able to assess those changes and adapt to how they need to operate the forklift.

Take care of the equipment

A good forklift driver will take care of their forklift as if they own it. Having a forklift driver that treats the forklift as if they own it can save your business thousands in repairs and maintenance costs each year.

If they take care of the forklift by doing simple things like operator prestarts and reporting small things before they become a big problem, they minimise the risk of the forklift breaking down and impacting warehouse productivity due to forklift down time.

Things like taking care in either washing or wiping down the forklift regularly keeps dust at bay, which also helps with servicing.

How does a bad forklift driver impact your business?

A bad forklift driver will:

Finding the right partners for forklift driver hire

Simple things like the above make a huge difference to your business and the productivity that comes with having a well trained, licensed forklift driver. It is important to choose a forklift driver who is trained when there are major changes, such as a reorganised warehouse, a change in machinery and pedestrian traffic flow, or legislative requirements.

At Lencrow Forklifts, we pride ourselves on the employing & training superior forklift operators. With more than 40 years’ experience, our fork and driver hire offers highly experienced ready to take on any workload. Call us on 1300 516 431 today to speak to one of our experienced team members.

Wet hiring a forklift is when you hire a forklift and it comes with a licensed driver to operate it on your site. It’s a good option for businesses that only need a forklift for a short period of time or for a one-off occasion, as you’ll avoid having to get the training and license to operate the forklift.

Generally, paying for wet hiring a forklift is based on an hourly rate and a depot to depot basis. Forklift wet hire is available 24/7, so you can get any job big or small completed at any time. But what else do you need to know? Here we give you all you need to know about forklift wet hire.

Why do businesses choose wet hire?

As frustrating as it is to be short staffed and not have someone available to operate a forklift, finding the time to hire someone new, train them and put them through the HR processes is often not an option.

A wet hire forklift can alleviate that stress. The operators are fully licensed and aware of current safety standards, so the job can be done safely and efficiently, lowering the risk of any accidents an unskilled driver may cause.

The efficiency and lower risk that comes with wet hire saves businesses time and money and minimises admin work. This is because the operator is employed by the forklift dealer, and you have the flexibility that once the job is complete, you don’t have any more expenditure.

Some businesses may already have a forklift onsite but could have a short deadline that their forklift and an inexperienced driver wouldn’t be able to manage. Wet hire can provide both an extra forklift and an experienced operator to help get the work done on time.

Regardless of your business operations, whether you’re moving pallets of stock across the warehouse or loading stock onto trucks, finding the right forklift dealer that provides a wet hire service will save you time, as having to source a forklift and a driver separately will be a longer process.

What can you expect from your next wet hire solution?

Wet hire provides you with the convenience of having a forklift delivered to your worksite along with the driver to do the work for you. Remember forklift wet hire is available 24/7 so you can get the job done on your time.

The right forklift dealer will be able to provide you with an operator who:

Your wet hire should complete the job you needed to be done and will then leave your business premises. If you’re happy with the services you received, you’ll be able to get back in touch with that company any time you need a similar service done for your business.

How to make the most of your next wet hire experience

Always give your forklift operator a run-down of the job they’ll be doing before they start. You can do this when they arrive onsite or even include them in your morning staff meeting to help the operator to have a better understanding of your business.

An operator will need to get familiar with your site to know how to best carry out the job, so allow them to inspect the area before commencing the job. You can inspect the area with the operator so that any questions they may have can be answered on the spot to get the job going.

Once the job is done, debrief with your operator to confirm it’s been completed and fill out any necessary paperwork. This is also an opportunity to provide feedback with your operator, evaluating how the job went and if anything else needs to be discussed before leaving.

Looking for a wet hire solution?

No matter how big or small the job, Lencrow Forklifts have forklift operators available 24/7 so you can get the job done on time. Lencrow Forklifts have been an Australian owned company for over 40 years with extensive knowledge and experience in forklift hire. To book a Wet Hire, call 1300 516 431.

Have you discovered you need to hire a forklift?

Do you know what kind of information you might need before contacting a forklift hire supplier?

Rest assured, you can find all the information you will need to know here to simplify booking forklift hire. Feel free to download our free forklift hire checklist tool and use it each time you need to book a forklift. Map the workflow of the load you need to move and identify the 10 following points to reduce your time booking forklift hire.

Capacity

Do you know the weight of the item that needs lifting? Forklifts have rated capacities and they can lift specific weights. Have this information ready so that your supplier can identify the correct forklift for your application.

Lifting Height

Do you know how the maximum height you need to lift your goods? Forklifts have rated capacities and load limits. Forklift masts and attachments are already designated according to rated capacities and they cannot be overloaded for safety reasons. The higher you lift your goods reduces the overall capacity that the forklift. This is especially important information when you have high warehouse racking. If you know they maximum weight of what you need to lift against the highest point you need this to reach helps your supplier find a forklift suitable to your application.

Another important point to take note of is the height of any entry points you may need to drive the forklift through. Your forklift supplier will need to know this to ensure that the collapsed height of the mast will allow you entry through doorways and entrances.

Location

Where are you going to use the forklift? If you need to unload items for a container, you will need a forklift fitted with a container mast. If you are going to use the forklift indoors for an extended period of time, then an electric forklift might be better suited to your needs because they don’t burn fuel that creates toxic emissions. Describe the goods you need to move and the workspace you have to work in. This maximises the safety of your workplace.

Fuel Type

Ask yourself, if you hire a forklift, can you refuel it if it runs low? Knowing this information will ensure you stay productive for the duration of the forklift rental period.

Terrain

Describe the surface that forklift will operating on. If you are on a construction site that is rugged and unsealed, you might be more suited to hiring a rough terrain forklift. Alternatively, if you are indoors and operating on a warehouse surface you would need a forklift that has non-marking tyres already fitted to it.

Licensed Operator

Who will operate the forklift once you hire it? WHS requires a licensed operator needs to drive the forklift on premises. If you don’t have a licensed operator or have one but they’re not confident, your supplier is able to provide an experienced forklift operator who is trained to handle all types of goods.

Duration

How long do you need to use the forklift for? If you indicate how long you need the forklift for, your supplier can indicate the availability of the type you need once you have established all the previous mentioned information. Forklift hire companies have fleets that are subject to availability. Knowing the capacity and lifting requirements first will help you quickly find a supplier who can assist with finding a forklift suitable to your materials handling needs.

Forklift Delivery/Pick-Up

Do you need your forklift delivered or can you pick it up? Forklift hire businesses have transport options that are subject to availability and price. Make sure you find out delivery prices first. Most forklift hire businesses will charge a pickup and delivery fee based on their location to your business. If you have your own method of transport, ensure you find out the total weight of the forklift you want to hire and that your truck can manage the weight easily.

If you can pick-up your forklift – check with your forklift supplier if this is allowed.

Availability & Booking

When do you need it? This is actually one of the final points to cover. Once the forklift supplier has established all of your materials handling needs and identified the right forklift for you they will be able to book it in based on availability.

Budget

What’s your budget? The forklift industry is very competitive. If you are looking for a short term forklift, you might be better off contacting your closest supplier for availability due to lower transport costs. If you have more detailed forklift requirements, then going to a larger forklift hire company will most likely help you find a quick hire solution because they will have access to a more comprehensive fleet.

Other advantages of using larger forklift hire companies is that they will have service technicians on call in the event of a breakdown, larger forklift transport fleets for deliveries and a team of experienced operators.

Using all of this information ensures that the forklift hire business will allocate the right equipment to suit your application. Using the work flow system ensures that the forklift you hire can be used safely in your workspace.