Hiring a truck is a serious business, whether you’re hiring one for a day, a week or a longer period. For someone who’s not used to the hiring process, it’s useful to know what to look for when doing so. Accordingly, here are some tips on what to check or look for when hiring a truck.
Rent the Right Type and Size of Truck
When hiring a truck, it’s usually best not to do it at the last minute. This leads to rushed decisions and too many compromises. Find a hire company that has a wide enough selection of vehicle types to avoid being limited in your choices. Nationwide Hire has everything from a Ford Luton to an 18-tonne truck – you can see their selection at https://www.nationwidehireuk.co.uk/trucks-for-hire/.
Whether you need a small van for removals or a cargo truck to transport significant loads from a port to a warehouse in a distant city, renting the right type and size of truck is vitally important.
Age and Condition of the Truck
Consider how old the truck is, and check how many miles it has done. The newer trucks are usually more reliable, making it less likely to get stuck on the side of the road with mechanical difficulties.
Certainly, the total mileage also makes a difference, as more general wear and tear on the mechanical system, wheels, suspension and other important parts of any truck endure considerable loads over time.
See if you can look at the records for servicing and check if any major repairs have been done lately. It’s useful to know about what parts were repaired or replaced, so if there are handling or seemingly related issues to these systems, you can keep an eye on them in case it becomes a problem with the truck once again.
Check for Damage
While a check-sheet is usually performed to confirm the condition of the truck when renting it (marking down dents, scratches, and problems with the interior), that’s not the only benefit of doing so.
Bodywork damage on a part of the vehicle can be an indicator of past issues from an accident. This is useful to note and ask questions about to verify that any problems have been taken care of and not overlooked or ignored. By being thorough, it’s possible to avoid things getting missed and having a problem with your rented truck when driving it.
Look at Tyre Tread
Check the tyre tread level on each tyre to ensure they’re legal to drive on and don’t already need to be replaced.
While this is something that you’d expect a good truck hire company to take care of, if you get stopped by the police, they will at least partly hold you responsible for driving with the tyres in that condition. Also, bald or damaged tyres can cause blowouts with a loss of control of the truck and serious danger to anyone on or near the road at the time. It’s better to take personal responsibility for checking them yourself for your own safety.
When hiring a truck, be careful to look out for the right things so that you have a solid form of transportation. Not every truck hire company is reliable, so make sure you do your research.