Build your business: Diversify your fleet
Diversity has been the key to the aerial lift industry’s collective success.
by Malcolm Early
The rental industry has evolved over the past few decades. Looking back at where most of us in this industry started, none of us could have imagined the level of growth our industry has experienced in the last 20 years.
OEMs and rental companies have gone through countless product launches, technological advances and even the Great Recession together. A common theme to the success stories that have played out in that time is diversity. Diversity has been the key to the aerial lift industry’s collective success.
Attention to return on investment is another key to that success. It is important for planning purposes as it lets rental companies see, at a quick glance, which machines to invest in, and which to cut back on in its fleet.
Overall, the ROI on access equipment can be broken down into two main segments. The first is machine versatility. The more tasks the equipment can perform, the higher its utilization, thus the more value it provides to a rental company. the second ROI component is serviceability. Downtime can add up quickly and machines that are designed to provide maximum uptime through easily serviceable components is a critical consideration in which machines will generate more ROI.
A new method of tracking ROI that more rental companies are turning to are telematics solutions like Skyjack’s Elevate system. Through digital tracking, fleet managers are able to see how machines are being treated on-site. They can monitor battery state, time spent lifting, lowering, driving and even charging behaviors.
Technological advances like the Elevate system are giving fleet managers more information than previously possible about their equipment. This is beneficial as they are able to flag regular maintenance in advance and through paperless pre-check systems, they are also able to address small issues as soon as they arise and before they fester into larger ones. This proactive approach helps fleet managers achieve maximum on-site uptime.
Malcolm Early is vice president of Marketing at Skyjack.
This article appeared in the January-February 2020 issue of Pro Contractor Rentals magazine. © 2020 Urbain Communications LLC. All rights reserved.
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