Hire or Buy?
To Purchase or Lease a Vehicle?
This is a common question that many forklift users find themselves wrestling with, and unfortunately, things have become more confusing thanks to the myriad of cheap forklifts for sale that are advertised online as “too good to be true” deals.
Not sure if hiring or buying a forklift is right for your operational needs? Let us help you by running through the pros and cons of each option -
Hire Lifting Equipment – The Pros
- Fixed monthly cost – no ‘out of the blue’ repair/maintenance costs
- Yearly LOLER done by hiring company
- Invoices may be offset with tax liability
- Timely maintenance and service by hiring company (can be included within the cost of agreement)
- No major capital investment required upfront
- Tax offset benifit
Hire Lifting Equipment – The Cons
- Since you don’t own the equipment, it cannot be a part of your balance sheet/asset register
- You can’t make modifications according to operational requirements since you don’t own the equipment
- You do not retain ownership
Buy Lifting Equipment – The Pros
- You can modify the equipment however you want according to operational demands
- You can off-set the large one-off payment with tax liability
- Since you own the equipment, it becomes a part of your asset register
Buy Lifting Equipment – The Cons
- Even though the lifting equipment is a part of your asset register, it is subject to depreciation over time
- You alone are liable for all maintenance and servicing
- Initial upfront cost is quite large
- If any major and unexpected maintenance costs crop up, you must bear them
Our take on the whole hiring vs. purchasing equipment deal
- If you need convenience on top of everything and require medium-heavy forklift use, go with a forklift truck hire
- But if you need to keep running costs as low as possible and don’t mind the heavy initial cost, go with lifting equipment purchase
Contact us now to learn more.
