I’m a salesperson. My company rents pickup trucks and passenger vans. The objection I hear most when I make calls to potential customers is “I own my own trucks. We don’t need to rent them!”
On a related note, I love to ride bikes. I personally own two. In fact, my family owns eight of them. At first blush, I thought “why would I ever want to rent a bike?” Yet I did. I rented a bike about 10 times recently, as well as scooters too!
Why Rent Bikes?
Recently, I flew to San Diego, California for a work conference. While I was there, I had to get a specific project done and didn’t have time to walk. Or, in some cases, I didn’t want to walk. Because I flew to the conference, I didn’t bring my bike to use for transportation. It’s expensive to ship and hard to disassemble and reassemble. Knowing that I’d need to get around downtown San Diego, you can imagine my delight when I found LimeBike. It was a great alternative to shipping my own bike. In fact, it was much better. It wasn’t the type of bike I typically rode or needed, but it worked and allowed me to travel in the area just as I needed.
Saved Money By Renting Bikes
The work conference I attended was the Government Fleet Conference and Expo, #GFXSanDiego. I was in town for five days and ended up renting a bike 10 times and a scooter twice. It cost me a total of $16.65 for all 12 rentals. How cool is that? I rode all over the place. I saved money on all kinds of expenses including a taxi, or Uber and Lyft, and parking. As a side benefit, I burned 2,950 calories while riding through the city. I even rode it to the Padres baseball game and back. The cost to park at the game would have been more expensive than it was to rent the bikes and scooter combined.
Rent Trucks Too
So, why am I telling you this? Like I said before: I rent trucks. The objection I hear all the time is “We own our trucks – we don’t need to rent them.” Let’s stop and think for a minute. Do you really want to own everything? What if you have a project come up that is only a few months to complete. Is it worth shipping your own trucks, or keeping extra trucks around in a pool, or otherwise, just in case the need arises?
Renting occasionally to fit a specific need is less hassle, generally less expensive, and can keep your fleet utilization tighter. True, our rental trucks might not be what you typically buy, but they will work. Our fleet is nearly new (current model year), mostly white, crew cab, 4×4 with tow packages and trailer brakes, and will definitely work in a pinch.
Next time you need a truck, ask yourself: “Will a rental truck work?” Call, text or email me. We can work it out. It is simple to set up an agreement and start renting right away.
Bryan C. Bassett
National Sales Manager – Government
801-819-8826 Call / Text
bbassett@flexfleetrental.com
