3 Questions To Ask Before Renting A Crane

A crane is a must-have piece of equipment for any construction job that involves lifting or lowering heavy materials. For many businesses, it makes sense financially and logistically to rent a crane as needed rather than purchasing a crane. If you decide to rent a crane, here are a few questions you should ask to make sure you understand the details of your crane rental agreement.

1. What items does the rental price include?

Once you make the decision to rent a crane for your project, one of the first tasks you'll need to do is get quotes for the cost of renting the crane. However, it's essential to thoroughly inspect the quote so that you understand exactly what is and isn't covered. If there's any question as to whether something is covered, inquire more about the terms of the pricing.

For example, some rental companies include the costs associated with transporting the crane to and from your job site in your quote. Other businesses may not include this expense. Transportation costs can easily add hundreds of dollars to your final rental costs.

Another item to explore is whether crane assembly is included. Crane assembly requires an experienced crew to ensure that the process is completed as safely and quickly as possible. If assembly isn't included, you'll need to increase your total budget so that you'll have funds to hire an experienced team to get your rental crane up and operational. 

2. Can you provide an operator or rigger for the crane?

Unfortunately, a crane won't be of much assistance for your job site if you don't have anyone to operate it. See if the crane rental service has the option to include labor for the crane. Many crane services will include the cost of a rigger and laborer in your total rental costs if necessary. This prevents you from having to screen and hire workers to operate the crane. 

3. Is there a minimum (or maximum) rental period for the crane? 

Quite a bit of effort is required to prepare a crane for transportation and transport it to the job site. Due to the costs and resources associated with moving a crane, some rental services have minimum rental periods for their machinery. These minimum rental periods help the company defray some of the costs associated with dissembling and transporting the crane.

Conversely, you should also see if there's any flexibility concerning your ability to keep the crane for longer than expected. Bad weather or other details outside of your control may cause your project to take longer than expected. It's typically more cost effective to extend your existing rental rather than rent another crane. Reach out to crane rental services near you to learn more.

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