Forklift Hire & Leasing

Not every forklift needs to be bought. Forklift hire covers you for a seasonal peak, a fixed-term contract or a machine off the road; fork truck leasing spreads the cost of a permanent machine without tying up capital. Most fleets we look after end up running a mix of the two.

Forktruck Solutions offers short-term hire, long-term hire, contract hire, lease rental and hire purchase across the full range – counterbalance, reach trucks, pallet trucks, order pickers and utility vehicles – with servicing and breakdown cover built into the rate where you want it. What follows is the honest version of which option suits which situation.

Forklift hire

If you hire a truck, then you probably know that you’ll be enjoying greater flexibility from the outset. If you need equipment for a seasonal business peak or, say, you need to move a fair amount of freight while working with a specific client, then a vehicle hire makes sense – you won’t have to pay a heavy upfront cost and you can fully utilise the rental payments.

However, be prepared to pay the insurance and maintenance costs that come with a rental agreement. Then again, this is the perfect chance to test out the latest technology and models from top brands.

Consider the following -

Lease Rental or Hire Purchase, Which is Best for my Business

Lease Rental

Lower up-front costs – Use the latest and greatest technology-driven equipment without paying the full upfront costs. You’ll be paying for what you use only, so you’ll always know what your usage expenses will be.
Test-drive the latest technology – Whatever innovating technology leading manufacturers such as Clark or Polaris are working on, you’ll be among the first business owners to try it out, potentially giving you an edge over your competitors who may still be using less efficient and outdated equipment.
Productivity boost – Regular replacement throughout the forklift hire agreement means greater productivity and reduced downtime because a highly motivated and efficient workforce is only as good as the equipment they use.

Hire Purchase

Budget-Friendly: Hire purchase agreements typically require a lower initial capital outlay compared to outright purchasing a forklift. This can be particularly helpful for small businesses with limited upfront funds.
Preservation of Working Capital: By spreading the cost of the forklift over the term of the hire purchase agreement, a business can preserve its working capital for other essential operations and investments.
Fixed Payments: Hire purchase agreements come with fixed, regular payments, making it easier to budget and plan for the expenses. This predictability can be valuable for financial planning.
Ownership at the End: One of the primary benefits is that once the hire purchase agreement is completed, the business becomes the full owner of the forklift. This allows for long-term asset accumulation without the need for a substantial upfront investment.

Fork truck leasing

With our large range of all-purpose vehicle solutions, we can provide a one-stop-shop for all your hire requirements whether you operate 1 electric pallet truck or a mixed fleet of hundreds of trucks and vehicles.

Forklift trucks and vehicles can be very expensive pieces of equipment, with some businesses not in a position to outright pay full price for the entire fleet or even consider lease-purchasing them. Luckily, there are other options such as lease renting vehicles.

Leasing and renting are somewhat similar, although it’s important to understand some of the differences –

When it comes to rental, the agreement term is noticeably shorter – a few weeks or months, typically. It makes sense to go with rental if you’re expecting to go through projected seasonal business highs, during which you may need to move more freight than usual. However, at times, it might make more sense to rent a different kind or class of vehicle or truck, as it may potentially lead to an increase in productivity.
Rentals are generally a more expensive option because maintenance costs must be accounted for. The rental fee each month also includes any equipment idle time between various rental assignments.

In comparison, the cost of leasing is less than renting, although there are several variables at play, including the equipment’s cost. On average, you might expect to pay somewhere around £490 each month for a forklift lease, where the value of the equipment in question is, say, just over £20,600. An additional fee will need to be outlaid for maintenance. The monthly leasing payments might vary depending on your current business circumstances.

Benefits of Lease-renting trucks and vehicles

Tax benefits – leasing business equipment is a tax-deductible operational expense, although you may need to double check the applicable tax rules.
Fixed maintenance costs – You can benefit from the high performance of an expensive, top-of-the-line forklift trucks and lifting equipment without paying the full price. Since leasing agreements typically runs for 3-5 years, the monthly maintenance cost and lease payments closely match day-to-day usage, which may be more cost-effective than paying a full upfront price for newly purchased machines.
Higher productivity – The frequent equipment replacement schedule helps you keep down the ‘average age’ of your fleet, which means higher peak efficiency and reduced downtime.
Test out the latest models – You can test out the latest range of trucks and vehicles from top brands without paying full price. Once the term of your lease has expired, you can decide whether you want to buy and add the equipment permanently to your business assets or return it.
Experience the latest technology – Lease renting forklift trucks means more frequent equipment replacement, allowing you to try out the latest models which boast better technology and additional safety benefits. This might help you decide if the new technology is something your business operations can benefit from, should you decide to purchase it.

Short-term forklift hire and fork truck rental

Short-term hire is the answer to a problem with an end date. A Christmas peak, a six-week contract, a machine off the road waiting for parts, or a new line that may or may not need a permanent truck.

You pay for the period you use it, the machine arrives serviced and ready, and servicing and breakdown cover are included for the duration – so a fault is our problem, not a line stoppage you have to solve. Fork truck rental also means you are not carrying an asset through the ten months of the year you do not need it.

It is also the sensible way to trial a machine type before committing. If you are unsure whether a reach truck or an articulated truck suits your aisles, hiring one for a month settles the argument far more cheaply than buying the wrong one.

Electric forklift hire

Almost everything we hire is electric, and on a hire agreement that matters more than on a purchase: you get current battery technology without carrying the risk of it ageing in your fleet.

Electric forklift hire suits indoor work, food and pharmaceutical environments, and any site with clean air or noise constraints – and because there is no fuel to buy, the running cost sits almost entirely in the hire rate and the electricity, which makes budgeting simple. See the typical savings on fuel and maintenance from switching to electric.

Lithium-ion machines are available across most of the range. On multi-shift work they remove battery changing entirely, which is usually the reason a site moves off lead-acid in the first place. We will tell you when lead-acid is still the better commercial answer for a single-shift round.

Which option suits your situation?

	Short-term hire	Contract hire	Lease rental	Hire purchase
Typical term	Days to months	1–5 years	1–5 years	1–5 years
Upfront cost	Minimal	Low	Low	Deposit
Servicing included	Yes	Usually	Optional	Separate
You own it at the end	No	No	No	Yes
Best for	Peaks, cover, trials	Permanent fleet, fixed budget	Latest equipment, no asset risk	Long-term ownership

Terms vary by machine and fleet size. Tell us the work and how long you need it for and we will price the options side by side.

What is included in a forklift hire agreement?

The machine, specified for your job – mast height, capacity, tyres and attachments matched to your racking and loads rather than whatever is in the yard.
Servicing and planned maintenance for the hire period, carried out by our own engineers.
Breakdown cover, with attendance within 24 hours and an average 2 to 4 hour response near our facilities.
LOLER thorough examination where the term is long enough to need one, so statutory inspection does not fall through the gap.
Delivery and collection to your site.

Insurance and damage are normally your responsibility, as is fair wear and tear against the agreed hours. We set out the hour allowance up front rather than settling it at the end, and telematics can track actual usage against it so there are no surprises on return.

Which machines can I hire?

Everything we supply is available to hire or lease, not just a limited rental fleet:

Electric counterbalance forklift trucks – general indoor and yard work.
Reach trucks – narrow aisles and high racking.
Pallet trucks and pallet stacker trucks – ground-level movement and low-level stacking.
Order pickers and AGVs – case picking and automated pallet moves.
Combilift and Aislemaster – long loads and very narrow aisles.
GOUPiL utility vehicles – site transport and grounds work.

If you already run machines from other manufacturers, they can go on the same service agreement as anything you hire from us, so the whole site sits under one arrangement.

In Summary, rental can be a very cost-effective solution for many customers for varying reasons and has the following advantages over owning your own vehicles –

Nationwide coverage
Next day delivery available
Hire from as little as £42+ VAT per week
Wide range to choose from
No capital outlay
Fixed budgeting
Breakdowns, repairs and maintenance are included in your monthly payment
Options to change the equipment should your operation change or you find another vehicle is more suitable for the task
Ability to cover seasonal peaks

At Forktruck Solutions, we offer a range of lease rental and contract hire for all your lifting equipment and industrial vehicle requirements to suit your business circumstances.

GET IN TOUCH

Every business is different so Goupil adapts to every application in offering tailored solutions.

T: 01924 265623

E: [email protected]

Forklift hire FAQs

How much does forklift hire cost?

It depends on the machine, the term and what is included. A short-term hire on a standard electric counterbalance costs more per week than the same truck on a three-year contract hire, because the rate carries delivery, servicing and breakdown cover over a much shorter period. Rather than quote a headline figure that would not apply to your job, we price the options side by side once we know the machine, the hours and the length of time you need it.

What is the difference between forklift hire and leasing?

Hire is a rental: you pay for use over a period and hand the machine back, with servicing and breakdown cover normally included. Leasing spreads the cost of a machine you will keep for years, with a lower monthly figure than hire but more of the responsibility sitting with you. Short-term needs point to hire; permanent fleet points to leasing or contract hire.

What is the difference between lease rental and hire purchase?

With lease rental you pay to use the machine and hand it back at the end, so you never own it, the up-front cost is low and you can move onto newer equipment at the end of the term. With hire purchase you are buying the machine in instalments and own it outright at the end, so the payments build towards an asset but you carry the residual value and the ageing of the truck.

Can I hire a forklift for just a few days?

Yes. Short-term hire runs from a few days upwards, which is the usual answer for a seasonal peak, a fixed contract or covering a machine that is off the road. The truck arrives serviced and ready, with servicing and breakdown cover included for the period.

Is servicing included in forklift hire?

Yes. Planned maintenance and breakdown cover are included in the hire rate, carried out by our own directly employed engineers, and LOLER thorough examination is covered where the term is long enough to require one. Insurance and damage are normally your responsibility, along with fair wear and tear against the agreed hours.

Can I hire an electric forklift?

Yes, and most of what we hire is electric. Electric forklift hire suits indoor work, food and pharmaceutical environments and any site with clean air or noise constraints. Lithium-ion machines are available across most of the range, which removes battery changing on multi-shift work.

What happens if the forklift breaks down during hire?

We attend within 24 hours, and sites close to one of our facilities typically see an average 2 to 4 hour response. Breakdown cover is part of the hire rate, so a fault is our cost rather than yours, and where a machine needs a longer repair we will discuss a replacement to keep you working.

Do I need insurance for a hired forklift?

Yes. Insurance and damage are normally the hirer’s responsibility under a hire agreement, so the machine needs to be covered on your policy for the period. We will set out exactly what sits with you and what sits with us before you sign anything.

Is there a limit on hours during a hire agreement?

Longer agreements carry an hour allowance, set at the start against the work you have described. Going beyond it is charged rather than penalised, and telematics can track actual usage against the allowance so there is no argument at the end. Short-term hire is normally straightforward on hours.

Can I hire a forklift and buy it later?

Often, yes. Hire purchase is designed for exactly that, and on some hire agreements the machine can be purchased at the end or the hire converted to a longer-term arrangement. It is worth saying at the outset if ownership is where you expect to end up, because it changes which option is cheapest overall.

Can I hire machines from other manufacturers?

We hire from our own range, but machines you already own from other manufacturers can go on the same service agreement as anything you hire from us. That means one arrangement and one point of contact for the whole site rather than a separate agreement per brand.