Forklift Equipment Leasing: The Not-So-Obvious Advantages

We’re getting to the stage where most of us know that the benefits of equipment leasing far outweigh anything that you can get from just purchasing machinery outright. This has now been commonplace for a number of years, and it takes a very good reason for companies to opt to purchase anything outright based on the back of this.

When we talk about the advantages, most people are aware of the obvious financial ones. For example, if you are looking into forklift equipment leasing, it quickly becomes apparent that you don’t have to invest tens of thousands of dollars in one go. Instead, this is split out over a number of years, which also represents your balance sheet very nicely.

If we delve deeper into the subject, there are other reasons why companies are following this approach though. Through the remainder of this article, we will now take a look at some of these benefits in further detail.

The I-factor (inflation)

Inflation is spoken about a lot in the general sense of the word, but when it comes to purchasing equipment it’s rarely mentioned. This is surprising when you start to analyze the obvious benefits that are open to businesses.

Most equipment leases are arranged for years at a time. Ultimately, over the course of these few years, inflation is going to grow and make the equipment more expensive. The savvy businesses who are tapping into the principal of leasing realize this, and tend to lock in fixed rates. This means their purchases aren’t affected by inflation – and they effectively pay lower than market rate later down the line.

Bundle everything together

When we talk about bundling, we’re referring to everything else that revolves around the equipment you have hired. This might be the cost of installing such equipment, as well as the regular maintenance that might be required to keep it going. As anyone who has dealt in equipment will state, these costs can quickly add up and actually come to as much as the equipment itself in some cases.

When you bundle, you can negotiate to have everything pieced together in the same package. This is an approach commonly used in retail, and the same benefits are on offer here. In other words, you get a lower price for purchasing everything together, rather than buying the equipment, installation and maintenance separately.

The value of asset management

Following on from the above, we can now talk about the benefits of asset management. Again, this is all about seeing the bigger picture when it comes to your equipment, rather than just looking at the equipment on its own.

Asset management refers to the whole process behind your new equipment. It needs to be sourced and delivered before eventually being disposed of. All of these issues take up your company’s resources, yet some leasing companies will handle this for you. You might find that the time savings provided to you far outweigh any costs that might be added onto the equipment for these services.