The holiday season sees the highest commercial rental vehicle demand of the year. This Fourth Quarter seasonality, historically, has the most commercial vehicle rental days compared to any other quarter of the year with 28% of the total rental volume. In the past two years a new rental trend is emerging. The demand for commercial rental vehicles has outpaced their supply, which has made businesses seek rental vehicles up to eight weeks earlier than years past. Many companies secure their rental vehicles in August, then request to keep those rental vehicles through the end of the year to make sure they have the holiday capacity they need. With the potential for long-term rentals, businesses with available vehicles have an opportunity to earn steady revenue through the end of the year.
With COOP, the leading commercial vehicle sharing platform, your business can take advantage of this opportunity. As a vehicle owner, you can keep the wheels moving by renting out the trucks, tractors or trailers in your fleet. During the Fourth Quarter, rentals typically go out long-term and that means steady revenue for your business to close out the year.
Read through our tips to prepare for the upcoming holiday season, and learn how you can improve your business’ bottom line with ease.
In the Fourth Quarter, we anticipate certain vehicle types will be rented more often compared to others. Trailers, final-mile vehicles, and refrigerated vehicles will be in high demand. We are already seeing that these vehicle types have been booked for long-term rentals this summer, and their Owners are receiving extension requests to keep them even longer. One reason is the ocean freight holiday peak shipping season started ramping up in June over two months earlier compared to previous years. Additionally, Retail Industry importers have begun to advance purchase orders and factory production by as much as six to eight weeks.
This summer, the supply chain is seeing a higher demand for trailers than there are available. Lately, manufacturers are struggling to produce vehicles for the market and many businesses have had to wait in trailer manufacturing queues. With these growing wait times, businesses are underfleeted to meet the future holiday demand. It is easy to rent out 53 foot dry van trailers and day cab tractors long-term in these market conditions.
With COOP, trailers are getting rented quickly. On average, they can earn up to $964 for a 30-day rental with the COOP platform. One COOP Owner had their trailers on the road making money within 24 hours from when they were listed on the platform.
In 2020, final-mile vehicle rentals accounted for 44% of the rental days from Mid-August to December. These light duty rentals range from sprinter vans to box trucks, and with the right specs they can draw in loyal Renters. Vehicles that maneuver well in cities are perfect for these local deliveries.
E-commerce, meal delivery kits, and other home deliverable goods all surged in consumer demand in 2020 so the need for local deliveries with these final-mile vehicles will follow. Businesses shifted from in-person services and towards home deliverable goods to match consumer needs. This shift has driven final-mile rentals to start getting booked in the summer to prepare for the volume of orders that will get fulfilled throughout the Fourth Quarter. These businesses' growth depends on renting final mile vehicles earlier than they would normally as they compete with rising contract and spot market rates.
Steady rentals are coming in for our COOP Owners that have box trucks and sprinter vans. Lasting and recurring relationships between businesses happen every day on the platform. We predict Renters will come back time and again to rent from Owners that provide positive communications. In some cases, Renters may reserve the vehicles long-term to ensure they can keep it during the busy holiday delivery season.
The end of the year is a very competitive time for refrigerated vehicles. Around the holidays, Food & Beverage distribution starts to ramp up along with strong demand for refrigerated vehicle rentals. This historic trend is driven by food distribution, events, and tourism that open up new opportunities for Owners with reefer vehicles available to rent out.
Owners can help Renters in their network meet the surge of holiday food & beverage industry demand, and generate revenue in doing so. Owners earn their daily rental rate, mileage, and refrigerated hours with each rental. In the Fourth Quarter of last year, over $55,000 was paid out to our top Owner through refrigerated vehicles alone. For a month-long rental, we calculate that Owners could earn $2,544 for each reefer trailer and $4,774 for each reefer truck on the platform.
In this market, Renters are securing fleet capacity today to keep them through the rest of the year. Your business can capitalize on this opportunity. Here are some tips on how:
With our platform, our technology, and our team’s expertise, your business has the tools to rent out your vehicles and generate revenue.
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