Lithuanian logistics companies are increasingly taking advantage of a business-to-business service popular in Europe – commercial transport rental. Having rented out only trucks for several years, UAB Transporto nuoma has begun offering dump trucks and minibuses this year, according to customer demand.
Director of Transporto nuoma, part of the Adampolis group of companies, says that for several years, some of the customers who were renting trucks asked if it was possible to rent dump trucks and minibuses, too.
“In Western Europe, rental of various commercial transport to customers according to their specific needs at that moment are growing rapidly. Having assessed the potential for such a service in Lithuania this spring, we also decided to offer rental of dump trucks and minibuses. Half a year later, we can conclude that Lithuanian business already sees the advantages of renting. This year it is planned to expand the number of new vehicles available for rental,” says director.
Hearing the customer’s needs
He recalls that Transporto nuoma, established almost 7 years ago, was born from the need to solve customer problems and the challenges faced by carriers. Long-term rental of trucks was offered at that time.
“Depending on the economic situation in the market, the challenges for logistics companies can be different, but they are often recurring – for example, bank financing policy, uncertainty of carriers regarding future contracts, the possibility of quickly expanding or reducing the fleet. Long-term transport rentals help to solve all of these problems. Its popularity worldwide has been growing for several years in a row. This good practice is also finding its way in Lithuania,” says the director of Transporto nuoma.
He says that targeted business development over several years has helped to bring together a circle of loyal customers and grow the business each year. Last year and this year have been especially dynamic for the company.
“This dynamic has further highlighted the advantages of our services, so this year, compared to last year, we plan to finish with about 40 % higher turnover, which will amount to about 2.4 million euro, and the fleet of rented vehicles will exceed several hundred units,” says director, sharing the company’s forecast.
He says that the new service, rental of dump trucks and minibuses, came about naturally, and the company simply had to listen carefully to clients and encourage the desire within the company to help the clients.
“That’s how it happened in this case, too. The customers themselves expressed the need to rent rather than to buy vehicles of another type. Therefore, we decided to rent out three-axle and four-axle dump trucks and minibuses. Our rental dump trucks offer a lot of features, equipped with Meiller three-way tipper technology. Our rental minibuses are equipped with universal 15 m³ cargo compartments. They are suitable for parcel services as well as small businesses. If our standard configuration does not meet a customer’s needs, it is always possible to order unique vehicles equipped according to the customer’s wishes,” says the director of Transporto nuoma.
Advantages of long-term rental
Long-term rental is an alternative to buying. The head of Transporto nuoma and the company’s customers list a number of advantages of renting a truck, dump truck or minibus.
First, the speed with which a vehicle can be put into operation. “Because we usually rent out vehicles directly from our lot, we can provide them to the customer within a very short period of time. Our record is 5 hours, during which we managed to deliver a fully ready-to-go truck to the client,” says the director of Transporto nuoma, describing an unbelievably fast pace.
Another advantage is flexibility. It is up to the customer to decide for what period of time to rent a vehicle, for 1, 2 or a maximum of 3 years. At the same time, the annual mileage of the vehicle is arranged. The time period may be adjusted after the contract enters into force, either lengthening or shortening, as needed.
The third advantage is that there is no need for a large initial payment, in contrast to the way a vehicle is leased. When renting a vehicle, the deposit is usually 2-3 times lower than the initial payment required when leasing.
Easy planning of expenses is an advantage especially appreciated by customers. The rental price includes all the costs that the vehicle may have, i.e. Casco insurance, technical service, warranty, tyres and batteries. The client only has to take care of civil liability insurance and hiring a driver.
Vintransus: renting trucks is a rational solution
Redas Misiulis, director of UAB Vintransus, established less than a year ago, confirms that he has also taken advantage of truck rental. Six months ago, the young company rented 5 trucks from Transporto nuoma.
“A newly-established company does not just keep a pile of money in a desk drawer, and banks are not inclined to provide such companies with loans or other financial instruments for the purchase of transport. But you have to start working with something, and you won’t do it without vehicles,” Misiulis says. “There was only one acceptable solution at the time: truck rental.”
The director of Vintransus remembers that Transporto nuoma offered a number of advantages when renting out its trucks. In particular, he emphasises that Transporto nuoma undertook to provide full technical service and assistance for three years as well as a full guarantee for the new truck for the entire rental period. Also included in the rental price is Casco insurance, the transport owner’s tax, the roadworthiness inspection, warranty repair, maintenance service with oil changes in authorised MAN service facilities in Lithuania and other European countries, and maintenance and replacement of batteries and tyres.
“This set of services allows for a more compact management structure of our company, and solves the problem of finding specialists. We do not need to create jobs for employees who take care of the servicing of trucks, who monitor the periodicity of technical servicing, etc. Furthermore, rental does not require a large initial capital investment, which is especially relevant for a small start-up company.
It is also very important that when renting trucks, we can calculate their monthly costs very precisely, there are no surprises here. So, in order to be profitable, we just need to get enough orders and have more income than the price of renting the trucks,” says the director of Vintransus, explaining the advantages of truck rental. “So, taking into account all the advantages and opportunities that renting offers, working with Transporto nuoma was a logical decision.”
Misiulis emphasises that rental greatly simplifies the whole arithmetic of the business, and requires “significantly fewer expense items to be controlled.” Convinced of the advantages offered by rental and having assessed all the circumstances, according to the head of Vintransus, the company plans to rent more trucks in the future.
“The nature of business is to grow, so we will grow sustainably with our customers, whom we see as long-term partners, whose needs we adapt to. And these needs are very diverse, from the desire to provide more and more trucks, dump trucks and minibuses, to be able to serve customers’ subsidiaries and branches registered in other countries. In the future, we will focus on long-term rental as well as expand the geography of our operations,” says the director of Transporto nuoma, a member of the Adampolis group of companies.
The Adampolis group of companies is the official representative of Man Truck & Bus in Lithuania. It engages in the sale and rental of new and used commercial vehicles, is an authorised MAN Truck & Bus service representative and has a network of service facilities and parts stores throughout Lithuania. The companies of the group also offer various financing solutions, rent and sell construction equipment.
https://www.vz.lt/transportas-logistika/2021/10/07/komercinio-transporto-nuoma–nauja-auganti-tendencija-versle
