A trailer fleet earns in proportion to how many days each unit is on the road. Utilization tells you that number; revenue per unit tells you what it was worth. Together they answer the two questions that decide your capital: what to buy next and what to sell.
Utilization, defined
Days rented divided by days available, per unit, per period. Days available exclude maintenance holds; days rented include every booked day, even a discounted monthly one. A utility trailer at 55 percent in season is busy; a car hauler at 35 percent may still be your best earner.
Revenue per unit
Total rental revenue for the unit in the period, before deposits and fees. Compare it with the unit's cost and remaining life. A $4,000 unit earning $3,000 a season is paying for itself quickly; a $9,000 unit earning $2,000 is not.
The monthly review
Once a month, in season, look at three lists:
- Turn-aways. Dates customers wanted and you could not supply, by class. If the same class turns customers away every weekend, it needs a unit.
- Idle units. Units under 20 percent utilization for the period. Ask why: price, condition, location, or a class the market does not want.
- Maintenance load. Units that spent more than a week on hold. A unit that is always in the shop is costing bookings as well as repairs.
Share Marketplace's analytics show revenue, utilization and forward bookings per unit and per class, and the calendar shows the holds.
When to add a unit
Add to a class when it turns customers away regularly and the existing units are above 50 percent in season. Buy the same spec so the class stays interchangeable and you can assign any unit at pickup.
When to retire a unit
Retire when repairs in the last year exceed the unit's rental revenue, when the unit is the reason for the class's turn-aways because it is always on hold, or when a newer spec in the class rents and the old one does not. Sell it while it still has value.
Moving units between locations
If you run more than one yard, utilization by location tells you where the demand is. A unit idle in one town and turned away in the next is a transfer, not a purchase.
Forward bookings
Bookings already on the calendar for the next sixty days tell you next month's utilization before it happens. If a class is already 70 percent booked for next month, it is time to think about the extra unit now, not in the season after.
Checklist
- Utilization and revenue per unit, monthly in season
- Turn-aways by class
- Idle units under 20 percent, with a reason
- Repairs versus revenue per unit for the year
- Forward bookings by class for the next sixty days
The pricing guide covers what to charge, and the trailer and vehicle rental software page shows the per-unit analytics in Share.