Common Questions Your Crane Truck Rental Company Will Ask You

First time booking a crane truck and have no idea what questions to expect from your chosen company? This guide will walk you through the general questions a crane truck rental company may ask you before booking.

It’s important to note that these questions are highly subjective – they may vary depending on your needs, the scope of work involved, and the crane truck rental company’s availability.

Questions Regarding Cargo

What do You Need a Crane Truck For?

The first thing your crane truck rental representative or main point of contact (POC) will ask you would be the services you need for your project – are you looking for transport, delivery, rigging, lifting, or a combination of the mentioned tasks?

It is helpful to browse the rental’s services page, so as to get an idea of what they offer and what you need from them.

Next, they would probably ask about the nature of the item they’ll be lifting and transporting, including overall dimensions and working general description of the material/item.

They will usually want to know if the item is fragile, or has awkward shapes to properly prepare a suitable truck for the job. 

Each crane truck has a separate capacity and lifting capability, so it’s important to ensure you give clear descriptions and measurements of the item/material to be transported.

Questions Regarding Location

Are There any Obstructions En Route?

Obstructions such as buildings, trees, or other vehicles may cause access issues. If you’re on private property with few possible obstructions, a great workaround to this problem is to clear as many obstructions as possible. 

However, if the truck goes through a public street to access your location, obstructions such as parked vehicles or safety hazards like pedestrians passing by may pose an issue.

Power lines, in particular, are dangerous, as it’s a common sight in both public and private properties that carry high-voltage electricity. Safe Work Australia notes that these power lines can possibly snag onto a crane, which poses an immediate threat of electric shock or even death to the operator and everyone nearby, especially when it’s raining.

A great way to avoid any mishaps is to take photos or videos of any obstructions or possible dangers while en route to your location and send them to your main POC for review. This way, your crane truck operator can review and look for alternative access points if the situation demands it.

Additionally, it can be quite challenging for operators to see these electric lines or gauge their height. Reviewing them in advance will give them time to adequately prepare for these hazards.

Are the Roads Accessible?

To maximise time and efficiency, your main POC will ask the address of your site to gauge its accessibility. This is because winding slopes, busy streets, and remote areas make the access truck quite challenging.

Additionally, unfavourable conditions may hinder operations. Due to the big, bulky nature of crane trucks, they may need certain roads or paths to be blocked off in order for the crane to have ample space to move around. 

As we mentioned before, taking photos and videos while en route to the location will help the crane truck rental company navigate more effectively and come up with alternative routes should the situation demand it.

Additionally, if you’re transporting heavy materials, you need crane trucks with a higher load capacity, which requires hard ground to physically support. If your site ground conditions primarily have slopes or consist of soft materials like dirt, sand, clay, and mud, or have recently experienced rain, it will be challenging for crane trucks to access its area.

It can be doable on a case-by-case basis to operate a crane truck while on sloped ground. However, it’s nearly impossible to operate them on soft ground, so it’s important to let your operator know of your ground conditions.

Questions Regarding Schedule and Time Frame

When and How Long Do You Need Us?

Once the location, accessibility, and rendered services are no longer a concern, it’s time to agree on a timeframe and deadline.

With this in mind, your main POC will negotiate an expected timeframe for the job which will depend on the nature of the project and how busy they are at the moment.

Most companies turn down last-minute bookings or time-sensitive projects, as this will put a strain on the company’s already-stretched resources, especially if their schedule is packed for the week.

This is why we highly recommend booking your project two to three weeks in advance. This way, you give the crane truck rental company ample time to prepare the truck, and any equipment, materials, and manpower required.

However, this isn’t a problem for Ultimate Crane Trucks. We provide a 24/7 for transport, delivery, rigging, and lifting service anywhere in Victoria.

We also provide same-day service and we achieve this by keeping all our vehicles well-maintained and ready for use immediately. This ensures every prospective client is pencilled in and well taken care of by our team.

Ready to receive a free quote? Share your job details with us, and let’s get started on your next project!