Hire & rental fleets
Equipment hire management software where utilisation is the P&L
MDMS runs a hire fleet on the numbers that matter — on-hire and off-hire, rate cards and recurring billing, guided damage assessment on return, deposits, and utilisation per unit.
- Hire ÷ available — Per-unit utilisation across the fleet
- At the gate — Off-hire damage assessed with photos and priced
- Rate cards — Hourly, daily, weekly or monthly recurring billing
Who this is for
Equipment and plant hire companies where utilisation drives the P&L
Access-equipment and tool hire businesses running large fleets
Dry-hire operators billing recurring rental over long terms
Hire desks that need availability and damage recovery under control
Your words, mapped to MDMS
The way this industry talks about the job, and exactly what runs it in MDMS.
| What you call it | What runs it in MDMS | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| On hire and off hire | rental_contracts: activate marks the unit On Hire, return closes it | Activating a contract marks the unit On Hire and raises a deposit invoice; the return wizard takes it off hire. |
| The rate card | hire_rates (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly) with resolve_hire_rate | Rates set per unit, category or globally resolve by precedence, with minimum periods, so pricing is consistent. |
| What's free next week | the fleet availability calendar + check_rental_conflict | A live calendar shows each unit's commitments and blocks a booking that would clash, so nothing is double-booked. |
| It came back damaged | the return wizard writing rental_inspections + a damage charge | A guided return captures condition, fuel, hours and itemised damage with photos, then invoices the damage. |
| Is the fleet earning | per-unit utilisation (hire days ÷ available days) | Utilisation per unit surfaces in the reports and the Dealer Suite asset register so you can cull or remarket dead stock. |
| The deposit | the deposit lifecycle (pending → collected → held → refunded) | Deposits are tracked through to a net refund calculated against any damage charges when the unit comes back. |
| Which units are just sitting there | the idle-units KPI tile (units with zero hire days) | An idle-units count flags stock that isn't earning — a headline figure, not a full idle-days-by-unit report. |
The problems that cost you
Utilisation is the whole business and you can't see it
In hire, a unit either earns or it costs you, and the difference between a good month and a bad one is how much of the fleet was on hire. When utilisation lives in the rental manager's head and a spreadsheet, nobody can point to the units that are quietly idle, the dead stock never gets remarketed, and capital sits in a yard depreciating instead of working.
A stale availability sheet double-books the fleet
When availability is a whiteboard or a shared spreadsheet, it is always a step behind reality, so two customers get promised the same unit and someone gets let down on the day. Chasing a replacement at short notice burns goodwill and margin, and the whole problem traces back to not having a live, conflict-checked view of what is actually free.
Damage comes back and you quietly absorb it
A unit goes out clean and returns with a cracked panel, a bent component or a blown hose, and unless it was assessed properly at return with photos and costs, the repair lands on your workshop rather than the hirer. Done on a clipboard at a busy gate, damage recovery leaks money on every off-hire, and the deposit gets refunded before anyone checks.
Recurring billing leaks across a book of contracts
Long dry-hire contracts bill weekly or monthly over months, and doing that by hand across a whole book means a period gets billed late, skipped, or forgotten entirely. Nobody raises an invoice for a hire that was never written up, so the revenue simply evaporates — a small leak each cycle that adds up to real money across a year.
How it runs, end to end
- 1
Check availability and book
The fleet availability calendar shows what is free, and creating a booking checks for conflicts automatically so a unit is never promised to two customers for overlapping dates.
- 2
Put it on hire
Activating the contract marks the unit On Hire, applies the resolved rate from the rate card, and raises the deposit invoice, so the hire starts with pricing and deposit handled cleanly.
- 3
Bill the hire on its cadence
Recurring billing periods generate on the contract's frequency and invoice through the standard tax-invoice engine, so long dry hires bill on schedule instead of being chased by hand each cycle.
- 4
Bring it back and assess damage
The return wizard walks staff through condition, fuel, the closing hour meter and itemised damage with photos and repair costs, capturing a defensible record before the unit goes back on the yard.
- 5
Reconcile the deposit
The deposit is reconciled against any damage charges to a net refund or forfeit, and a damage-charge invoice is raised automatically, so recovery happens at the gate rather than being written off later.
- 6
Steer the fleet on utilisation
Per-unit utilisation shows which assets are earning and which are idle, so you can move, remarket or dispose of dead stock instead of letting capital sit in the yard depreciating.
What does the work
On-hire to off-hire, cleanly
Activate a contract to put a unit On Hire with its rate and deposit, then close it through a guided return — the full lifecycle with no gaps.
Recover damage at the gate
A structured off-hire inspection captures condition and itemised damage with photos, reconciles the deposit and raises the damage charge automatically.
See what's earning
Per-unit utilisation and a fleet asset register in the premium Dealer Suite module show which units earn and which sit idle, so capital works.
The modules that matter here
Buy only what you use. These are the MDMS modules this industry leans on most.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best equipment hire management software in Australia?
- MDMS runs an equipment or plant hire fleet on the numbers that matter: a live availability calendar with conflict checking, rate cards with hourly to monthly billing, recurring invoicing on long contracts, a guided off-hire damage inspection with deposit reconciliation, and per-unit utilisation. Every invoice is a compliant Australian tax invoice and payments sync to Xero.
- How does MDMS prevent double-booking a hire fleet?
- Availability is a live fleet calendar rather than a spreadsheet, and when you create a booking MDMS checks it against existing contracts automatically and blocks a clash, suggesting the dates a unit is actually free. Because the calendar reflects real contract state, the hire desk promises only what is available and stops letting customers down on the day.
- Does MDMS handle damage recovery on off-hire returns?
- Yes. The return wizard captures return condition, fuel, the closing hour meter and itemised damage with severity, repair cost and photos, then reconciles the deposit to a net refund or forfeit and raises a damage-charge invoice automatically. That turns damage recovery into a structured step at the gate instead of a cost quietly absorbed after the deposit is refunded.
- Does MDMS bill recurring rental contracts automatically?
- Yes. A contract carries a billing frequency, and MDMS generates billing periods and drafts invoices on that cadence through the standard tax-invoice engine, so long dry-hire contracts bill on schedule. Invoices are drafted for review rather than auto-charged, which keeps a person in the loop while removing the manual per-cycle billing that leaks revenue.
- Can MDMS report on hire fleet utilisation?
- Yes. Utilisation is calculated per unit as hire days against available days and surfaces in the reports, with a fuller asset register and utilisation view in the premium Dealer Suite module. There is also an idle-units count that flags stock with zero hire days, so you can see which assets are earning and which should be moved on or remarketed.
- Does MDMS charge a loss or damage waiver on hires?
- No. MDMS handles the deposit lifecycle and invoices assessed damage from the off-hire inspection, but it does not include a loss or damage waiver product — there is no waiver rate, waiver line item or waiver toggle on a rental contract. We describe only what ships, so we would not present a damage-waiver feature the platform does not have today.
Ready to try equipment hire management software?
Start a 14-day free trial — no credit card, no implementation fee, no sales call required. Or book a personalised demo with our team to see your workflow in MDMS.
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