How to Build a Truck Rental Website- Business Model & Key Features Analysis

Last Updated: 23rd June, 2023

Global truck rental industry is estimated to reach $204.2 billion by the end of 2030 with a CAGR of ~10% throughout the forecast period 2020-2030. Its recent growth can be largely attributed to the disruption in the global economy that led to the incrementation of the transport sector, which relies heavily on trucking operations for road transportation. Moreover, truck rental practices are also estimated to surge in the near future as they assist in the diminution of risks originating from seasonal transportation demands and are more cost-effective than purchasing trucks.

With such promising growth in the truck rental industry, launching a truck rental website is a lucrative business idea in 2020-21. To help you enter the industry, we have curated the business model of an online truck rental business and discussed the various ways to develop a truck rental website below.

Other Growing Niches in the Transportation Industry we’ve recently covered:
RV Rental – Complete Guide To Start An Online Rv Rental Website
P2P Car Rental – Business Model And Key Features Analysis To Start A P2P Car Rental Business

Table of Contents

• Types of Online Truck Rental Businesses
  • Online Truck Rental Marketplace Business Model
  • Standalone Truck Rental Website Business Model
• Prominent Players in The Truck Rental Industry
• Things to Consider Before Starting your Online Truck Rental Business
• PESTLE Analysis of Online Truck Rental Industry
• How to Develop a Truck Rental Website
• Features & Integrations to Look for in a Truck Rental Software
• Final Words

Types of Online Truck Rental Businesses

Mapping a business model for your online truck rental business will assist you in streamlining your operations, identifying key consumer interactions and providing better value proposition. However, an online truck rental business can be of two types. In this article, we have covered them both. These types are:

1. Truck Rental Marketplace: A website where several truck owners or rental services can sign up and rent out their trucks. This type of website is based on an asset-light business model where the owner is not required to own any capital equipment.

2. Standalone Truck Rental Website: On this type of website, the website owner rents out their own trucks instead of letting other rental companies sign up and enlist their trucks. The owner also maintains the fleet and solely manages the rental requests.

To begin with, let’s start with the business model of a truck rental marketplace.

Online Truck Rental Marketplace Business Model

This business model includes three user-types in total:

• The Admin: The admin is the owner of the marketplace who enjoys full authority over the website. He can exercise control over the activities of other user-types on the marketplace. The main responsibilities of the admin include approving or rejecting truck listings, managing the security deposit, releasing rental fees, and ensuring the smooth functioning of the website.
• Renters: Renters on a truck rental marketplace are the vendors who rent out their trucks. Having renters sign up on a marketplace is equally important as having rentees as they both are the consumers of an online marketplace. The main responsibilities of renters include uploading truck listings, updating truck availability, managing inventory, and inspecting trucks after their return.
• Rentees: Rentees are the users who hire trucks from the marketplace. They are the end-users of a truck rental business. Rentees are essential for a marketplace as an increase in their number attracts renters and vice versa. Thus, helping the marketplace flourish.

Work-flow of a Truck Rental Website

• The renter(truck owner) uploads a truck listing on the marketplace
• The admin gives his/her approval or rejection on the listing
• On approval, the listing is displayed on the marketplace
• Rentees view the truck listings and can hire truck by paying the rental fee and security deposit
• After booking, the admin deducts a commission from the rental fee and transfers the rest to the renter
• The rentee receives the truck via his/her selected delivery method
• After the rentee returns the truck, the renter inspects the vehicle for any damages
• In case of any damages, the renter contacts the admin to claim reimbursement from the security deposit. In case of no damages, the admin returns the entire security deposit back to the rentee without any deductions

Standalone Truck Rental Website Business Model

The business model of a standalone truck rental website involves only two user-types. These are the admin and the rentee. The admin solely uploads the truck listings on the website and manages all other business operations such as processing requests, managing tax and fixing bugs and errors.

Following Is The Business Flow Of A Standalone Truck Rental Website:

• The admin uploads the truck listings on the website
• The rentee views and books a truck by paying the rental payment inclusive of security deposit
• The admin delivers the truck to the rentee via the selected delivery method
• After usage, the rentee returns the truck to the admin who inspects the vehicle for any damages
• In case of any damages, the admin deducts the reimbursement from the security deposit and returns the rest to the rentee. If there are no damages, the rentee receives the entire security amount back

Both the above-mentioned business models are flexible. Meaning, the website owner can also introduce new user-types such as insurance agents and third-party administrators, set the commission percentage and decide at what stage in the transaction process the commission needs to be deducted.

Prominent Players in The Truck Rental Industry

Although the online truck rental industry is still in its early growth phases, it is increasing by leaps and bounds with a few leading brands gaining prominence in their specific geographical regions. Below is a list of those brands that are doing a remarkable job in providing rental trucks through an online medium:

Ryder

Ryder was inaugurated in 1933 by James Ryder as a concrete hauling company. Five years later, it turned into a truck rental business with a fleet of 20 trucks. With time, the business shifted online and now it’s one of the largest online truck rental service providers in the world. Its fleet includes more than 270,000 vehicles in total that are rented by the Fortune 500 brands. Currently, Ryder is available in three countries: the USA, Canada and the UK. Its market cap is $1.6 billion and the company has also expanded its operations into the peer-to-peer (P2P) business vertical with its new venture, COOP, which enables local residents to safely rent trucks from each other.

Value Proposition of Ryder

• The option to both buy and rent used trucks
• RyderGyde mobile app to log fuel receipts and find refueling locations
• Informational blogs on logistics and innovation
• Live chat support
• Detailed truck listings

Hertz Truck

Hertz Truck is a subsidiary of Hertz Global Holdings. It’s one of the leading truck rental service providers in Australia that also provides its services in over 140 nations. Hertz has an impressive fleet of 525,000 vehicles, which is inclusive of buses and other utility vehicles like UTe and delivery vans. Although the company does rent out trucks for commercial operations, it is more popular for renting out trucks for moving and other residential operations.Top Australian cities where Hertz has established a strong business presence are Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.

Value Proposition of Hertz

• Organized overnight, midweek and weekend moving packages
• ‘Change a reservation’ homepage field
• Extensive footer menu
• Flexible commercial leasing plans
• Fixed monthly rental costs

Penske Truck Leasing

Penske Truck Leasing is a subsidiary of the transportation services provider, Penske corporation. With over 85,000 units in its fleet, Penske provides reliable truck, semi-truck and trailer rental services in over 2500 locations across the US and Canada. Along with renting trucks for commercial and non-commercial purposes, the company also deals in the sale of used trucks. To cater to specific audience needs, Penske rents out trucks as long as 26-feet for bespoke and DIY transport operations.

Value Proposition of Penske Truck Leasing

• Unlimited mileage with one-way truck rentals
• Moving, towing and trailer usage online manuals
• 24/7 roadside assistance
• Side-by-Side truck comparison chart

COOP

COOP is the P2P truck rental marketplace launched by Ryder in the year 2018. With a new business model based on the marketplace model that we discussed earlier, COOP was able to earn a name in the truck rental industry. On this platform, peers can lend their trucks for both commercial and non-commercial operations to each other. The team behind COOP also encourages truck rental companies to list their spare trucks on the platform. In January 2020, COOP had more than 1000 trucks listed on the marketplace.

Value Proposition of COOP

• Annual revenue estimator for renters
• Free Uber ride to the pick-up location for rentees
• Native Android and iOS apps
• Damage liability cover of up to $1 million for qualified renters

Fetch

Fetch is a truck rental website that was launched in the year 2016 in Greater Atlanta. Its founders, Chris Glace and Adam Steinberg started their business to provide consumers the convenience of renting trucks without standing in long queues and dealing with the hidden mileage and insurance charges. Moreover, Fetch also delivered the truck to the rentee’s selected location. As a result, their business gained quick success and is now providing truck rental services all over America. Fetch has also received a total seed funding of 2.1 million dollars.

Value Proposition of Fetch

• Convenient way of truck booking and delivery
• Long term rentals charged weekly and monthly
• “Fetch VIP” customer membership program (Benefits: Reduced security deposit, extended return time and quick refunds)
• Flexible payment options
• Clutter-free website design

Budget Trucks Australia

Budget Trucks is another online leading truck rental service that originated in America from the ‘Budget Rent a Car’ car rental company. It has an extensive fleet of trucks, buses, vans, trailers, trays and 4WDs that it offers on rent to both families and businesses. For commercial purposes, Budget Trucks Australia also provides truck rental solutions to small and medium sized businesses having low budgets.

Value Proposition of Budget Trucks Australia

• Advanced booking calendar
• Easy to use booking management options
• ‘Flybuy’ reward points program (Collect points and exchange them for discounts).
• Multiple commercial rental protection plans
• Budget Fastbreak membership program (Benefit: Simplified process for renting vehicles)

Europcar

Europcar originated as a car rental company in France, 1949. Gradually, it gained global momentum and expanded its services in over 140 countries. Today, Europcar is popular for providing quality car, van and truck rental services. Its major markets are situated in Europe with the UK, Spain, France, Germany and Portugal being the most profitable ones. In 2016, Europcar was also voted as the ‘World’s Leading Green Transport Solution Company’ due to its efforts on facilitating sustainable rental services. For these efforts, Europcar has also got several worldwide certifications.

Value Proposition of Europcar

• Daily, weekly and monthly rentals
• Faster pick-up and online check-in
• Privileged membership plans and rewards
• Vast array of vehicles ranging from affordable to luxury
• Ubeeqo mobile booking app

These top players of the online truck rental industry were able to outpace their competition by acting on time, resolving customer pain points and selling value with their services. Despite their presence, the geographically limited range of the competition and the increasing consumer demand for more benefits highlight the scope for new businesses to enter and experience their share of success. To gain momentum in business, startups and SMBs can learn a lot by analyzing these top players and create an impressive value proposition.

Things to Consider Before Starting your Online Truck Rental Business

Hasty startups are more prone to failure than the ones that are well-planned. According to Entrepreneur, some common reasons for business failure are inability to connect with the target audience, failure in delivering real value and the deployment of an inefficient sales funnel. All such issues can be resolved by preparing a thoughtful go-to-market strategy (GTM).

For preparing your go-to-market strategy, you can take into account the following key considerations.

• All the leading businesses that we mentioned above offer some unique value to their customers, you can research and prepare your unique selling points (USPs) to create that value. Similarly, to ensure the security of listed trucks, you might need to team up with an insurance provider.
• Regarding the technology, an agile vehicle rental software with PCI compliance and network firewalls is a more reliable option to eliminate potential security threats.
• To keep providing a smooth and satisfying customer experience, you will need to ensure timely updates of TPIs and a responsive or adaptable design.
• Lastly, you might also want to hire some staff for on-field operations, website management and personal assistance.

For starting an online truck rental business in a complex protected market, releasing a minimal viable product (MVP) is a better option.

PESTLE Analysis of Online Truck Rental Industry

How to Develop a Truck Rental Website

There are various ways to develop a truck rental website. The traditional approach is to hire a team of developers who can develop the website for a truck rental startup from scratch. However, this approach is very rigid and cost-intensive, and is less preferred by modern day entrepreneurs. In its alternative, the two following approaches have come to the light that have successfully proven to be useful for aspiring business owners:

1. SaaS Software Solutions

SaaS is an acronym for Software as a Service. As the name suggests, these solutions are charged like a recurrent service. The business owner is required to pay the solution provider on a monthly, quarterly, half-annually or annual basis.

Notable Pros:

• Easy to set up
• Come with plugins
• The solution provider manages the hosting

Notable Cons:

• Not cost-effective in the long run
• Come with limited number of transactions and users

Suitable for:

• Low budget startups and SMBs

2. Readymade Truck Rental Software

Readymade truck rental software is specifically developed to simplify operations in the truck rental industry. It can be used for other cases as well, such as booking trucking activities or streamlining internal business processes. Readymade truck rental solutions have one time costs and some of them are fully customizable.

Notable Pros:

• Self-hosted solution with better privacy
• Rigorously tailored for specific truck rental business challenges
• Cost-effective with one-time costs
• No limitations on the number of transactions and users

Notable Cons:

• Difficult to find community support
• Plugins and extensions require programming

Suitable for:

• Mid and large size businesses

SaaS vs Readymade Software for Truck Rental Industry

Readymade truck rental software solutions are far more reliable with a set of features that has been carefully handpicked with in-depth analysis of the industrial requirements. It provides the option of selecting the hosting provider to the business owner and can also be hosted on-site. SaaS solutions are useful for small size businesses, but eventually, as these businesses grow, they will also require to move on to a full-fledged solution because of the complex recurrent pricing of the SaaS model.

Features & Integrations to Look for in a Truck Rental Software

The operable features of the truck rental software will simplify the online operations on your truck rental website. These features make it easier for end-users to browse the website and help them complete decisions. With a good choice of features, you can deliver a satisfying truck renting experience to all your customers.

After analyzing several websites in the truck rental industry, we have come up with a list of a few essential features that you should look for in your truck or fleet rental software:

• Booking Calendar: A calendar to assist rentees in selecting the start date and return date with accurate time and location. This feature simplifies the booking process for the rentees and makes the website appear more professional.
• Cost Estimator: Based on rent duration and the type of truck, the cost estimator provides the rentee with an estimated rental cost. It works on selected algorithms to eliminate the need for manual quotations.
• Real-Time Availability: This feature helps the rentee in scheduling their bookings more efficiently. It indicates the real-time availability of their preferred trucks and also helps the admin manage a buffer period for the inspection, cleaning and preparation of trucks. The admin can also integrate the real-time availability feature with the booking calendar.
• Real-Time Data and Alerts: With real-time data, any changes in inventory, truck bookings, customer support logs, etc. will immediately reflect on the website. The truck owners can even use selective real-time alerts to make the best use of this feature.
• ‘How it works’ Section: To explain the working of your business, a ‘how it works’ section or web page is a simple and effortless solution. It reduces the expenditure on manual labour while making it easier for users to understand the working of a website. for marketing executives. The marketplace admin can also create seperate ‘How it works’ sections for both rentees and renters.
• Search Filters: Your truck rental software should have multi-faceted search filters to help the end-users refine their search. Some of the popular filters that you should look for are distance, seating capacity, load capacity, cargo area, terrain preferences, year of manufacturing, insurance, fuel type, truck type and transmission.
• FAQ Section: For providing the basic customer support and resolving the most commonly asked queries, most online businesses opt for the FAQ section. It helps in cost-reduction, streamlining customer experience and trust building.
• Secure and Fast Payment Methods: Secure payments on an online platform are an important trust-building element, especially in countries that are still reluctant to use cashless payment methods. Along with secure payments, the speed of the payment transfer also affects the overall customer experience.
• Chat Support: Chat support will become imperative in the upcoming decade due to the emergence of chatbots, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. Automated support via chatbots is instant, cost-effective and available 24/7.
• Ratings and Review: Ratings and reviews assist rentees in making their final decisions about a product. While consumers buy a product based on their emotions, it is the reviews that help them evaluate the price and make the final decision.
• User Management: Creating and handling several user profiles to streamline complex renting operations is essential for a truck rental business. With user management options, the business owner can embed a simple registration process on the website and manage driver profiles and billing information.
• Booking Management: Booking management features are required on a truck rental website to assist rentees in cancelling or adjusting the leasing duration of vehicles. These features are equally essential for admin and renters on a standalone website and marketplace respectively.
• Tax Management: A truck rental website with quick tax calculation and real-time reporting features automates the tedious manual tax management. It is essential for businesses operating over a wide geographical region and paying various statutory taxes. Checkout this video to understand, how tax management module works in YoRent powered truck rental marketplace. 
• Claims Adjudication Module: Claims adjudication module assists the admin in processing authorized damage claims. It can include various features like claim submission, document submission, eligibility processing and communicating with the insurance provider.
• Supportive Mobile Apps: Having a mobile app adds more value to your truck rental service. With a dedicated mobile app, you can offer various options for managing maintenance schedules, uploading fuel logs, providing simplified roadside assistance and finding warehouse locations.

Final Words

With the expansion of the truck rental industry currently in action, you can expect the new entrants to establish quick connections with their consumers as a convenient alternative to the traditional methods of truck renting. The value and USPs offered by the business will mold consumer preferences in its favour, clearing the path to catch up with the competition or even be the face of the industry in specific region(s). However, doing so will also require appropriate branding efforts and laudable customer support.