How do I find out if a rental yard has a lot of unreturned or lost equipment?
Compare the asset list with what you can see and touch in the yard, then with the books. Ask about every machine that is out on a long rental, written off, or replaced after a loss. Review how the yard tracks returns and chases overdue units, since weak tracking is usually where equipment quietly disappears.
Walk the yard with the asset list in your hand and tick off each serial number. Any unit the seller cannot show you needs a clear explanation, whether it is out on a job, in a repair shop or gone. Ask to see where it is, not only to hear about it. Check small items too. Attachments, pumps and hand tools often vanish first, and a yard that never counts them may be losing a steady trickle. Ask when the last full count took place and who signed it off.
Ask for the history of written-off or replaced units, along with insurance claims and police reports where theft was involved. A pattern is more telling than a single event. Look at which customers and which kinds of machines are involved.
Then look at the process. Does the yard check machines out and in with a signed ticket? Does anyone call when a rental runs past its return date? Ask who is responsible and see the follow-up records. A yard with no process will keep losing units after you take over. A broker, if one is involved, may help arrange these visits. Your accountant can check whether the lost units were recorded properly.
Key takeaways
- Match every serial number on the asset list to a machine you can see.
- Ask for the history of write-offs, replacements and insurance claims.
- Review the check-out, check-in and overdue follow-up routine, not only the outcomes.
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
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