For most rental businesses, late autumn is the first quiet week since spring. It is tempting to park everything in a row and come back in March. The bill arrives then: seized brakes, flat-spotted tyres, a corroded plug, a split water pump in the campervan and a mini digger that will not start. A day of work now prevents most of it.
1. Lay up or keep on hire?
Not every unit should be winterised. Go through the fleet and sort it:
| Group | Typical units | Winter plan |
|---|
---|---|---
| Works all year | box trailers, vans, courtesy cars, heaters, dryers | stays bookable; winter checks and equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Works occasionally | plant trailers, car transporters, mini diggers | stays bookable, stored under cover between hires |
| Seasonal | campervans, boat and bike trailers, garden machinery | laid up properly, blocked in the calendar |
Whatever is laid up must come out of the booking calendar with a reason and an end date. A unit on axle stands with its battery on a shelf cannot go out at two hours' notice — and an online booking for it is a problem you created yourself. How off-season rates keep the working part of the fleet earning is covered in seasonal pricing for a rental fleet.
2. Trailers
Wash and dry. Road salt sits in the corners of the bed, under mudguards and along the axle. Rinse the underside, keep a pressure washer away from bearings, seals and the plug, and let the trailer dry fully before covering it. A wet trailer under a tight cover corrodes faster than an uncovered one.
Lubricate what moves.
| Part | What to do |
|---|
---|---
| Coupling head | grease as the manufacturer specifies; friction-pad stabiliser heads and their towballs stay dry and clean |
|---|---|
| Overrun device | grease nipples until fresh grease shows |
| Jockey wheel | wind out, grease the spindle, wind back |
| Hinges, latches, ramps | light oil; work every latch |
| Locks | lock lubricant, not thick grease |
Brakes. The classic spring fault on a braked trailer is wheels that will not turn. Park on level ground, chock both sides of a wheel and leave the handbrake off. After washing, tow a short distance and brake a few times to dry the drums. If you are unsure how the overrun system works, see braked vs unbraked trailers.
Tyres. Trailer tyres usually die of age and standing, not wear.
- Raise pressure slightly, within the limit on the sidewall.
- Roll the trailer a little every few weeks, or support the chassis on stands at the points the manufacturer allows.
- Read the date code on the sidewall and look for cracking — cracks mean replacement regardless of tread.
- Check the spare, and that its carrier still releases.
Winter tyre rules for trailers differ from country to country, and in many places they apply to the towing vehicle rather than the trailer. If your customers tow abroad in winter, check the current rules for the countries involved and say so in your hire information.
Electrics. Clean the plug, treat contacts, park the plug in its holder rather than on the ground, and test every light now. Fault-finding steps are in 7-pin vs 13-pin trailer plugs.
3. Plant and powered equipment
- Clean thoroughly. Dried mud holds moisture against steel and hides cracks and leaks.
- Grease all points and leave exposed hydraulic rams retracted where possible.
- Fuel: follow the manufacturer's storage advice. Common practice is a full tank on diesel machines to limit condensation, and either draining or stabilising petrol in small engines. Use fuel suited to the temperatures the machine will work in.
- Coolant and fluids: confirm frost protection before the first cold night, not after.
- Batteries: disconnect or remove, store dry, and keep them charged. A battery left flat over winter is usually scrap.
- Storage: under cover, off bare ground, with tracks or tyres clean.
Statutory inspections and thorough examinations do not pause for winter. If a certificate expires while the unit is laid up, book the inspection before the unit goes back on hire.
4. Campervans and motorhomes
Water is what makes winter expensive here.
- Drain down fully: fresh tank, waste tank, water heater, pump and pipework; leave taps open in the mid position.
- Empty and clean the toilet cassette and fridge; prop the fridge door ajar.
- Remove soft furnishings if the storage is damp, and leave cupboard doors open for airflow.
- Gas off at the cylinder.
- Leisure and vehicle batteries maintained on a suitable charger.
- Ventilate: a breathable cover, never a plastic sheet.
If you keep campervans on hire through winter, the handover briefing needs a cold-weather section — heating, frost protection, what to do when the water system warns of low temperature.
5. Use the quiet months
A unit nobody needs is the easiest one to repair.
- Inspections and tests that fall due in spring — bring them forward.
- Brake adjustment, bearings, lights, reflectors.
- Covers, straps, ramps, chocks and adapters: replace what is worn or missing.
- Bodywork and flooring repairs.
- Photographs of each unit in its repaired state — your new baseline for next season's condition reports.
Then write it down, per unit. In March nobody remembers which of six trailers got new brake cables. What a usable record looks like is covered in tool hire inspection records.
6. Spring recommissioning checklist
1. Tyre pressures back to working values; wheels spin freely.
2. Handbrake and overrun brake tested; wheel nuts checked.
3. All lights tested on a vehicle.
4. Batteries refitted and charged; machines started and run to temperature.
5. Water systems refilled, sanitised and leak-checked on campervans.
6. Fluids, filters and any service due by time rather than hours.
7. Accessories counted against the checklist for each unit.
8. Calendar block removed — only now is the unit bookable again.
Where Flotello fits
Flotello keeps a record for every unit in the fleet: documents, due dates and a service log, so the winter work is one entry that anyone on the team can find in spring. A laid-up unit is blocked in the calendar with a reason, which keeps it out of online booking while the rest of the fleet carries on; off-season rates are handled by seasonal pricing on each vehicle. Reservations and the calendar are explained in the help centre, plans are on the pricing page, and you can try it free for seven days after registration.
For what Flotello does in your line of rental, start here: trailer rental software; also equipment rental software, campervan rental software and car rental software.