April 2004

Renting Your Trailer

If you own a trailer, sooner or later, someone’s going to ask you if they can borrow it or rent it from you for a day.

Get all trailer-rental issues in writing before the trailer leaves your farm.

Renting your trailer involves relying on a written agreement to document the terms and decide how to handle factors that you can’t control. These issues must be considered whether you decide to actually charge for the rental or not.

Start by finding out from your insurance agent if the trailer will be covered if someone else is using it. Specify you’re not doing this as a business, which may require a different type of coverage, but check to find out if accepting money for the trailer’s use affects the policy. Be sure the person you’re renting to isn’t operating commercially or accepting money. Note: If the rental includes your towing vehicle,…