Simulator rental: logistics, pricing, damage

Simulator rental is a haulage business with a racing game attached, and almost every unprofitable job is unprofitable because of the drive rather than the day. Price the logistics or the logistics will price you.

What a load actually is

A single station is heavier and bulkier than it looks. A profile frame, seat, wheel base, pedals, three screens, a machine and cabling lands in the region of 100 kilograms split across 4 or 5 pieces, and none of them is a one person carry.

The vehicle decides the job size. A standard car licence covers vehicles up to 3,500 kilograms and trailers up to 750, or a combination that still stays inside 3,500. That ceiling, not the van's floor area, is what limits how many stations one driver can move.

And volume runs out before weight does. Screens travel in cases, frames do not stack, and a van that theoretically carries 6 stations by mass will usually take 4 by shape.

The time nobody bills for

Build is not the whole job. Plan 30 minutes per station for 2 people once the load is at the door, plus 60 minutes for parking, unloading and carrying, plus a further 30 for testing every station before the first guest arrives.

For 4 stations that is roughly 2 hours of build after 1 hour of access, and the same again in reverse at the end of the night. An 8 hour event is really a 13 hour day, and quoting it as 8 is how rental companies lose money on their busiest weekends.

Travel is the third block. Two hours each way turns that 13 hour day into 17, and any price per station that ignores distance will be wrong for exactly the jobs that are furthest away.

Pricing that survives a bad day

Price the day, not the hour. A client who books 4 hours still costs a full build, a full strike and a full journey, so an hourly rate below half a day is a rate that loses money every time it is taken up.

Separate the distance. A flat kilometre rate on top of the day rate keeps the near jobs competitive and stops the far ones being subsidised by them, and it makes the quote easy to explain.

And charge for power and access when they are abnormal. Plan around 700 watts per station, so 5 stations approach the roughly 3,680 watts a single 16 ampere circuit at 230 volts carries, and a venue that cannot offer a second circuit is a venue that needs a generator line in the quote.

Damage, and who pays for it

Public use breaks things that private use does not. Pedal sets, wheel rims and seat upholstery take the wear, and a fleet without an annual replacement budget is a fleet that degrades invisibly until a client notices first.

Write down the condition before and after. Two photographs per station at build and at strike takes 8 photographs for a 4 station job and settles every argument that would otherwise be a conversation about memory.

And put a named limit in the contract. A clause that states what the client is liable for, with a figure, is more likely to be honoured than a vague expectation of care, and it is the difference between an insurance claim and an invoice nobody pays.

Sources

1. Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung, Paragraf 6, Fahrerlaubnisklassen B und BE
2. iRacing, system requirements

Frequently asked questions

How many stations fit in one van?

About 4 in practice. Volume runs out before weight does, because frames do not stack and screens travel in cases.

How long does a four station job really take?

Around 13 hours for an 8 hour event, and 17 with a 2 hour drive each way.

Should I quote by the hour?

No. A 4 hour booking still costs a full build, strike and journey, so anything below a half day rate loses money.

Who pays for damage?

Whoever the contract names, with a figure. Two photographs per station at build and at strike settle the rest.