You have landed a six-month commercial fit-out and your ute can’t carry the gear. Buying a new work van ties up cash you’d rather keep liquid, and weekly van rates get ugly once you’re past the third invoice. Turbofleet sits in that gap, with two Melbourne depots set up for tradies and small operators who need a van for months rather than days.
How long is “long term” really
There’s no industry-standard definition. Turbofleet treats anything beyond a four-week booking as extended hire, and the rates step down accordingly. Most of the Melbourne tradies who come through Turbofleet’s depots are sorted for three, six, or twelve months. The agreement runs on a rolling monthly basis, so you’re not locked in past the job. If your project wraps early, you give notice and hand the van back. If it overruns by another four weeks, you keep going at the same monthly rate. That flexibility matters more than people realise. Building timelines slip, sub-contracts get extended, jobs scope-creep. A monthly rolling rental moves with you.
When extended hire stacks up better than buying
Run the numbers on a job-by-job basis. A new mid-size work van is forty grand on the road, plus rego, insurance, servicing, and the depreciation hit the day you drive it off the lot. Hire it instead and the whole cost lands as a deductible business expense on your monthly statement, with no asset to depreciate and no resale headache when the job ends. For a sparkie three years into a stable Melbourne run, buying still wins. For a contractor on a fixed-term project, a builder testing a second crew, or a small business waiting on finance approval, extended rental usually beats the alternative. Weekly hire is the worst of both worlds past about thirty days, which is why most operators switch to a monthly rate once the job stretches.
Choosing a van that suits the work
Pick the wrong van and you’re either lugging gear in the cab or burning fuel on empty space. Plumbers and roofers usually want a one-tonne LWB with shelving room and a load-rated roof rack. Painters and floorers want a high-roof so they can stand to load drops and trestles. Electricians chasing residential work get away with a mid-size cargo, while commercial sparkies on switchboard installs need the extra cube.
Turbofleet’s Melbourne fleet covers Toyota HiAce, Hyundai Staria Load, Ford Transit, and LDV Deliver 9 in short, long, and extra-long wheelbase. If you’d rather not guess, the team will ask what you’re hauling and recommend a body size that fits the load and a payload that handles the tool weight.
Servicing and breakdowns during a long hire
This is the part most people don’t think about until it bites. On a six-month rental, the van will hit a logbook service mid-contract. Turbofleet handles the servicing in-house and lends you a replacement van for the day so you don’t lose billable hours on a Melbourne jobsite.
Same drill for a flat battery, a kerbed tyre, or a windscreen chip. Roadside assistance is included on every extended hire, and both depots run a swap-out vehicle program, so if your van develops a problem you’re not stranded between jobs. That’s the practical difference between extended hire and owning the asset yourself, the maintenance burden sits with the fleet, not you.
Picking up from Craigieburn or Ravenhall
Turbofleet runs two depots set up for north and west Melbourne tradies. The Craigieburn depot at 2a Rushwood Drive covers the northern industrial belt, so Mickleham, Broadmeadows, Coolaroo, Roxburgh Park, and Campbellfield jobs are a short run from handover.
The Ravenhall depot at 2/44 Orbis Drive sits closer to the western precincts, handy for Sunshine North, Taylors Lakes, Keilor, and the Derrimut and Laverton North industrial estates. Pick the depot nearest your site and you’ve shaved an hour off the first morning. Both depots take ABN bookings with monthly invoicing, accept business cards, and process handovers in under thirty minutes once your paperwork’s sorted. Ring 1300 410 510 to check fleet availability before you commit to a job timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.1 What’s the minimum extended-hire period?
Turbofleet treats four weeks as the entry point for the monthly rate. Anything shorter runs on a daily or weekly tariff, which makes sense for a single delivery run but stops making sense around the four-week mark.
Q.2 Can I claim the rental as a business expense?
Yes. Talk to your accountant about the exact treatment, but extended van hire usually sits as an operating expense rather than a capital outlay, which is one reason small Melbourne businesses prefer it over buying.
Q.3 Is the van insured if I store tools in it overnight?
The rental insurance covers the vehicle. Tools left inside aren’t covered by the vehicle policy, so you’ll want a separate tool insurance product or a secured compound. Most tradies park inside locked premises overnight.
Q.4 Can I swap to a different van partway through the contract?
Yes. If the job changes shape and you need a bigger or smaller body, the depot can move you across to another vehicle without ending the agreement. There may be a rate adjustment.
Q.5 Do you do hire-to-buy or rent-to-own?
Extended hire is the focus, not vehicle finance. If you want to own the van at the end, speak to a finance broker about a chattel mortgage or novated lease, then let Turbofleet bridge the gap until the new vehicle lands.
You’ve landed a six-month fit-out and your ute won’t cut it. Call 1300 410 510, or email north@turbofleet.com.au for Craigieburn pickups and west@turbofleet.com.au for Ravenhall, and the team will sort a van that matches the job.
