Streamlining freight handling: How side loader rentals optimise the loading & unloading process

Rentco side loader

The seamless movement of goods and materials is the backbone of almost every industry. It gets important materials from A to B, ensuring businesses have the products they need to operate.

Loading and unloading goods may seem like routine tasks, but they often present significant challenges to businesses. You’re often working with limited space, varying cargo sizes, and time constraints—all of which lead to bottlenecks, slowing down the entire freight handling process. Delays in loading or unloading can cascade down the supply chain, disrupting schedules, increasing labour costs, and even causing missed delivery deadlines.

It’s an intricate global web where efficiency is key: if these operations aren’t efficient, then timelines can slip, supply lines can break down, and businesses suffer.

Efficient freight handling hinges on overcoming these hurdles.

Regardless of your available space or warehouse size, a side loader is your key to optimising your operations. And at Rentco, we have a range of side loader rentals available to augment your fleet, and supercharge your operations.

What is a side loader?

If your business relies on transport and the movement of materials, and you haven’t investigated renting a side loader for your operations, then you’re missing out.

A side loader, also often referred to as a swing lifter, is a specialised piece of machinery designed for efficient and versatile freight handling. Built for long loads, like shipping containers, it’s effectively a trailer attachment for a prime mover. It features two lifting cranes, one on each end of the trailer, that extend outwards. These then attach and lift cargo on and off the trailer with ease.

There are some big advantages that a side loader brings to your fleet:

  • Space optimisation: Side loaders help optimise your available space, as they can load and unload directly from the side of trucks, containers, or storage areas. This reduces the need for additional equipment or the need to adjust your site or warehouse configurations.
  • Boosted efficiency: Side loaders speed up the loading and unloading process, as they can handle larger loads in a single movement. This translates to quicker turnaround times for vehicles, reduced waiting times, and improved overall operational efficiency.
  • Enhanced safety: Improve the safety of your loads. Powerful stabilisers ensure safer operation, and stability of your truck. Integrating a side loader rental into your fleet reduces the need for operators to manoeuvre heavy loads in tight spaces—it’s all done remotely from the truck cab. Operated by just one person, this reduces the potential for accidents. 

Swing lifter hire helps you optimise your freight handling

Swing lifters are perfect for container terminals, where rapid loading and unloading of shipping containers is essential; or construction sites and warehouses dealing with oversized or irregularly shaped items. They’re the ideal machinery for businesses in the shipping, logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, and construction industries—essentially, any business that needs to move large containers in tight spaces.

And at Rentco, we have a range of side loaders and swing lifters available for hire that will help combat the logistical challenges of moving containers with limited space, and help you boost the efficiency of your operations.

Hammar swing lifter rental

Hammar swing lifters are a core component of our fleet. Carefully designed to prioritise the safety of your people and cargo, it features a patented stabiliser leg that extends out to ensure optimal stability of your trucks. This can be planted on the ground, or reach over to the other side of your companion vehicle, ensuring complete control. Alternatively, it can be lowered across both chassis rails on a flatbed trailer for versatile application.

Made to facilitate the secure and efficient movement of containers onto and off trucks, companion chassis, and rail wagons, the Hammar swing lifter gets things done effortlessly.

Steelbro side loader hire

The Steelbro side loader is a smart rental option for sites where you’re working with space constraints, either in front or behind your containers.

A Steelbro side loader rental is remarkably adaptable, delivering secure and streamlined container movement. With precision movement, Steelbro allows you to carefully position your containers between the side loader’s two outrigger feet. And you can do it to within half a metre away from the truck.

The side loader’s compatibility extends to both semi-trailers and articulated trucks, making it an incredibly versatile solution.

For secure freight handling, turn to Rentco

As a busy company, you want peace of mind that transport challenges won’t cause your business to grind to a halt. 

So at Rentco, we partner with you to improve the efficiency and safety of your sites, regardless of the available space. From side loader and swing lifter rentals, to a range of trailers, terminal trucks, and more, we can deliver flexible equipment hire options that ensure you maximise your productivity on site, your cargo moves smoothly and efficiently, and that your customers and clients receive their goods on time.

Whether it’s boosting your productivity, picking up the slack during equipment downtime, or increasing your capacity during seasonal fluctuations, we’re here to keep your supply chain on track. 

Get in touch with our team to discuss our fleet of high quality side loader and swing lifter rentals. 

Our goal is to help you keep things moving.