If you’re about to undertake an excavation or earthmoving project, chances are that you’ll need reliable plant and equipment hire at some point to help complete the work required. The decision on whether to wet hire or dry hire the plant and equipment that you need has a direct effect on the project results achieved, the time taken, and the project budget. In this handy guide, we’ll explore the differences between wet hire and dry hire, as well as how they can affect the outcome of your project.
When you wet hire plant and equipment, the hire will include a trained operator to control it and perform the work required. This is generally the more expensive option because you’ll be required to pay for the labour costs of the operator.
Dry hire involves hiring plant and equipment without an operator. If you already have an operator on hand or have the skills to do it yourself, this can be the cheaper option because you won’t have the pay the labour costs of a machine operator. Some smaller machines such as bobcats can in fact be operated by anyone with an open license – but specialised forms of equipment are much more technically challenging to operate.
Wet hire and dry hire can both be appropriate for different situations. Let’s now analyse the benefits and drawbacks of each.
When you wet hire a machine, you’re also paying for an operator’s skill and time. In theory, anyone can be trained and ticketed to operate machinery and equipment. However, developing working efficiency and competency behind the controls of a specific model or type of machine is something that can only happen with experience.
After all, not all pilots can fly all planes safely: someone who can fly a biplane can’t necessarily fly a fighter jet with the same level of skill. The same goes for machines such as excavators and graders. A wet hire excavator operator will generally have a greater level of competency with the hired excavator compared to a ticketed operator who has not operated the model or type of excavator before.
The obvious drawback, however, is that wet hire involves paying labour costs for an operator. This can affect the overall budget of your project.
Conversely, the primary benefit of dry hire is that it is cheaper than wet hire. If you or your operators are confident behind the controls of the hired plant and equipment, then you’ll save money on the project budget by just hiring the machines that you need.
However, it is possible to overestimate how long the work will take and the level of skill required to accomplish the work. Efforts to save money on a project can be undercut by the risk of work being performed unsafely or improperly – as well as taking longer than intended.
Ultimately, making the correct decision over whether to wet hire or dry hire depends on how well you know your skills and the skills of your team. If you’re confident that the work can be done by you and/or your team, dry hire will suit you perfectly. If you don’t mind hiring a skilled set of hands to do the work instead, then go for wet hire.
We provide plant for hire across Queensland and the Northern Territory from our base in South-East Queensland. Our fleet of machinery includes excavators, graders, bobcats, and tipper trucks. We offer both wet hire and dry hire options for all our machinery. Learn about our plant and equipment hire services here.
