Free Equipment Rental Delivery Note Template & Generator
A rental delivery note is the baseline every later charge is measured against. It records the asset ID, model and serial of the machine that went out, the hour meter reading and fuel level at drop-off, every attachment and key by tag number, the damage already on the machine before the customer touched it, and the time the rental clock started. It names the agreement and the site, and it is signed by whoever took the handoff.
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| Description | Qty |
|---|---|
| Scissor lift asset EQ-1842 | 1 |
| Charger and key set | 1 |
| Safety harness kit | 2 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a equipment rental delivery note
Everything you bill at the end of a rental depends on a number written at the start. Without a meter reading at drop-off you cannot show that 191.4 hours were run against a 160-hour allowance, so the overage line comes off the invoice the moment the customer pushes back. Without a fuel level you cannot charge a refuel. Without photographs and a written condition line, a dented track guard that went out dented comes back as a damage claim you spend a week losing. Attachments are the other leak: a 36 in. grading bucket listed only as bucket cannot be proved missing, so it goes on your books as shrinkage. The delivery note is cheap to do well and expensive to do vaguely.
- rental company, customer, site, and agreement
- asset ID, model, serial, and quantity
- meter, fuel, attachments, and accessories
- condition and exception notes
- delivery time, return expectation, and signature
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty |
|---|---|
| Scissor lift asset EQ-1842 | 1 |
| Charger and key set | 1 |
| Safety harness kit | 2 |
Complete it cleanly
List rental agreement and PO, asset ID, model, serial, meter hours, fuel, attachments, keys, visible condition, delivery time, operator handoff, expected return, and receiver signature.
How to make an equipment rental delivery note in 6 steps
Open the delivery note generator
Start from this page so the delivery note opens with fields and sample lines already set up for equipment-rental companies and jobsite teams. No account is needed to create or preview.
Enter both parties
Add your business name, address and contact details, then the customer name and address exactly as they should appear on the record.
Add the equipment rental lines
Replace each sample line with the real work or goods. Make sure the document shows rental company, customer, site, and agreement, asset ID, model, serial, and quantity, meter, fuel, attachments, and accessories.
Check the figures
Totals calculate as you type. Confirm quantities, rates, any tax line and the final total against your own records before you send anything.
Set the reference and dates
Give the delivery note a unique number and the correct date so it can be traced later and matched to related documents.
Review and download the PDF
List rental agreement and PO, asset ID, model, serial, meter hours, fuel, attachments, keys, visible condition, delivery time, operator handoff, expected return, and receiver signature. Preview is free; a PDF download costs $4.99, or is included with Unlimited.
Worked example
A four-week mini excavator rental, metered and photographed at drop-off
Ledgeway Equipment Rental delivers a 3.5-ton mini excavator to Quarrow Site Services at the Bell Hollow sewer tie-in, 1400 Rutter Road, at 7:20 a.m. on June 2, 2026 under agreement RA-5521. The machine goes out with two buckets and a thumb, and it already carries two marks the driver photographs before unloading.
- Agreement RA-5521 against customer PO 9014, four weeks at $1,150.00 per week
- $4,600.00
- Delivery haul out and scheduled pickup at $325.00 each way
- $650.00
- Asset MX-118, 3.5-ton mini excavator, serial 9J4-00713, hour meter photographed at drop-off
- 412.6 hrs
- Fuel level at drop-off, diesel, return-full term printed on the note
- Full
- Attachments on the trailer, each by tag: 24 in. digging bucket T-441, 36 in. grading bucket T-442, hydraulic thumb T-443
- 3 items
- Keys and operator manual handed over, key tag K-118
- 2 keys
- Prior damage recorded before signing: dented right-hand track guard, cracked right-hand mirror, photos 01 to 04
- 2 exceptions
- Hour allowance over the four weeks, billed at $12.50 per hour beyond
- 160 hrs
- Received on site by superintendent T. Abara at 7:20 a.m., rental clock started
- June 2, 2026
- Contract value as delivered, before any overage, fuel or damage at return
- $5,250.00
The reading that matters is 412.6, not full and running. Writing a fuel level with no meter hours, or hours with no photograph of the display, leaves you with nothing to set an overage or refuel charge against when the machine comes back at 604 hours and half a tank.
When this document is the right choice
Use this delivery note to record which goods were delivered and accepted. A delivery note tracks items and quantities, normally without prices. The invoice handles payment; the signed delivery note supports quantity and condition checks.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the hour meter reading need to be on the delivery note?
Because the return invoice subtracts one number from another, and the delivery note holds the first one. With 412.6 recorded at drop-off and a 160-hour allowance across four weeks, a return reading of 604.0 makes the overage arithmetic something the customer can check rather than something they have to trust. Photograph the display and put the photo reference on the note, since a typed figure with no image behind it is the first thing challenged when an overage line runs into four figures.
The machine went out with a dented track guard. How do we stop that becoming our damage claim?
Write each existing mark as its own line with a location on the machine, photograph it before the machine comes off the trailer, and get the receiver to sign the note with those lines on it. Right-hand track guard dented and right-hand mirror cracked, with four photos referenced, is specific enough to settle an argument. Minor cosmetic wear or good condition is not, and a customer who signed that will reasonably say your inspector should have been more careful.
How should attachments, keys and manuals be listed?
Individually, by tag or asset number, not as a count. Three attachments tells you nothing at pickup, while 24 in. digging bucket T-441, 36 in. grading bucket T-442 and hydraulic thumb T-443 lets your driver check three specific items against the list and identify which one is sitting in another contractor's yard. Keys and manuals belong on the same block with their tag, because a machine returned without keys is a real cost and an easy one to lose track of.
Does the delivery note cover the return, or do we need a second document?
You need a second one. The delivery note captures the opening condition, hours and fuel; the return needs its own document with the closing meter reading, fuel level, attachments checked back in, new damage against the recorded exceptions, and the pickup time that stops the rental clock. Reference agreement RA-5521 and the delivery note number on the return document so the pair reads as one story. Running both off one signed sheet is how the two ends of a rental end up disagreeing.
Who is supposed to grease the machine and check fluids while it is out, and does that belong on the note?
The rental agreement decides who does it. The delivery note is where you show the machine left you fit to be looked after. Record the fluid levels next to the meter reading, and record that the operator manual and the service sheet went out with the machine, key tag K-118 included. At the return inspection, a customer who ran a hydraulic pump dry for four weeks and a yard that sent a machine out low look exactly alike unless somebody wrote a number down on June 2.
More delivery note templates
Start with the closest business workflow and adjust the details.