Create a rental

What this is

This is how you start a new rental in FleetLoop. A short wizard walks you through whether the rental is paid by an insurance claim or by the customer directly, who the renter is, when the rental runs, and which vehicle they’re taking — then reserves it. Setting the price, fees, and deposit in more detail is covered separately in Set the price, fees, and deposit.

Before you start

• Have the customer already added, or be ready to add them on the spot — see Add a customer.
• Know the pickup and return dates.
• If this is an insurance claim, have the claim number, the insurance company’s name, and the per-day or total dollar amount the carrier authorized.
• Make sure at least one vehicle in your fleet is free for the dates you need.

Steps

1. Go to Rentals in the sidebar, then click + New rental.

📸 Screenshot: The Rentals list, showing the tabs (Active, Reserved, Returning today, Overdue, All) and the + New rental button.

2. Answer Is this an insurance claim? — click Yes — insurance claim if a carrier is paying, or No — self-pay if the customer is paying directly.

📸 Screenshot: The New rental wizard, “Is this an insurance claim?” step, showing the Yes/No cards.

3. If you chose Yes, fill in the insurance step: pick Flat $/day (the carrier authorizes a fixed daily amount — most common) or % of daily rate (the carrier covers a percentage of whatever the vehicle costs), then enter that cap. You can also set a total dollar ceiling and how many days the carrier authorized.

📸 Screenshot: The New rental wizard, Insurance step, showing the Flat $/day vs percent choice.

4. On the Customer step, search for the renter by name or phone and select them, or click + Add a new customer to add them right there.
5. On the Dates & rate step, set Pickup and Return, then set the Daily rate and confirm Authorized days (it defaults to the length of the rental — adjust it if the insurer approved a different number of days). Optionally link a repair order or add notes.

📸 Screenshot: The New rental wizard, Dates & rate step.

6. On the Vehicle step, pick a vehicle from the list of vehicles free for those dates. If this is an insurance claim with a flat daily cap, vehicles over the cap are hidden by default — toggle Show all vehicles to see them, and you’ll need to add a reason if you pick one that costs more than the cap.

📸 Screenshot: The New rental wizard, Vehicle step, showing the available vehicle list.

7. On the Review step, check the customer, vehicle, dates, and estimated total, then click Create rental.

📸 Screenshot: The New rental wizard, Review step, showing the summary and the Create rental button.

How to know it worked

FleetLoop shows a “Rental created” message and takes you to the new rental’s detail page. The rental now appears in the Reserved tab back on the Rentals list.

If something goes wrong

“Pickup and return are required” or “Return must be after pickup.” Double-check both dates — the return has to be later than the pickup.

“Pick a vehicle.” No vehicle is selected yet, or every vehicle for that window already has a conflicting booking — try adjusting the dates or toggling Show all vehicles.

FleetLoop saves your progress automatically. If you leave partway through, come back to Rentals → + New rental and your answers are still there — look for the “Last saved” note near the top of the wizard.