How to Collect, Set Up and Return Dry Hire Event Equipment

The vehicle you need depends entirely on what you have booked. A PA system for a small corporate event with a digital console, two loudspeakers and four subs fits in a Luton van. A full rig for a 500-person gala — PA, lighting, staging and LED screen — requires a 7.5-tonne truck or multiple vans with careful load planning.

Before you book a vehicle, ask your hire company for the total weight and dimensions of the kit including cases. Road cases are heavy. A single audio rack case can weigh 60kg. Staging deck sections add up fast. Do not book a vehicle on guesswork — get accurate weights and sizes.

• Total weight of kit including all cases confirmed with hire company
• Largest single item dimensions confirmed for rear door clearance
• Vehicle booked with adequate payload rating for the weight, not just volume
• Lashing straps and cargo nets available in the vehicle
• Tail lift confirmed if any single item exceeds safe manual lift weight

Collection is the moment to find problems. It is far better to discover a fault at the warehouse than at the venue. Do not sign paperwork indicating the kit is in good condition until you have actually checked it.

1. Walk the kit list. Check every item on the hire agreement against what is physically present. Cases, accessories, cables, consumables. Anything missing is a problem to resolve now, not at the venue.
2. Check condition. Open cases and check items for visible damage. Note anything that looks pre-existing and have it recorded by the hire company before you leave. This protects you at return.
3. Power up critical items if possible. For consoles and processors, confirm they power on and load correctly at the warehouse if time allows. A console that boots to a fault screen is not something you want to discover at load-in.
4. Confirm accessories. Keys for rack cases, spare lamp cartridges, specific cable adaptors — these are the items most commonly missed in packing. Check them against your own pre-collection list.
5. Confirm the return window. Before you leave, confirm the return date and time, any return packing requirements and the process for notifying pre-existing damage versus use damage.

Load-in has a natural sequence that keeps things efficient and prevents re-work. The specific order depends on the event, but the general principle is: structural first, cable-intensive systems next, soft goods and final dressing last.

A common install sequence for a standard event rig:

1. Stage build. Decking and risers go up first. Everything else either goes on top or gets cabled to the stage area. Building stage after PA is a mistake that adds cable management time.
2. Truss and rigging. If any elements are flown, the flying structure comes next. Lighting and PA hang points need to be in place before fixtures go up.
3. PA deployment. Main hangs, subs and stage monitors in position. Stagebox, multicore and FOH cabling pulled before any other cable runs.
4. Lighting rig. Fixtures hung, patched and data-cabled before dimmer and distribution brought in.
5. Video and LED. Screens assembled and cabled, processor brought in, signal chain confirmed.
6. Line check and system verification. All systems powered and verified before the show crew need the space.

During the event, the dry hire operator is the technical director. Nobody from the hire company is on site. Your responsibilities include:

• Responding to technical issues quickly and calmly — having a mental fault-finding sequence prepared before the event starts is good practice
• Maintaining awareness of the programme and anticipating transitions
• Not leaving critical systems unattended during show-critical periods
• Communicating clearly with any venue technical team about shared systems or FOH positions

Keep the hire company support number accessible. If something goes wrong that you cannot diagnose, call early — not after you have spent 20 minutes ruling out options the operator's line could have resolved in two.

De-rig is load-in in reverse. The temptation after a long event day is to pack quickly and leave. This is where most damage occurs and where most items go missing. Build realistic de-rig time into the schedule and do not let it become the thing that gets cut.

• All systems powered down in the correct sequence — consoles saved, LEDs powered off before cases
• Cable coiled correctly, not bundled. Kinked DMX and data cable causes problems that show up weeks later
• Every item packed in its own case or bag, not consolidated into random boxes
• Cases closed, latched and stacked ready for loading
• Final count against the kit list before the vehicle is loaded
• Anything damaged or suspected damaged separated and photographed before packing

Return is where deposits are either released or disputes begin. The difference between a clean return and a contentious one is almost always the quality of checking done at both ends of the hire.

At return:

1. Arrive at the agreed time. If you are running late, call ahead. Most hire companies have window commitments. Arriving outside the agreed window can affect your check-in process.
2. Do not leave until the kit has been checked in. You or a crew member should remain until the hire company has walked the kit list and confirmed there are no discrepancies. Do not accept verbal reassurance that it will be checked later.
3. Flag pre-existing damage proactively. Any condition you documented at collection and photographed should be declared at return before the hire company finds it. This establishes clearly that you noted it on collection.
4. Get written confirmation of the check-in. A signed return sheet or email confirmation is your record that kit was returned in the condition agreed.