How it works

One job. Named steps. Two hard stops.

Hire desks around the world work the same way: capture the request, price it, get a yes, then get a machine out. The old numbered gates are gone. Labels live in one list so they can be renamed without rewriting the system.

The path

1
Logged
Hire desk
A call or email is captured. Customer, site and what they need.
Log job
2
Quote
Hire desk
Price offered. Waiting on the customer.
Send quote
3
Approved
Hire desk
Customer accepted. Account must be open.
Approve
4
Prep
Yard
Yard or a mobile engineer gets the machine ready.
Start prep
5
Ready
Yard
Checked, safe, LOLER in date. Transport can take it.
Mark ready
6
Out
Transport
On the wagon.
Send out
7
On hire
Transport
Delivered and accepted.
Confirm on site
8
Coming back
Hire desk
Customer has finished. Collect it.
Book collection
9
Closed
Transport
Back in the yard. Job done.
Collected
10
Cancelled
Hire desk
Stopped. Nothing goes out.
Cancel

What the hire desk does

Someone rings or emails. Log a job. If they are new, add the customer on the same form.
Send a quote (weekly rate). The job waits in Quote.
They accept. Approve. Credit stop blocks this — you can quote, you cannot approve.
Put a named machine on the job. The yard or a mobile engineer takes Prep.

What cannot be skipped

Account on stop → cannot Approve.
LOLER overdue → cannot Mark ready.
Prep, delivery and collection each write who saw the machine, where, and when.
Breakdown and off-hire are jobs too, not inbox items.

How this compares

System	Front of house	What we took
HireLogic, SitePad, most UK hire CRMs	Enquiry → quote → confirmed → contract	The desk never starts at a numbered gate. It starts at a request.
Syrinx / Point of Rental	Contract and stock first. CRM is not the product.	Keep Syrinx for contracts and invoices. This board sits in front for calls, quotes and the operational picture.
ServiceTitan / Jobber (trade)	Call → job → estimate → approve → dispatch	One job card from the phone call. Add the customer if they are new. Same pattern.
Brogan process (rev 18)	Nine approval gates, onsite vs offsite split	The hard stops (credit, LOLER, named machine, sighting). Not the gate numbers, not Gate 2A.