Rental rates are based on the “daily rental.” A daily rental is a one-day rental. You can pick up the equipment late afternoon the day before (since shoots start early in the morning), and can return it in the morning of the day following the shoot. So, for a Wednesday shoot, you could pick up the equipment Tuesday afternoon and return it on Thursday morning.
If the rental house is closed due to holiday or weekend, you do not pay since you could not have returned the equipment on that day. It is also “assumed” that neither you nor the drivers from the production company are working.
Friday afternoon to Monday morning (a Saturday rental) sometimes may only be billed as a one-day rental.
A rental week consists of any seven consecutive calendar days. Most rental houses offer a discount in that you will only be billed for an “XXX-day week.” Most common is the “four-day week,” although some houses offer “three-day” and even “two-day” weekly rentals on equipment that is hard to rent. However, as long as a holiday or a weekend does not reduce the number of available working days to below four days, you will still be billed at the four-day weekly rate.
Some rental companies offer additional discounts for long term rentals. For some, long term means four weeks; for others it may mean six weeks, etc. Ask your local rental house about their definition of and discounts for long term rentals.
Ask about travel days, rain days, and shipping. Travel days are days that the equipment is in your possession, but not being used because the gear is in transit. On long term rentals, these days may be gratis; on short term it is negotiable at the time the order is placed.
Shipping charges are normally paid for by the renter. It is usually far cheaper to ship one-day air and pay more for shipping but save on the rental. Some rental houses will charge you for a rental day even if the equipment is in transit. Sometimes, they will split the difference: not charge you on the day that it is shipped out, but you continue to pay rental while it is shipped back.
A note about shipping equipment. I recommend that you open your own UPS and FedEx accounts. Whenever possible, have sales and rental houses use your own account number rather than bill you for shipping. That way, you only get charged for the actual shipping costs without creative accounting inflating the charges.
Also, avoid checking in your equipment as baggage at airports. Security may over react when they see the profile of mics, cables, and electronics on their screens, causing you long delays. Theft of baggage is very high, since employees can access X-ray screens and master keys for your TSA approved locks. Mis-routed or lost baggage occurs quite a bit. And the airlines only reimburse you up to $500 on a claim. Overall, it is better to just ship your stuff via UPS or FedEx to your destination, with lots of insurance.
Rain days are days when the production is postponed due to inclement weather. You must call in the morning of a rain day; you may be asked to return the equipment for the day to avoid rental charge, or a discount may be applied via phone. Again, these things must be negotiated in advance.
In the event of equipment malfunction while out on location, contact the rental house as soon as possible and inform them of the problem. They may be able to trouble-shoot the repair over the phone, or may be able to send out a replacement to you right away. Or maybe not. (Production Mixing is the art of creative problem solving.)
However, do not expect to receive a discount or credit for faulty equipment -- unless you alert the rental house within 24 hours. (How are they to know whether the radio mic that you rented broke down on the first day, or worked great for 13 days out of a 14 day shoot?) The rental house may opt for you to return the equipment for a replacement, return the equipment for a credit, or just hold onto it until the end of the shoot.