What It Costs to Hire a Trailer in Australia: Day, Weekend and Week Rates

Trailer hire pricing in Australia varies a lot by trailer type, region and operator, and there's no single national rate card. What follows are indicative ranges gathered from real, currently operating hire businesses and peer-to-peer platforms, to give you a sense of what's normal before you book. Trailer Hire Near Me lists trailers and connects hirers with owners; we don't set hire prices ourselves, and every listing owner prices their own trailer, so treat these as market context, not a quote.

Box trailers

A small single-axle box trailer around the 750kg ATM tier (the common 6x4) typically hires for somewhere in the $46-97 per day range, with some operators offering a shorter 3-4 hour tier from around $50-65 for a quick run. A tandem 8x5 box trailer, sitting around 2000kg ATM, typically runs $69-118 per day.

Bonds on box trailers follow one of two models: a flat refundable bond, commonly around $100 at large retail-adjacent hire points, or no bond at all but a stated damage-waiver excess instead, commonly around $800, charged only if damage actually occurs. Check which model a specific operator or owner uses before you book, since they work quite differently: a bond is money you get back if there's no damage, an excess is a cap on what you'd pay if something goes wrong.

Car carriers

Car and vehicle carrier trailers are often priced by the hour for short jobs, typically $27-50 per hour with a common minimum of around 3 hours, or by the day for longer hires, typically $100-240 per day, with premium tandem-axle carriers fitted with an electric winch trending toward the $220-240 end. Week rates start from around $200 on some platforms. Bonds sit around $100 plus a damage waiver on peer-to-peer platforms, or follow the flat-excess model (around $800) some hire chains use across their whole range.

Before booking, use the car carrier and tilt trailer guide to match the loading angle and deck style to the vehicle you need to move.

Tipper trailers

Tipper hire commonly scales the day rate with tip capacity: roughly $88 for a 4m³ tipper, $99 for 5m³, and $110 for 6m³ per day at one specialist operator. A weekend hire is often billed as a fixed two-day block (for example, Friday 3pm to Monday 8am) rather than counted in literal hours. Bonds are typically a flat $200, refundable.

Worth knowing: the day rate usually includes unlimited tip runs within the hire window, a mesh tarp and basic hire insurance, but it does not include tip or dump fees at the receiving facility, which run roughly $300-450 per tonne for mixed waste at a typical recycling station. Budget for the dump fee separately; it's often a bigger cost than the trailer hire itself on a full load.

Enclosed and cargo trailers

Enclosed trailer hire on peer-to-peer platforms runs roughly $48-102 per day. Some larger equipment-hire chains also list enclosed trailers, though published day rates for that segment weren't consistently available at the time of research, so treat any single figure you see for a specific big-box operator as one you should confirm directly with them rather than assume.

Furniture and removalist trailers

Enclosed furniture and removalist trailers commonly hire for around $50-90 per day, with a two-day minimum hire period on some operators' enclosed units. Bonds typically run $50-150.

Camper trailers

Camper trailer hire is usually priced per night rather than per day: standard units commonly run $60-92 per night, roughly doubling in peak season for off-road or premium units. Day-equivalent rates vary noticeably by region, from around $65 in some markets to $82 or more in others, reflecting local demand as much as the trailer itself.

Bonds are meaningfully higher than on general trailers, typically $500-1500, standard units usually toward the lower end of that and off-road units toward the top, and it's common for operators to also charge a separate, non-refundable booking deposit on top of the bond, sometimes a flat figure like $100, sometimes a percentage of the total hire cost such as 30%.

Our used camper trailer guide explains the soft-floor, hard-floor and off-road layouts if you are hiring to test a style before buying.

Horse floats

Horse float hire commonly runs $110-185 per day, with weekend hire (typically a Friday afternoon to Monday morning block) starting from around $260. Bonds in this category don't follow a consistent flat figure the way box trailers do; several operators instead charge a cleaning fee (around $150 at one operator) and hold the hirer liable for damage at full workshop rates rather than stating a capped bond figure. Ask specifically how damage liability works before you book a float, since "no bond required" doesn't necessarily mean lower financial exposure if something goes wrong.

Read the horse float buyer and safety guide before pickup for load layout, mass and floor checks that matter even on a short hire.

Boat trailers

Boat trailer hire is a noticeably thinner market than the other categories here: none of the major national equipment-hire chains list a dedicated stand-alone boat trailer hire product, so the category is filled mostly by specialist local operators and peer-to-peer listings rather than a big-box chain you can walk into. Where rates are published, day hire runs roughly $125 for one day, up to around $250 for three days, and up to around $400 for a full week, with a bond around $500 plus photo ID.

Plant and machinery trailers

Neither of the two major national equipment-hire chains publishes a stand-alone day rate for plant trailer hire; it's typically quoted on request and often bundled into the cost of hiring the plant item itself (a mini excavator or bobcat) rather than priced as its own line item. If you need one, expect to ask directly rather than find a published rate.

What's typically included, and what varies

A tie-down rack and jockey wheel are standard-spec inclusions on utility and box trailer hire. Beyond that, inclusions vary a lot by operator: ratchet straps and a spare tyre are not consistently included across the market, so don't assume either is provided, ask before you pick up.

Minimum hire periods vary by trailer type and operator: 3-4 hour and half-day minimums are common at retail-adjacent hire points, a 24-hour day is the standard unit for tippers and most equipment-hire chains, and camper trailers and horse floats often use a fixed weekend block rather than counting hours. Self-collection is the default for small-to-medium trailers; larger equipment-hire chains offer delivery, often free within a set metro radius and quoted beyond it, while peer-to-peer platforms default to collection from the owner's address with delivery negotiable case by case.

If you're the one setting a price

If you're listing your own trailer for hire rather than looking to hire one, our guide to hiring out your trailer covers how to use ranges like these to set your own rate, structure a bond or damage waiver, and put the terms in writing. Browse current hire listings to see what's actually available near you right now.