Predictika · Equipment rental quotes

An AI sales agent's equipment rental quote, checked before it goes out

An AI sales agent prepares a rental quote for a contractor who needs aerial lifts, a telehandler or earthmoving equipment for days, weeks or 28-day periods, with a protection plan and delivery. Before the quote goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the rental terms and returns a verdict, every reason and the total it computed.

Scope: Herc Rentals equipment rental quotes: scissor lifts, articulating and telescopic booms, telehandlers, excavators and skid steers, with rental periods, the Rental Protection Plan, the TSS charge, delivery and discount. See everything this validator covers

This validator models equipment rental quotes, not just the scenarios shown below.

  • Equipment and periods — six equipment classes from the public Herc categories rented by the day, the week or a 28-day period, with limits on how many days and weeks one quote can use before the next period applies.
  • Charges — the Rental Protection Plan at 15 percent of the rent, the TSS charge at 12 percent with a $12 minimum, and a delivery charge by distance, all computed on the discounted rent.
  • Eligibility and approvals — operator certification for lifts and telehandlers, delivery for excavators and skid steers, protection or insurance for cash customers, the discount and fleet-size limits, credit approval for large cash rentals, and the stated total against the computed total.

Any Herc rental quote that touches these rules is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: fuel, environmental and cleaning charges, other equipment classes and taxes. Equipment category names, the three rental periods, the Rental Protection Plan percentage and the TSS charge follow public Herc pages; the daily, weekly and 28-day rates, the delivery rate and every limit and approval threshold are modeled and are not published by Herc.

The AI sales agentBuilds the rental quote from the conversation and says it is ready.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

6 scenarios in 3 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch

What the agent proposes

The AI sales agent says

Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.

Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)

Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run

Predictika validator


      

        
        
        
      

      
Waiting for the call.

      
    

  

  
  

    
Where rules-based CPQ gets it wrong
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Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.

    
What the validator caughtTypical rules-based CPQPredictika
Charges that are a percentage of a discounted rentOnly with care
The protection plan and the TSS charge each depend on the rent after the discount, so each needs its own rule and a minimum charge rule beside it.		The rent, the discount and the charges are computed together on every call.
Rules that depend on the equipment classOnly with care
Operator certification and delivery apply to different classes, so each class needs its own rule and the list grows with the fleet.		The class and the options are in one request and checked together on every call.
Rental periods that roll over into the next periodOnly with care
More than three days is quoted as a week and more than three weeks as a 28-day period, so each period needs a limit rule.		All period counts are fields of the request and are compared on every call.
A stated total that must match the computed totalOnly with workarounds
The total is built from rent, discount, two charges and delivery, so a separate rule is needed to recompute it and compare it with the stated figure.		The stated total is a field of the request and is compared with the computed total on every call.
Every problem returned in one answerOnly with workarounds
Rules tend to fire as the quote is saved or a step is completed, so a rep often fixes one error and meets the next.		All findings come back together, whatever order the choices arrived in.

  

  

    
What this validator catches: findings from its test cases
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Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the quote; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.

    
10 units is outside the 1 to 50 units one quote can cover.
2An order of 50 units is above 10 and needs regional fleet approval.
351 units is outside the 1 to 50 units one quote can cover.
4An order of 11 units is above 10 and needs regional fleet approval.
54 daily rental periods; more than 3 days is quoted at the weekly rate.
64 weekly rental periods; more than 3 weeks is quoted at the 28-day rate.
7The quote has no rental period; at least one day, week or 28-day period is needed.
8Aerial lifts and telehandlers need confirmed operator training or certification.
9Excavators and skid steers are moved on a trailer; the quote needs delivery.
10A delivery of 101 miles is beyond the 100 mile delivery range of one branch.
11A cash customer must take the Rental Protection Plan or provide an insurance certificate.
12A cash rental with gross rent of 18,900 dollars is above 10,000 and needs credit approval.
13A discount of 16 percent is above 15 percent and needs branch manager approval.
14A discount of 26 percent is outside the 0 to 25 percent allowed.
15The quote states a total of $1,417.2999; the modeled rates give $1,417.30.
16The quote states a total of $1,418.30; the modeled rates give $1,417.30.
1760 units is outside the 1 to 50 units one quote can cover.
185 daily rental periods; more than 3 days is quoted at the weekly rate.
195 weekly rental periods; more than 3 weeks is quoted at the 28-day rate.
20A delivery of 150 miles is beyond the 100 mile delivery range of one branch.
21A discount of 30 percent is outside the 0 to 25 percent allowed.
22A cash rental with gross rent of 396,000 dollars is above 10,000 and needs credit approval.

  

  

    
Scenarios and results
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The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.

    
1. Periods, certification and protection: A cash quote for eight telescopic booms with four daily periods, no operator certification, no protection and a 120 mile delivery

    
The agent's request. Please quote 8 telescopic booms for 4 days as a cash customer, with no Rental Protection Plan, no operator certification and delivery of 120 miles, for a total of $16,012.80. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Too many daily periods. 4 daily rental periods; more than 3 days is quoted at the weekly rate.
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  • Operator certification missing. Aerial lifts and telehandlers need confirmed operator training or certification.
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  • Delivery distance too far. A delivery of 120 miles is beyond the 100 mile delivery range of one branch.
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  • Cash customer without protection. A cash customer must take the Rental Protection Plan or provide an insurance certificate.
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  • Large cash rental. A cash rental with gross rent of 13,440 dollars is above 10,000 and needs credit approval.
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2. Periods, certification and protection: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote 8 telescopic booms for 2 days as a cash customer, with the Rental Protection Plan, operator certification confirmed and delivery of 80 miles, for a total of $9,174.40. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Order summary. Gross rent 6,720 dollars, total $9,174.40 with RPP, TSS and delivery as selected (modeled illustrative rates).
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3. Delivery, periods and discount: An excavator quote with no delivery, four weekly periods and a large discount

    
The agent's request. Please quote 1 excavator for 4 weeks on account, with the Rental Protection Plan, operator certification confirmed, pickup with no delivery and a 30 percent discount, for a total of $4,053.84. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Too many weekly periods. 4 weekly rental periods; more than 3 weeks is quoted at the 28-day rate.
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  • Heavy equipment needs delivery. Excavators and skid steers are moved on a trailer; the quote needs delivery.
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  • Discount out of range. A discount of 30 percent is outside the 0 to 25 percent allowed.
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4. Delivery, periods and discount: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote 1 excavator for 3 weeks on account, with the Rental Protection Plan, operator certification confirmed, delivery of 30 miles and a 10 percent discount, for a total of $4,149.06. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Order summary. Gross rent 3,420 dollars, total $4,149.06 with RPP, TSS and delivery as selected (modeled illustrative rates).
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5. Stated total: A four-telehandler quote with a stated total

    
The agent's request. Please quote 4 telehandlers for 2 weeks on account, with the Rental Protection Plan, operator certification confirmed, delivery of 40 miles and a 10 percent discount, for a total of $9,326.88. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Stated total does not match. The quote states a total of $9,326.88; the modeled rates give $9,646.88.
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6. Stated total: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote 4 telehandlers for 2 weeks on account, with the Rental Protection Plan, operator certification confirmed, delivery of 40 miles and a 10 percent discount, for a total of $9,646.88. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Order summary. Gross rent 8,160 dollars, total $9,646.88 with RPP, TSS and delivery as selected (modeled illustrative rates).
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Narration transcript
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The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.

    
    
      
  1. Welcome to a demo of Predictika's Validator. An AI sales agent prepares a rental quote for a contractor who needs aerial lifts, a telehandler or earthmoving equipment for days. Before the quote goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the rental terms and returns a verdict, every reason and the total it computed.
    2. 
      
  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
    3. 
      
  3. The agent says. Please quote 8 telescopic booms for 4 days as a cash customer, with no Rental Protection Plan, no operator certification and delivery of 120 miles, for a total of $16,012.80. It is ready to send.
    4. 
      
  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
    5. 
      
  5. Blocked, with four findings and one approval, all in one answer. 4 daily rental periods; more than 3 days is quoted at the weekly rate. Aerial lifts and telehandlers need confirmed operator training or certification. A delivery of 120 miles is beyond the 100 mile delivery range of one branch. The other one is on screen.
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  6. The validator returned four blocking findings and one approval in one answer. A check that reads one field at a time would pass most of this; it shows only when the choices in the quote are checked against each other.
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  7. What this shows: for rental periods that roll over into the next period, a rules-based CPQ is error-prone for this.
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  8. Now the agent resubmits.
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  9. The corrected request. It changes the days to 2, the Rental Protection Plan to yes, the operator certification to yes, the delivery to 80 miles and the total stated on the quote to $9,174.40.
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  10. It calls the validator again.
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  11. This time the validator clears it.
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  12. All five earlier findings are cleared.
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  13. Five problems caught in one call, fixed in one pass, and a clean $9,174.40 quote. That is the value of Predictika's validator: catching mistakes before they reach the customer. Now you can try the other scenarios yourself.
    14.