Adding Renters

Adding Renters

Every reservation in TrailerBase is tied to a renter record. The better that record is, the more useful the rest of the platform becomes — trust scoring, reminders, marketing segments, and tax documents all draw from it. Here is how to add a renter well, and the shortcuts TrailerBase provides so you rarely have to do it from scratch.

Manual add

From the left nav, open Renters and click + Add. You will see a form split into two halves.

Required

• First name
• Last name
• Email — used for confirmations, invoices, and the public booking portal. Must be unique per workspace.

Optional but highly recommended

• Phone — enables SMS reminders and two-way texting.
• Address — Pre-fills into contracts and invoices; also used for tax calculation if you operate across jurisdictions.
• Date of birth — required later if you verify driver's licenses.
• Driver's license number — you can enter the number directly or skip and let OCR capture it when the license image is uploaded.
• Company name — for commercial renters, this unlocks a separate billing view and tax-ID capture.

Fill in what you have and click Save. The renter appears in the list immediately, and you can open their profile to add documents, tags, and notes.

Auto-create from bookings

If a renter books online through your TrailerBase-hosted booking page and their email does not match an existing record, the platform auto-creates the renter for you. Every field the online form collects gets saved to the new record:

• Name, email, phone (always required on the portal)
• Address (if you enabled it on the form)
• Driver's license upload (if you required documents)

You will see a green "New renter" chip on the renter record for the first 30 days so it is obvious this person hasn't been vetted in person yet.

Auto-merge on match

When a new online booking matches an existing email, the reservation attaches to that record and any new information is offered as a merge suggestion. For example, if the renter moved and the new booking has a different address, you will see a prompt: "Update address to …?" Accept to overwrite or dismiss to keep what you had.

CSV import

Migrating from another system? From Renters, click Import and upload a CSV. TrailerBase maps columns to its fields automatically and flags any rows with duplicate emails or missing required data. You can fix issues in the preview before committing the import.

Why completeness matters

• Email powers every automated communication.
• Phone is required for SMS reminders and day-of-pickup texts.
• Address is needed for contract generation and multi-state tax.
• DOB + license number unlock insurance validation and trust scoring.

A renter with all six basic fields scored higher on trust almost automatically and saves you time later when you need to verify identity or send a contract.

Once added, continue to Renter Profiles to understand the tabs available on each record.