Monday, 6:40 a.m. You pull onto a subdivision pad outside New Braunfels, and the first thing you see is a gap in the temp fence. The second thing is the empty spot where a pallet of wire sat on Friday afternoon. By 7:15 you have three quotes for a mobile surveillance trailer open on your phone, and no two of them list the same things.
So we laid ours out in the open: what a trailer rental from us includes, what costs extra, and the questions worth asking any company before you sign.
Quick answer: A mobile surveillance trailer rental in Texas runs $1,400 to $2,300 a month, and most of our customers pay between $1,650 and $2,000. That covers the trailer, cameras, recorder, solar power, delivery, setup, support, and the app. Staffed live monitoring is a flat monthly fee per camera on top. Ask every company what its number leaves out.
What comes on a mobile surveillance trailer
Start with the equipment, because it sets the base of the price. Our flagship solar surveillance trailer puts PTZ cameras and a look-down camera on a 25 ft mast. The look-down camera watches the ground under the trailer, where somebody would stand to pry open a battery box. The mast also carries a talk-down speaker and a strobe, and an onboard recorder (NVR) keeps footage on the unit itself. Solar panels and batteries run the whole thing, and a generator is an option for sites that expect long stretches of cloudy weather.
Smaller sites don’t need all of that. Our compact solar trailer and solar skid run a 20 ft mast with one to three cameras. If your site already has 120V power, the electric surveillance cube drops the solar array and keeps a 25 ft hydraulic mast with battery backup. See the lineup on our mobile surveillance units page, or read our solar surveillance trailer rental guide for how the units work.
What the monthly price includes, and what costs extra
Here is how a rental from us breaks down. Use it as a checklist against any quote on your desk.
| Item | With Caprock | What to ask other companies |
|---|---|---|
| Trailer, cameras, recorder, solar and battery | Included in the monthly rate | How many cameras, and how tall is the mast? |
| Delivery and setup | Included. Most Austin and San Antonio metro sites within 1 to 2 business days | Is delivery a separate line item? Is pickup? |
| Support and relocation | Included. Send a relocation request when the site changes | Who comes out when a camera goes down, and how fast? |
| App access | Included for your whole team | Can I see every site on one screen? |
| Staffed live monitoring | Flat monthly fee per camera | Who watches, from where, and what do they do? |
| Satellite link or generator | Quoted when a site needs one | What happens if the site has no cell signal? |
We rent by the month. When the job wraps, you send a pickup request and we come get the trailer. The forms for pickup, relocation, and setup all live on our customer resources page.
Watching it yourself vs. live monitoring
Every trailer comes with our app. You get live view, detection clips you can search, a talk-down button, alert schedules you set by device, PPE detection, and a dashboard that shows all your sites at once. Our AI analytics sort people and vehicles from blowing tarps and stray cats, and we rate that filtering at 99.9% accuracy on false alarms. Footage is stored on the unit and encrypted.
That setup works if somebody on your team will answer a phone alert at 2 a.m. Most superintendents we talk to would rather sleep.
With live video monitoring, a trained operator at a UL-listed, 5-Diamond certified central station sees the alert, checks the video, and speaks to the person on your site through the trailer’s speaker. If they stay, the operator calls the police under the protocol you set. Most alerts are resolved in under 3 minutes. You pay a flat monthly fee for each camera you want watched.
Questions to ask before you sign
Is delivery, setup, and pickup in the price?
Some quotes look low because the haul shows up later as its own line. Ask for the total monthly cost with the unit on your site and running. With us, delivery, setup, and support are part of the rental.
Who answers the alarm?
An alert that goes to a phone nobody checks does not stop anybody. Ask whether a person watches the video, where that person sits, and whether the central station is UL-listed. Then ask what the operator does when someone ignores the warning.
What happens when the site changes?
Your pad turns into a slab, then framing, then a building with a parking lot. The spot that made sense in month one can go blind by month four. Ask how a move gets handled and whether it costs extra. Ours runs through a relocation request.
Does the unit need power or a signal the site doesn’t have?
Early-phase sites rarely have power. Our solar trailers run off-grid, and a generator is available for sites that need a backup. Cellular covers most of the I-35 corridor, and dead-zone sites get a satellite option. Ask any company how it confirms the connection before the trailer leaves the yard.
Does the company hold a Texas security license?
In Texas, companies that provide monitored security services generally need a license from the Department of Public Safety. Ask for the number. Ours is Texas Private Security Contractor License #B26262201.
How does the contract end?
We rent by the month, and a longer project gives us room to sharpen the rate. If the job runs long, the trailer stays. If it wraps early, file a pickup request.
How a trailer compares to a guard
A security guard costs $3,000 to $5,000 per shift each month, and round-the-clock coverage runs $10,000 or more. A guard watches the corner of the site where the truck is parked. A monitored trailer watches every camera at the same time, all night, for less than one guard shift. Thinking about buying instead? Read rent vs. buy for construction cameras.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to rent a mobile surveillance trailer in Texas?
Our mobile surveillance units rent for $1,400 to $2,300 a month, and most customers pay between $1,650 and $2,000. Staffed live monitoring is a separate flat fee per camera. Pole camera systems start around $825 a month if you only need to cover a gate or one corner.
What is included in a surveillance trailer rental?
The trailer, its cameras, the onboard recorder, and the solar and battery system are all in the monthly rate. Delivery, setup, support, and the app come with it too. Live monitoring and satellite connectivity for dead-zone sites are added when you need them.
How fast can you get a trailer to my site?
Most sites in the Austin and San Antonio metros are set up within 1 to 2 business days, with same-day options inside Loop 1604 and the core Austin metro. We also deliver from our Marion yard to New Braunfels, San Marcos, Boerne, Corpus Christi, and remote sites statewide.
Do I need power on the site?
No. Our solar trailers and skids run on solar and battery, and a generator is available as a backup. If you do have 120V power, the electric surveillance cube is another option.
Can I watch the cameras from my phone?
Yes. The app gives you live view, detection clips, a talk-down button, and alert schedules for each device. If you run more than one job, the dashboard shows every site in one place.
What happens when someone walks onto the site at night?
The cameras detect the person and send an alert. With live monitoring, an operator checks the video, warns them through the speaker, and calls the police if they stay. Most alerts are resolved in under 3 minutes.
Get a quote you can compare
Call us at (830) 360-9901, email sales@caprock-rentals.com, or send us your site address. Tell us what’s stored overnight and when the expensive material lands. We’ll send one monthly number with everything in it, so you can hold it up next to the others and see what’s what.
Caprock Rentals · 7037 FM 1044, Marion, TX 78124 · Texas Private Security Contractor License #B26262201
