Rentals come in all shapes and sizes
Page 49
Page 50
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
RENTAL VEHICLES, carrying the livery of the hire company, are a familiar sight on Britain's roads today, and the increasing frequency with which they are met may be taken as an indication of the tremendous upsurge taking place in short-term van and truck rental. One does not have to travel far before seeing a Hertz, Godfrey Davis or Avis van, particularly the smaller types in the 15 /30cwt class.
Hertz doubled its rental fleet last year and now operates more than 2600 vehicles ranging from Ford Escort vans to Guy 32-ton tractive units. The company expects to achieve a turnover of £4m in 1971, and reach lin by 1975 from a fleet which will then number more than 6000 units. Godfrey Davis also has large expansion plans. From the beginning of this month its van and truck hire business has been seperated from the car rental side and this move is already showing beneficial results. Ten truck rental centres have been established and a range of vehicles from 6cwt vans to 28-ton tractive units is available. The fleet of more than 2000 vehicles includes a number of 12-seater luxury minibuses. This company, like Hertz, has expanded rapidly in the past 12 months or so and the present size of the truck fleet would be larger were there no current difficulties in obtaining deliveries of new chassis from manufacturers.
Avis, third of the big three in van and truck rental, has expanded to the stage where it can offer customers 40 different types of vehicle from its 900-strong fleet. Like Godfrey Davis, it is opening new main truck depots to take over from the present arrangement of sharing facilities with its car division. In addition to expansion in the UK, Avis has turned its attention to Europe and Mr Ted Webster, is now Continental truck operations manager, and is spreading the name of Avis over there.
Separate centres Godfrey Davis is concentrating for the present on the UK market, although it is represented in Europe by agents, and endeavouring to offer "service" as number one priority. The move to separate truck centres is a major step towards this, enabling full workshop facilities, geared to truck maintenance work, to be available for keeping the fleet in tip-top condition. Another aspect of the Godfrey Davis service is its policy of fitting a number of vehicles with special equipment, such as tail-lifts on 6-ton boxvans and 7 /8-ton trucks, and ISO twistlocks on the heavier capacity vehicles.
Competition in the rental field is hot. Hertz, the largest firm in terms of size, offers hirers a choice of 34 different types of vehicle, but is beaten by the Avis claim of 40 types. The Hertz range covers weights and capacities from 17cwt vans to 32-ton tractive units. Guy and AEC feature among its top-weight vehicles. Vans, generally on BLMC, Commer or Ford chassis, are available up to the 5 /6-ton range, and trucks range from 3-ton models with dropside bodies to 8-tonners; and the larger capacity rigids are mainly platform bodied.
Specification chart Hertz provides customers with a specification chart of all vehicles operated, showing the gross vehicle weight, maximum payload, cubic capacity in the case of vans, exterior and interior dimensions and, also for vans, the height and width of door openings. Additional services on offer include charge cards (which incidentally both Godfrey Davis and Avis also provide) enabling a vehicle to be hired at any time and charged to an account, personal accident premium being only 20p per day per vehicle and this provides for compensation in respect of drivers and passengers in the event of death, or injury, including the loss of limbs, and medical expenses. For a premium of 371p, cover for goods in transit to the value of £500 per load can be obtained through the National Transit Insurance Co Ltd.
Insurance is, of course, an important aspect of vehicle rental. Hertz will allow a customer to cover vehicles with his own insurance provided it gives comprehensive cover and evidence of this is shown when he collects the vehicle. Alternatively, Hertz will provide cover against liability of an unlimited amount in respect of death or bodily injury to third parties and an unlimited indemnity in respect of damage to third party property. In the case of loss or damage to the Hertz vehicle, the renter has to pay the first £35 for each incident involving vehicles up to 40cwt and the first £250 in the case of larger units. Full collision protection to cover the renter's liability for these amounts can be bought for 624p and £2.50 per day respectively. Hertz claims that it does not write a lot of extra charges into the small print of rental agreements. However, these items are worthwhile extras that the renter should consider.
Rental agreement The rental agreement itself is not a complicated affair and can easily be filled in quickly at the station reception office where trained staff are available to help and advise the customer on all matters concerning rental and, a very important subject, legal aspects of commercial vehicle operation. Such services are provided by the other rental companies who go to considerable lengths to train their reception staffs accordingly.
The legal implications of renting vehicles, particularly the heavier types, are considerable these days. The renter must hold an 0 licence if he wants to rent a vehicle of over 3.5 tons plated weight even for only one day per year; the driver has to hold an appropriate class of hgv driving licence, and the drivers' hours and records regulations must be observed. And the renter, as the "user" of the vehicle must ensure that it is not overloaded and is maintained in first-class mechanical order.
User's responsibility Although the rental companies take care of this last item—and those mentioned have adequate workshop facilities to do so—the ultimate responsibility rests with the user. If he iA an 0-licence holder, as he must be if he is hiring anything larger than a light van, it is his licence that is put in jeopardy if a vehicle is found to be below the required standard of mechanical efficiency or safety. The moral of this is that, when renting vehicles, one should always go to a reputable company which is aware of these renter responsibilities and takes care to ensure that they are not put to the test.
Both Godfrey Davis and Hertz have check systems in force whereby a vehicle returning from hire goes through an inspection procedure to ensure that no mechanical work is required on it before it
goes out again. This is besides the normt service and inspection period when vehicle are thoroughly examined and brought bac to full operational condition. Hertz has 2I-point check which must be undertake, on every vehicle when it comes in even this is necessary each day while a vehicle i being used in separate daily hires. The 215 item on the list is to wash the vehicle bot inside and out. Godfrey Davis, on the othe hand, at its Leeds truck centre has a was bay through which all vehicles must pas before entering the workshop for th maintenance check to be carried out. Eithe way it ensures that the next person to hir, any vehicle is presented with one that i clean to use and ready for the road in ever! sense—mechanically sound, correctly He( with fuel, oil and water, its battery toppec up, tyres sound and filled with air to th correct pressures.
Eye-catching vehicles Avis has introduced into its fleet somg eye-catching vehicles—large .Volvo an Scammell tractive units. While othe rental companies offer 32-ton tractive unit: Avis has gone for vehicles • plated b! manufacturers at higher gross weight than can legally be used in the UK a present. Otherwise its policies and activitie: appear to be very much the same as thost of competitors.
I was assured by the big three thai although the competition is fierce, it is alsc friendly and good for business. But this i5 not to suggest that there is collusion —there certainly is not. However, with the rent& market increasing at its present rate the competition can only get hotter. Avis quote5 its own growth rate at 250 per cent last year and says it is aiming for a further 100 pet cent this year.
25/30 per cent?
Mr Brian Coleshill, of Avis, told me that in the USA some 60/70 per cent of the trucks on the road are leased, hired or rented and by 1975 he expects the UK figure to reach 25 /30 per cent. The present hiring figure is generally estimated at only about three per cent of the vans and trucks, and this was confirmed by Mr Charles Jameson, marketing manager for Hertz, as a result of his niarket surveys.
These figures are a good indication that rental vans must become an even more familiar sight on our roads, and, in fact, with the financial situation still a little easier for trade and industry most of expected increase in the volume of commercial vehicles is likely in the near future to come mainly from this quarter. As Mr Coleshill commented: "In the future firms will not be able to afford the luxury of spending large sums of money on anything but their product. If they make beans," he said, "they will want more money for bean-making machinery, not for spending on vehicles". This may at first sound a frivolous remark but the indications are that it is true and the next few years, say to 1975, will prove Whether the prophesies and expansion plans of these three companies are correct and have been justified.