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The path to success for one small rental

10th April 1982, Page 39
10th April 1982
Page 39
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Page 39, 10th April 1982 — The path to success for one small rental
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Rental companies solve many problems for operators, but the service they provide varies greatly. Steve Gray was unimpressed by the biggest rentals and went to talk to a smaller one

10 MATTER how well organised nd equipped a transport operaon is, there are bound to be mes when there just are not nough vehicles available.

Seasonal peaks in the busiess, a sudden rash of ireakdowns or accidents, an unxpected contract — these and any other factors conspire to lake the operator's life imposible. Gone are the days when it as viable to keep a couple of pare vehicles in the yard for just such emergencies. Nowadays, every vehicle on the strength must be out earning its corn every day, to keep the business competitive.

And its not easy just to buy a couple of new vehicles as needed, when tractive units cost upwards of £25,000 each, cashflow is tight and interest rates astronomical.

The answer is, of course, to rent in the vehicles whenever they are required. However, this is not always as easy as it might seem, as we discovered during CM special investigation last summer. We went to a number of major rental companies and hired from them some 7.5tonne {7.38-ton) trucks which we examined, with the help of Freight Transport Association inspector, for roadworthiness.

While the majority were reasonable, all had defects which during a long rental would have become worse: The appearance of the trucks left a lot to be desired too. Even though they were finished in the different rental companies' livery, they gave a poor image for anyone using them.

Perhaps worst of all, though, was the almost total lack of service we got when actually picking the vehicles up.

Avis, for example, despite being told we could be arriving late to collect, let our vehicle out on hire to someone else. True, the staff were genuinely apologetic and tried to get another for us from a nearby depot, but .

Of the other rental companies, few attempted to ask if we had, or needed, an '0'-licence. In the main they did not explain the operation of the vehicle, how to work the tachograph, whether it was petrol or diesel (not so silly when you realise the trucks could be driven by inexperienced, non-hgv car drivers) or even how high it was.

It seemed to us that being big did not necessarily mean beautiful. This is a view shared by Terry Williams, managing director of Commercial Recovery and Repairs Ltd, of Ascot Road, Clockhouse Lane Estate, Ashford. His recovery business, which he started from scratch twelve years ago, has grown to become one of the most professionally run in the country.

Rather than use old vehicles which had been pensioned off from haulage work, Terry decided to go for new ones — a move almost unprecedented in the industry. And the recovery equipment he uses is new too.

Terry's belief is that there is only one way to do a job — properly. And that means getting the right vehicles, equipment and personnel. It's a philosophy he has carried over to his latest venture, vehicle rental, which he operates under the banner of CRR Truck Rental from his Ashford base.

Terry decided to go into rental in early 1979 when he realised there was a substantial in-house need with the recovery work he was doing. While a broken down or damaged vehicle was being repaired in the CRR workshops, Terry could be renting its owners a replacement. Going through the major companies was time consuming, and frustrating, he reckoned, so why not rent his own?

But being Terry Williams he determined to run the new business efficiently and professionally and above all, to give service to his customers. He also decided to offer both spot hire (that is short term, instant rental) as well as the more complex contract hire.

From modest beginnings — just four DAF 2300s in January 1979 — the CRR fleet has grown to over 40, with 31 tractive units on spot hire (an almost even split between DAFs and Volvos) and 10 on contract. There are also some 16-ton reefers in the fleet.

Terry reckons on a three year life for his trucks, but to look at some of the oldest it is hard to believe their age or the mileage they have covered. His four oldest DAFs, for example, are immaculate and could almost pass for new. They've never been off the road for more than a day for repairs in their lives. And in three years of operation, CRR hasn't picked up one GV9.

Terry puts this remarkable achievement to his company's high standard of in-house maintenance. Vehicles are brought in every 10,000km (6,000 miles) for a full service. Those operators on contract hire are supplied with a replacement vehicle for the time the truck is off the road.

While in for service, Terry's mechanics make sure the vehicles are kept in tip top condition. Instead of saying a worn component will last till the next service, they replace it then. This system, says Terry, pays handsome dividends, in terms of fewer breakdowns. Not only is this a benefit to CRR, it also pleases the customer.

However, inevitably there are breakdowns and CRR is better equipped than most to deal with them. Its recovery division, which we have already mentioned, is on call 24 hours a day all year round. If a vehicle has a major problem, a recovery vehicle will go out with a replacement tractive unit hooked up and swap it with the casualty. Minor faults or warranty work are usually left to be dealt with by the local dealer for the appropriate vehicle make.

Terry believes though, that his choice of DAF and Volvo vehicles helps to reduce likely breakdowns. With an eye to the future, when weight limits might increase, he is specifying FlOs and 2800s rather than F7s and 2300s. But believing there is always a percentage of poor drivers in any fleet, Terry goes for the models which are easier to drive. For example, the DKSe 2800s have nine-speed boxes, like the DKTDs come with 12 ieeds.

I asked Terry about the intract hire side and, in particur, his customers and how he iced the contract. His list of ;ers is impressive, with such Imes as International Wine, attessons Meats and Concorde (press among them. In the am, Terry told me, his customs come to him, having heard 'rough the grapevine about his arvice. The contract was orked out by using a combineon of use, time and a asic tariff which is then cornined into a package and worked ut on a mileage basis.

To see how CRR contract hire rorks out in practice, I visited lyn Small, Transport Manager F A. G. Linfield at Thakeham, /est Sussex. A. G. Linfield is robably best known for hesswood Mushrooms of rhich it sells an amazing quanty. Mushrooms present distincve transport problems. They re easily damaged and, worst f all, they generate so much eat that if left unrefrigerated ley would cook themselves. As Llyn says, "leave them unefrigerated for more than a few lours and you'll open the back loors of the trailer to find a black iquid where there were once nushrooms". For this reason, le told me, reliability — not just of the vehicles, but of service too — is all important.

Llyn's long haul vehicles — he has 4 ERFs on contract from Terry — deliver to each of the company's outlets every day. These are located throughout Britain and insist that today's mushrooms are on sale in the shop the next morning. It's a demanding schedule and in addition to the four CRR vehicles, Linfield has its own ERFs as well as other vehicles for local work.

Single axle reefer trailers are used — they are special to this company and have virtually no resale value — and the usual gross weight is around 24 tons. Back loading is impossible, says Llyn, because of these trailers and the tight scheduling.

I asked Llyn why he had chosen CRR over one of the larger rental firms. "Better personal service on a day to day basis" he told me, "along with the flexibility to mould to our needs."

Linfield went to contract hire because at that time it did not have the available capital to buy more vehicles. The four ERFs have Cummins E290 engines and have proved to be economical as well as reliable. Although running below their maximum gross weight, they regularly return over nine miles per gallon. Each vehicle covers upwards of 150,000 miles a year and some of Linfield's own vehicle's have covered more than 400,000 miles without any atten tion to the engine being needed, Llyn has had the engines derated from 1900 rpm to 1800 rpm but uses neither wind deflectors nor road speed governors.

One of the reasons Llyn, chose CRR was its straightforward contract system "There's no mucking about," he told me; "each side in the agreement knows exactly where they are." Major companies, by contrast, had complex contracts which tied you up. CRR worked out a three year contract for Linfield with a fixed monthly rate. It is worked out on mileage figures supplied by Linfield and there is no inflation clause.

If the estimated mileage is exceeded (and it is worked out on an aggregate basis for all four vehicles) then an extra six pence per mile is charged on top. If the figure is not reached, there is no rebate.

This, says Llyn, is a fair system because it is up to him to get his sums right from the start. Adding the mileage together and working out an average is also fair, as it doesn't penalise the company if just one vehicle exceeds its limit.

CRR is responsible for all costs except insurance, fuel and accident damage. Even tyres are included and the only time the contract can be altered is if the road fund licence goes up.

Linfield pays by monthly standing order — in advance — and so can accurately anticipate its transport costs. There is of course a termination penalty clause, which is not excessive, and Linfield has the option to buy the vehicles at the end of the contract.

These arrangements work well for both Linfield and CRR. Both know where they stand and the flexibility offered by CRR is, says Llyn, unrivalled. So too, is CRR's response — it has never failed to help with problems. As part of the service, Terry will deliver vehicles to Linfield and he insists all his staff's home telephone numbers are freely available. Being able to reach the right man at the right time, says Terry, is vital.

I asked Llyn Small to sum up his reasons for choosing CRR over a larger rival. He told me that being a small outfit they were far more on the ball and quicker to respond. In a word, he said, they offer that all important quality — SERVICE.


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