• Home
• Used vehicles
• Product news
• Dealer news
• Compliance
• Buying advice
• Archive

Vehicle renters are guilty of complacency

HICLE RENTAL companies ovide a useful service — for e big operator to fill a hole in fleet operation or for those o want to move some goods a one-off basis only.

CM has carried out an investition into what you might enunter if you want to hire the aviest vehicle that can be driwi 'without an hgv licence — at is, 7.5 tonnes gross.

As well as comparing rental larges and availability, we also vestigate the mechanical conLion of the vehicles.

A similar exercise we carried low: Our investigations into the hide rental companies included ecks on vehicle condition, book

efficiency, and cost ,4s well as F three vehicles shown here we ;o checked a Hertz Ford and a Kenlg Leyland.

out on light vans in 1975 produced some disturbing results and, having allowed the dust to settle, we thought the time was ripe to see if rental companies had benefited from that experience.

Vehicles were hired from Kenning, Ryder, Hertz, BRS Truck Rental and Wincantort Truck Rental. We tried for an Avis vehicle, but couldn't get hold of one for reasons we'll explain later. At no time were the companies notified of the CM involvement. Kenning Car Hire Kenning's site on the Great South West Road at Hattori Cross is a prime one — it could hardly be closer to Heathrow Airport. Any visitor to the car and van hire office isn't likely to forget that fact — roars of the jets thundering overhead won't allow him to.

But when I visited the office to collect a Leyland Terrier, it soon became clear that this continuous distraction didn't prevent the office being run efficiently.

One glance at the board behind her was enough to tell the lady who greeted me that the vehicle I wanted was available, and she summoned it from the workshop.

While we waited, the hiring agreement form was completed, and that involved me in answering an unusual number of questions: "What is your occu potion?", "Which insuranc company are you with?" an most difficult of all to remembe "When did you pass your dri. ing test?"

The deposit was £115 and E accident excess waiver £7.5 Goods in transit insuranci which was recommended, WE £1.50 a day, and personal acc dent and effects insurance, als recommended, 50p a day. Had ever driven a lorry before? TN obviously took me at my woi as none of the Terrier's contro was explained.

Nor was there any explanatio of the tachograph's function an no one invited me to check th vehicle's body condition. It we simply a matter of jumping i and driving off.

It was pouring with rain as left Kenning's yard and joine the busy A30. In such condition a prime requirement for safet\ especially in an unfamilia vehicle, was good visibility. didn't get it from the Terrier.

The single-speed wipers wer barely fast enough to clear th screen properly; the demiste raised the temperature in th, cab by several degrees, but ha' little effect on the misted-Li' windscreen; and the rear-viev mirrors were of the flat glas variety giving only restricte( rearward vision even on th, clearest days.

Worst of all though, the near side mirror arm was loose an( refused to stay in one position.

continued overleaf

-.:11 bolt had been fitted to the .1 of the arm, but we did manto tighten it enough to hold arm before the vehicle was rned.

ie customary vagueness of ier steering in the straight3d position added to my feel; of insecurity.

'hen I returned the Terrier to ning later they asked me if I erienced problems, and I exned about the mirror. Will fix it? I wonder.

le cost of the day's rental limum period 24 hours) inling a mileage charge for 21 at 9p per mile and 3.68 ons of diesel at £1.34 a galwas taken from my deposit, I was refunded in cash.

enning's basic rental charge 28 a day excluding vat. The I cost of the hire, including was £50.67. I wasn't given chance to check the fuel topat the beginning and end of hire period, but it's clear a take was made somewhere. the Terrier in fact used 3.68 ons of diesel to cover 21 es its consumption would be 49.6 lit/100km (5.7mpg) — poor for a fully laden 32-tonner, never mind an empty 7.5-tonner.

Ryder Truck Rental

In many ways Ryder's operation is very different from Kenning's. The former concentrates on heavy commercial vehicle rental and contract hire extending down to 7.5-tonners and light vans, whereas the mains-trearn business of Kenning is cars and light vans — 7.5-tonners.being at the heavy end of its market.

Ryder's premises at Green Lane, just off the A4, are obviously designed to cater for the full range of commercial vehicles. The workshops and offices are modern and spacious and have an air of efficiency about them.

I was also impressed by the than Kenning, nothing about occupation or insurance company for example, though of course they took a look at my driving licence.

Although I again said I'd driven a lorry before, this time they took a few minutes to explain the controls of the Bedford TK, paying particular attention to air brakes, the park brake and the tachograph.

Surely this should be standard procedure for all rental corn )anies when there are so many iifferences between a 7.5-to rifler ind a private car.

Ryder's man walked round the Thiele, checking the body conlition against a check sheet. He lidn't invite me to walk round vith him but clearly he did his pb properly as when I returned ne Bedford there was no quib4e about the scratches down no side of the body — for which was not responsible.

The deposit required by Ryder /as £70 for the minimum rental eriod of 24 hours. Collision damage waiver was £6.30 and personal accident insurance 70p. Goods in transit insurance was not recommended "unless I was carrying high-value goods".

Unlike Kenning's vehicle there was a clearly marked vehicle height warning in the TK cab, and the box body provided more evidence of Ryder's experience in the commercial vehicle industry. Evidently it was specified to give maximum durability with a sturdy hardwood plank floor, deep plywood kickstrips on the van walls and a wide slat Whiting door at the rear.

And the interior light was working on the .three-year-c Bedford, which says a lot for t component's durability or er's inspection system, or both The bill for the day's h totalled £41.86 including v and I was refunded the I mainder of the deposit in cas The 45 miles I clocked up we charged at 7.5p per mile and ti cost of the 2.6 gallons of dies used was £4.11 plus vat. It wou seem that I was charged v twice on the diesel because tl cost per gallon before vat w. added on the invoice was £1.5 continued over&

but at least the mpg figur worked out to a reasonable 17.3 Ryder's basic daily rental rat exclusive of vat, is £22 for a 7.

tonner. Tim Blakernor Hertz A few days before the vehicl was required, a phone call to th nearest of the four Hert branches secured an 8.30 colle tion. I arrived at Armadale Roa Feltharn, almost an hour late t find ample room for custome parking.

The hiring agreement for was more along the lines a. Ryder and not as involved a! Kenning.

Rental for a threeto four-tor payload boxvan for one day that is 24 hours from the time a the hire — is E23, with a sur charge of 9.5p a mile. A furthe charge of £6 is made to provido indemnity against collisior damage, and personal acciden insurance was suggested at i cost of El.

I had no intention of carryini goods, so by-passed the good in transit cover, which wouli have cost £1 per E1,000 worth a goods. Hertz required £100 deposit fore the vehicle could be drin away. If you want to pay by eque this has to be done at ast five working days in adnce of the rental date. Credit rds are accepted, but only for e hire of vehicles up to and cluding 35-cwt vans.

I might, however, have been lowed to pay by cheque up to e limit of my banker's card ith the balance in cash, but uld not have used a companysued cheque as it wouldn't ave the backing of that facility. Did I need a vehicle equipped ith a tail lift I was asked. Though the cost was minimal, I declined. I had driven a Ford DSeries 7.5-tonner before, and was I familiar with the controls? No one, it seemed, wanted to know if I was operating the vehicle commercially, or whether I was just moving granny's furniture.

They didn't inspect the vehicle, but I took the precaution of noting the more obvious body defects. The cab hadn't been cleaned after the previous hire, but the engine fired on the first turn of the key, and Hertz had me on my way into the late-morning rush-hour traffic in less than 15 minutes after my arrival.

The D-Series performed well enough, but the Ford hadn't been kept up to scratch. In heavy rain, water seeped in through the front panel and soaked the rubber floor mat, and the re mains of the previous load still festered in the load compartment.

After inspection, I returned the D-Series after registering a total of 68km (42 miles) for which the charge was £3.99. The fuel used to top up the tank (described as a refuelling service) cost £4.71 and incurred a further 70p vat.

The total charge made for the day's hire was £44.34, with a balance due of £55.66. Despite strong objections this was paid by cheque. After consulting with the manager, the receptionist told me: "It's company policy."

As a parting gesture I advised the receptionist of a worn front tyre on the Ford but noticed that it had not been changed when, by chance, I happened to see it. on the road the following afternoon. branches, and the Commerce Road, Brentford, branch looked as likely a candidate as any for our survey.

I booked the vehicle in advance, and the formalities followed a similar pattern to that of Hertz. But this time I had to tell them my date of birth — could it be I looked younger or (perish the thought) older than I am?

After discussing the merits of irious types of insurance iver, I paid the £100 cash de51t, was given a receipt, and en ushered to the vehicle, irked in the yard outside. The ceptionist made a note of the sible defects, jumped up into e driving seat, explained the introls and started the engine. He checked the oil, water and el levels and apologised for e hole in the facia. I should we had a radio but someone id beaten me to it.

I took the precaution of checkgout the brakes before leaving e yard. This D-Series squealed udly but quietened down as

e linings and drums warmed p and gave a degree of -ogression.

A footnote of the rental agreeent conditions warns that, irspective of insurance, cover of I overhead damage is the res)nsibility of the customer; but indication of height was yen either verbally or printed side the cab.

Though similar to the D-Series red from Hertz, this one had a )ur-speed gearbox (the previous vehicle had five) and so motorway driving was restricted to 55mph maximum and engine noise was very obtrusive.

Neither the cab nor the box body had been cleaned since its previous use, and entry to the rear was made more difficult, for in the absence of an underrun bumper there was no other foothold.

The misalignment of the steering wheel by 90° obstructed the instrumentation when driving straight, and both Fords shared seats which tipped in towards the centre of the cab. A prolonged session in the driving seat would add to the numbers of backache sufferers.

On my return, the account was dealt with without any delay. An allowance of ten per cent was given on the daily rental charge of £27 and the mileage charge of £3.84 at 6p per kilometre for 64km (40 miles). The cost of damage waiver was £6, and personal accident cover would have been another 50p. No charge was made for fuel, as only a small distance was involved. Wincanton Truck Rental We had hoped to include an Avis vehicle in our survey but this was not to be, in spite of determined efforts. To start with we called the company's headquarters at Hayes to ask for the depot nearest to Feltham. Park Royal, they said, and we duly booked a 7.5-tonner to be collected some time after 8am.

On the day itself we were delayed and phoned to let Avis know. No problem, they said, the vehicle would still be available at our revised time of arrival at 11,30am. But whoever made those soothing noises didn't tell his colleagues and when we arrived at Avis — no vehicle. "You did leave it rather late to tell us," they said.

To be fair-rift was suggested that a vehicle could be brought up from another depot, but this

was uncertain and time wa against us. But the unkindest ct of all was to discover that ther was in fact a depot much near( to Feltham. Could they not pr( vide us with a vehicle for th following day?

Dennis (by this time we wer on first name terms), the ot vioUsly harassed Avis receptior 1st at Park Royal, called throug but couldn't get a positive an wer. Yes, they were expectin one back that afternoon, but was by no means certain. A tempts to reach the hirer ha failed. If we would ring the, direct after 3.30pm they woul be able to give us an answer.

We did, but still no posithi answer. Please call back later i the afternoon. We did but wei told the vehicle still hadn't bee returned and there was HO hope of that happening either.

Back to Avis at Park Royal wh had said they would "definitely have a vehicle for the Thursda morning if the other branc could not supply. "We won

ye one ready for you first ing, but if you come up at .30 we'll make sure it's here." Back,to Park Royal next orni'ng and a very distressed snnis who owned up that he'd )en "let down". But, said Dens, he had got us a vehicle. It asn't in the Avis fleet — benging to Wincanton Vehicle mtals on the Western Avenue. Wincanton was very helpful id had a much more respecta

e ratio of receptionists to cusmers. A deposit of £75 was ken and I took my copy of the ireement. It had no outgoing ileage marked, so if I hadn't lacked it I could have been in mble.

The receptionist asked if I was nversant with "these vans" — Bedford TK860 — then showed e the instrumentation. But he dn't tell me what height the )x was — nor was it marked in e vehicle anywhere. This emed a serious omission — ter all, I could have been somele who had just passed my test id had never driven a cv bere. Neither did they tell me about the tachograph or ask if I knew how it operated.

The TK started up readily enough — it had just come in from a previous hire and was checked over in record time. The TK is old-fashioned in design and this one, a T-registered model, was typical of the marque.

It was noisy, and the gearchange heavy and cumbersome to use; but for a hire vehicle it was reasonably acceptable. Forward vision was appalling, but this is a design problem rather than a fault of my particular vehicle.

The TK drove well enough and had a reasonable amount cr power and its four-speed gear box gave a top speed of just un. der 60mph which it was able tc hold on the motorway. But the heater controls, which as well as being unmarked, couldn't be turned on to cold; the self. cancelling indicators didn't; anc the seat adjuster for up anc down movement had no effect.

Overall, though, the TK was ir reasonable condition and was probably representative of the Wincanton fleet. This company, which has a limited number 431 depots, mostly in Southern England, seems — to use a wellknown phrase — to be trying harder.

I wasn't impressed at the delay in computing the bill at the end of the hire, but at £25 a day (plus 6p per kilometre) it was reasonably priced, though vat was added to the total.

Steve Gray The experts' verdict The condition — both mechanical and electrical — of the hired vehicles was checked by Alex Johnson, an inspector with the Freight Transport Association. The engineering services department of the ETA is justly known for the thoroughness of its vehicle inspec ions which are used by iperators and manufacturers like.

When we carried out our exerise with the rental companies ome years back, the condition if the various vehicles was apialling. The situation has im'roved, though, as I shall exlain, there were still enough lefects identified to prevent any omplacency on the part of the ental companies. Along with the other FTA inspectors, Alex Johnson prefers not to use a check-list system as this would be too automatic an exercise, and defects might be overlooked simply because the particular category didn't appear on the list. So, the inspector works clockwise round the vehicle starting with the cab before going underneath the chassis.

On the FTA reports, a code is used for comments. For example, G is a defect which would rate a GV9 and R is where a repair or rectification is required even though this would not necessarily incur the immediate wrath of the Man from the Ministry.

The 00710 Ford from Hertz had covered 18,292km (11,366 miles) according to the tachograph. As far as first impressions were concerned, the paint and bodywork were clean and tidy with the exception of some paint deterioration around the front bumper and some bodywork abrasion.

The Hertz vehicle clocked up two GV9 defects due to a dim stop light and loose rivets on the cross-member adjacent to the offside rear spring anchor. There were a number of R defects, including excessive free play in the wheel bearings and undue end float at the steering box sector shaft.

An excessive amount of oil and condensation was drained from the air tanks of this vehicle — a defect which was to become familiar over the next couple of days.

Though overall the tyre condition was satisfactory the offside front tyre was feathered on the inner shoulder and was v close indeed to the legal limit. Alex Johnson put it in his repol "Advise check made on steer geometry and prompt replac ment of the tyre."

The Terrier hired from Ke fling had evidently been sf viced recently, but a few obviol items had still been missed. really is inexcusable for a vehic to come out of the service b, with the fuel sediment bowl h. full of water.

There were four G defec found on the Kenning vehic There was a deep and very o vious cut in the tread of the nei side front tyre which was rig through to the cords. The pro shaft centre flange was not tic to the first propshaft and t light switches were loose re tive to the steering colurr which meant intermittent opel tion of the head/side lights asi stalk moved about.

The Terrier didn't look panic ly reassuring with wide areas corrosion on the front of the b and a very crude repair job the floor of the body which it asked for somebody to trip er it during loading.

Most vehicles have a recomHided kingpin float of around to 20 thou, but the Leyland lit is as high as 60 thou. So hough the Kenning Terrier d what appeared to be excesv e movement, Alex anounced it to be within the inufacturer's tolerance.

The TK860 Bedford hired from der was clean and tidy and -tainly the best as far as iniI impression went. Once sin, however, as soon as we iked closer, irritating faults were discovered. The most serious here was an air leak at the relay valve adjacent to the starter motor which obviously qualified it for a G on the FTA report sheet.

The nearside kingpin thrust was worn, again a GV9 item, but in general the Ryder chassis condition was good. The interior of the bodywork was less impressive, though, showing the hard use to which a rental vehicle is subjected.

The D0710 Ford from BRS won the prize of being the worst of the lot, with no less than nine GV9 defects. Though with the other vehicles Alex carried out braking tests using a Tapley meter (torrential rain permitting) he ulhderstandably declined with the BRS Ford.

The nearside track rod end was loose relative to the clamp fixing and at the rear the park brake cable was chafing on the brake pipe. The suspension didn't impress Alex, as the Ubolts were loose at both ends of the chassis.

The BRS vehicle was another which had not benefited from regular air tank drainage, as a couple of plastic cups of sludge were drained from the inner air tank.

In his report, Alex Johnson said that the "GV9 items make for unsatisfactory vehicle conditions". The reason for a Wincanton vehicle replacing one from Avis is recounted elsewhere, though it did occur to us that perhaps Avis had got wind of the exercise and passed the buck over to Wincanton!

The vehicle in question was a TK860 with Buckstone's bodywork and, again, a reasonably tidy vehicle was marred by several GV9 faults. In this case there was an air leak at the pipe union to the servo adjacent to the starter motor and the steering box fibre coupling disc was split.

It was significant that many of the defects identified throughout the exercise by Alex Johnson were the obvious ones which

should have been picked up a. the last service. Faults like a fue filter bowl full of sludge anc loose U-bolts are inexcusable al they can be seen so easily.

The same applies to thE amount of sludge collected from the air tanks, though in all fairness this is something which can accumulate very quickly. Then again, most rental companies claim that their vehicles are checked daily.

The full list of defects can be seen in the accompanying panels and it is a sobering thought that the BRS vehicle the worst of this batch would have been one of the best if it had been part of our original test way back in 1975.

There is definitely no room for complacency in the vehicle rental workshops. Graham Montgomeric