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Rental
Page 40
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If you want to be sure of having the extra trucks and trailers you need in the run-up to Christmas. book them early, advises John Murray, sales director at trailer rental specialist TIP If you've only just started to work out your requirements, then you're probably too late.
"We were talking to some clients about bookings as far back as June," he says. TIP will always try to help if it can, he stresses, but at a time of shortage pm is given to operators who are loyal clients all the year round.
A vague conversation about what you might want that took place last August does not constitute a formal booking he adds. That might seem obvious, but a surprising number of hauliers seem to think it does.
"So 12 months ago we introduced a simple one-page agreement that guarantees availability," Murray explains.
Like TIP, truck rental fleet BRS is coping with a big surge In demand as Christmas gets nearer, with no indication so far that it's being affected by economic and political uncertainty. Marketing manager Roger Clarke says: "The High Street remains buoyant, and there's a lot of anticipation among retailers that if they can get stock into
the shops then it will sell."