3ilflex trims down Id plan fight back
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
LEX is countering the effects of the recession by closing its lingham, Glasgow and Dunstable trailer rental depots, reports E RUTHERFORD.
!spite this, the company is iasing the size of its UK ?r fleet and is also offering ced rental rates.
concentrating activities on vvo remaining depots — at leet and Manchester — cusars will get improved genefficiency and service. Be
en and ten ndancies will be made be of the three depot clos, leaving a staff of about 20. Gilflex spokesman told CM the present recession makes .ar rental increasingly attrac
tive, and said that more operators now recognise the economic benefits of flexible rental arrangements.
Lowering rates will recommend rental to many more operators says the company, and adding to the trailer fleet will ensure availability of equipment.
Though the Birmingham, Glasgow and Dunstable depots will definitely be closing, the spokesman said: "We may not disappear from these areas", and hinted that the company has plans for the future.
Another trailer rental company, Rentco, is selling off about 100 of its older trailers out of its fleet of 3,000. It says there is "no point in keeping a massive number of outdated trailers", but stressed that it does not go out of its way to dispose of older models in its fleet.
Hertz, which entered the lorry rental and leasing industry just over a year ago, is still looking to become market leader by 1985 and says that that goal is still feasible.
The company's first 12 months have not been as profitable as expected and it is now gearing its expansion plans to the pace of anticipated econo mic recovery in the UK.
The company now has four locations in England exclusively dealing with lorry rental and leasing — at Manchester, Felthem, Sheffield and Birmingham. Plans for a North London terminal have been shelved.
Despite economic problems facing the rest of Europe, Hertz says it is optimistic about the market in France and Switzerland.