• The workshop that can deal with the demands of
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maintaining a rental fleet must be better organised and run than almost any other kind of repair shop. An unplanned vehicle off the road means that business goes elsewhere.
Good planning is at the heart of any successful system, but nowhere more so than in supporting a rental fleet. Whether this is done by a head office computer system or a simple card index in the main office is immaterial. Only the number of vehicles in the fleet will determine the most efficient system.
By their very nature rental vehicle mileages are difficult to predict, yet longterm hirers hate having a vehicle taken away for service — even if they are given an instant replacement. So knowing just when a vehicle is due and, more important, when it is overdue, is crucial.
The work that a rental vehicle does is generally accepted to be the toughest job of all, and this is especially true of the smaller non-HGV vehicles which are frequently in the hands of drivers with little skill or experience. Some rental companies used to argue for — and carry out — shorter service intervals for these vehicles, but this is now rare.
What is needed is a thorough inspection every time that a vehicle comes back in through the gate. Time spent at this can play huge dividends in cutting down on unscheduled work, but it is expensive in manpower. The average rental fleet workshop needs to have more fitters per vehicle supported than could ever be justified in conventional haulage.
Depending on the mix of vehicles in the fleet, a ratio of perhaps one fitter for every five vehicles on strength would not be too lavish. This compares with the one fitter for 10 or even 20 vehicles that is commonplace in many fleets. You will need them all, and remember when doing your budget that a lot of work will need to be done in those "unsocial hours", which are generally the only time you can get hold of the vehicles.
Compared to other workshops, a rental fleet workshop will also need to be larger both inside and out, as the number of vehicle movements are usually greater. The crowded rental yard, where the vehicle that needs servicing is at the back and needs several others to be moved to get at it, is wasting time and money.
Get an option to extend
Land may cost a lot, but it is still a good investment for your capital, and as the rental sector is still growing, it is best bought now rather than later. If you rent your premises and land, try to get an option to extend. Experience in this market suggests that you work out what space you might need and double it . . .
The same applies to the workshop equipment you need. Space in a rental workshop is at a premium, again because of the high number of vehicle movements. Choose equipment that is economical in the space it takes up, such as the mobile post lifts instead of a fixed lift. Go for methods of testing alignment that are quick and simple, and that can if necessary be done outside.
There is one other factor that marks out the rental workshop for special attenEon — customers. A rental customer can be put off very easily by seeing scruffy, badly planned and chaotic workshop areas. You are as a rental company "on show" for every customer and that must include the workshop, and it is almost impossible to hide the workshop, unless you go for a completely split site, which is usually an inefficient option in any case.
Keep the vehicles scrupulously clean inside and out. They get treated better that way, and the spin-off is that they are easier to work on as well. Buy a good washing plant, make sure that operators are skilled in using it and don't wait until it falls apart before replacing it.
At opposite ends of the rental market are Ryder Truck rentals, the big intenia tional concern with a strong corporate image, and Hillview Garage, a small, local non-HGV concern based on a Ford dealership. Both are good examples of the best in rental. Neither is cheap, but they get a lot of repeat business, and one of the reasons is that the premises look wellordered and under control, and the vehicles are well prepared and maintained.
These two businesses could hardly be more different in scope, yet they have both followed the same sound principles, and both could now probably do with a bit more space inside the workshop and for parking.
At Ryder's Guildford branch, the main snag is the entrance to the depot, at least for the larger vehicles. Getting an artic and trailer in is a skilled task and often needs two men on the ground as well as the driver. The entrance itself is wide, but the road that it is on is narrow, thus restricting the turn area.
Inside, the workshop has plenty of height and relatively good lighting. Lift is provided by a fixed eight-tonne capacity Bradbury model, but this is supplemented by four mobile posts which are much more flexible. These are Concept Scot Lift models, now also owned by Bradbury and they have, according to the staff, proved a great success, especially with the eight by fours that won't fit on anything else.
Here there are 11 fitters plus a supervisor supporting about 70 vehicles on the rental fleet. Every vehicle gets a 10-point safety check each time it comes in, and servicing date records are maintained on computer by the district office. The branch gets a printout which shows vehicles are coming due in the next fortnight — and which are overdue, on distance perhaps.
Prodigious lift capacity A small yet well used and appreciated piece of equipment in this workshop is the Viking 20-tonne air-powered jack. It takes up far less space than a conventional hydraulic trolley jack, yet has a prodigious lift capacity. It is raised into position on the axle by its own hydraulic pump, and then uses a standard air line connection to the lift. Simple, fast, and effective, and no handle to fall over either.
Outside, the room for parking is fight. Access to the fuel pump is kept clear and there is always a bay free for washing, done at present with a rather elderly looking Concorde from Applied Chemicals. In a busy yard like this there is always someone reversing so you hear a lot of bleeping. Fortunately, the STE bleepers are wired into the sidelights so that they don't work after dark and annoy the nearby residents.
Clean vehicles are one thing, but clean work clothes are just as important. This Ryder branch uses Spring Grove on contract who replace soiled overalls with clean ones on a regular basis. Expendable stores are contracted via Electra Lamps, a sensible system which prevents wasting money on low value but high throughput items.
A mobile workshop vehicle is kitted out to be able to do a wide range of urgent repairs on site. It is an impressive vehi cle, designed by the service manager. It has its own 240-volt generator, Honda en gined Clarke Air air supply, mini-welding kit, a Sealy MEG welder and portable work bench made by JAS Engineering of Ashton Under Lyne. The supply of all this mobile equipment was handled by Gates of Bristol.
Sharing workshop space At Hiliview Garage, in Billingshurst in West Sussex, the commercial vehicles have to share workshop space with the cars. Generally this means that only one van or truck can come in at a time. Scheduling services for the 12-strong van and truck fleet is done by a simple card index system, but costs go onto the computer which has control limits to show up the rogues.
The main lift facility is provided by a Tecalemit Twintec two-tonne model, underneath which is fitted a home-made but very effective oil-drain collector bowl. This has a pipe from it leading directly outside to the waste oil tank. No mess, less risk and very much quicker.
There are no pits here, but because the workshop was built on a slope, and thus has two different floor levels, it has been possible to have an unusual split-level ramp. You drive on to the top level and work from underneath on the lower level. A good use of an otherwise disadvantageous situation, and no running costs either.
There are eight fitters in this workshop supporting a total of 50 vehicles including all the cars. Vehicle preparation and cleaning is done outside, mainly on a separate site on the other side of the road. Here there is a car wash, which will take the small Transits. Larger vehicles are washed via a recent model Karcher hot/ cold washer which has apparently given no trouble at all — which is more than can be said for some older washers of almost any make.
Hillview is locally well known for the especially high standard of its rental fleet. Sparkling clean inside and out, often with tyres blacked too, may seem a needless extravagance to some, but it really does work in encouraging reasonable care in use.
The vehicles when parked up on site always look in good order and are an effective advertisement for the passing potential customer to see. The clean-up team is based in that most famous of temporary buildings, a Portakabin. They make constant use of a 1,400 Watt Nilfisk industrial vacuum cleaner.