Fleets like flexirental. According to a recent survey, some 90% of fleets are using rental as part of their fleet management toolkit.
This might range from a three month rental for employees on a probation period, for seasonal workers, and up to two years for contractors.
The survey, carried out in Q4 of 2021 by 360 Degree Media Group, questioned 200 respondents on their use of rental and found that 90% of fleets were using rental in some form.
The make up of the respondents was 70/30 in favour of SME fleets over larger corporates.
So why is flexible rental so popular?
Given the recent uncertainty of the economy, having cars and vans available to rent quickly provides fleets with a huge amount of flexibility and the ability to react to market changes at pace.
A further benefit is the ability to choose vehicles that meet current Clean Air Zone requirements, particularly for delivery fleets that require urban access with the cleanest vehicles.
It also enables company directors to respond to growth patterns without long-term financial commitments while the economic outlook remains uncertain.
“Our rental fleet has grown enormously over the last 12 months,” explains CBVC Fleet Management Managing Director, Mike Manners.
“We realised that companies were requiring a more fluid approach to vehicle acquisition as they attempted to grow their business through lockdowns against a background of volatile demand. What was key was quick access to vehicles when they required them, a rental agreement that allowed them a high degree of flexibility if they suddenly wanted to unwind business in the face of changing demand, or the ability to upfleet swiftly when growth required.
“So we have been scaling up our access to a wide variety of rental vehicles to secure the correct vehicles to meet this demand.”
We have rental van availability right now
However, like the leasing market, access to new vehicles has been severely limited thanks to the scarcity of semiconductors impacting on vehicle maker production.
However, CBVC has managed to secure some new van availability – a scarce resource at the moment – for those businesses needing additional capacity to meet their business requirements.
“Vans have been particularly difficult to find at times,” admits Mike, “but we’ve now secured access to a new tranche that will happily fulfill the current demand we’re seeing, along with a greater number of electric and plug-in electric cars.”
Mike also adds that using properly maintained and presented rental vehicles – rather than relying on employees’ own private vehicles – offers employers the correct level of duty of care provision.
If you would like to know more about our vehicle rental service – and secure the latest rental vans to come on our fleet – please call CBVC Vehicle Management on 01283 351200.
