We’re expanding!

Ross Francis

We’re expanding!

No, we haven’t been eating too many Easter Eggs, we’re delighted to report that we’ve won two new and very large commercial contracts, both due to start in May.

One of these contracts will mean that vehicles will need to be delivered, mostly to locations in Norfolk and Suffolk but also to Kent.

We’ll be acting as sub-contractors for two large vehicle supply companies, Nexus and Assured Vehicle Rental.

So not only are we expanding our fleet and have bought some new KIA CEED 1.6 estate cars, which can be used for multiple purposes, but we’ve also taken on an extra person in the office to cope with the extra admin.

In addition, we’ve taken on five casual drivers and we are looking to recruit more, so if you or anyone you know can help please do get in touch.

Please also get in touch if you’re a mechanic looking for a new position. We service and maintain all our cars on site, so we employ our own mechanics and as the business expands we need more.

We’re sometimes asked whether private rental customers can specify the size and type of car they want. The answer is yes you can.

The vast majority of people rent when their own car is at the garage being fixed and these tend to be the smaller vehicles of the Fiesta and Peugeot type. However, if we don’t have one available when you need it we may have to supply something a bit bigger. There’s no additional charge for this so there’s no need to worry.

If demand increases as we expect we will also be looking to add to our stock of private rental cars over the coming months.

That’s it for this month – and it’s all good news!

Ours Customers’ Data is Secure

Ross Francis

Reassurance that our customers’ data is secure

As many of you will know, the laws protecting customers’ identity and personal details are being changed and strengthened and businesses must ensure that they are following the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) that come into force in May this year.

While the emphasis has been mainly on online records, the regulations also apply to paper-based records.

At Robertsons, we have computer-based recording systems that are supplied by a specialist. In our case the information is stored on our supplier’s servers, not on our own computers. However, we have ensured that all our computers are protected and regularly updated.

Our suppliers, Pro Hire, run a specialised rental company data programme and have confirmed that they have spent £100,000 on ensuring they are GDPR compliant.

We, and they, both have appointed data operations managers to be responsible for both security and regular updates of stored data.

At Robertsons, we also have to keep paperwork for three years for insurance purposes and customers sign agreements that include their personal details plus a copy of the transaction, again with details of the credit or debit card used.

All our paper records are stored in a locked, reinforced cabinet to which only a small number of named individuals are keyholders. We also keep a list of what all the folders storing this paperwork contain.

We hope this reassures our customers that we are doing everything possible to be GDPR compliant and to ensure their personal information is kept securely.

Blog Data Data Protection GDPR Secure

How to stay healthy on the road

Ross Francis

Helping drivers to stay healthy while on the road

Many of our vehicles are rented out for work but whether for work or leisure if you are planning a lot of long-distance or daily driving and you have to keep to a timetable, it can play havoc with your health.

However, there are ways of ensuring your health doesn’t suffer and, more importantly, that you are fit to drive since research has shown that thousands of accidents every year are caused by driver fatigue.

We have some tips for you:

Eat healthy

It is tempting and easy when you have to be on the road to pop into the nearest fast food outlet and either minimise the time it takes to eat it or, worse still, eat it while on the road. If you take the time to prepare some healthier snacks before you set off you and your body will benefit and you will still be able to meet your schedule.

Avoid caffeine

You may be tempted to resort to the quick stimulus of caffeine in tea and coffee, but that may well disguise how fatigued you really are and, as we have mentioned, driving while fatigued can be a killer. You may be surprised to learn that drinking plenty of water can re-energise you and prevent recurring fatigue.

Take a break

There is no substitute for a short stop and some fresh air (even when it’s raining), although obviously not by the side of the motorway! It can battle fatigue and revitalise your brain.

Pay attention to posture

On the subject of revitalising your brain, when you’re driving and have been on the road for some time you may have a tendency to slump in your seat. There is some evidence that slumping and slouching can affect your mood and improving posture can boost both mood and energy levels.

The simple message is, pay attention to your health when you are driving and stay safe.

Blog Driving Tips Stay Healthy Vehicle Hire

Happy New Year

Ross Francis

Happy New Year

We hope the New Year has started as well for you as it has here at Robertsons

We have welcomed a new manager at head office and have two potential new contracts.

As car sales have been reducing our car rentals have been increasing to the point where we are considering expanding our fleet.

More news on developments next month

Ross Francis

Blog Developments Happy New Year Robertsons Vehicle Hire

Full means Full

Ross Francis

Full means full when returning a rented vehicle

It is stated in our rental agreement that vehicles will be supplied with a full tank and must be returned that way.

Most of our customers try to make sure that their rented vehicle is returned with a full tank of fuel, but sometimes they miscalculate.

There can be several reasons for this.

The first is, and this applies to diesel, when filling a tank, the liquid foams, in the same way as pouring a beer, a fizzy drink or champagne does. So, the pump will click as full before it actually is. The secret is to wait for the foam to settle, then continue to add fuel.

The second is that customers can miscalculate the amount of fuel a vehicle will consume on what may seem a relatively short journey.

All our vehicles should be returned to the depot where they were hired, so, for example, if a customer has been on a long journey and is, they think, fairly close to their destination, they may pull into a services station at, say, Ipswich to fill up. However, they are then surprised to discover how much fuel the vehicle has consumed by the time they reach our Colchester depot. It can be as much as 3.2 litres.

Robertsons’ depots have their own fuel pumps, so a top up is easy to do and waiting until arrival at the depot will avoid these problems.

Customers will not be overcharged, we make very little profit on the fuel. We do, however, understand that perhaps the prices at the pumps elsewhere, particularly at superstore petrol stations, are highly competitive and there is the added incentive that people can earn bonus points on their loyalty cards, which can be particularly useful at certain times of the year.

We do our best to ensure we have a good relationship with our customers and hope this advice will help avoid that niggling, and fairly common, disagreements that arises at a vehicle rental return.

Watch out for our December blog when we will have news of a special Christmas offer.

Ross Francis

Blog Fuel Vehicle Hire

Are you ready for winter driving conditions?

Ross Francis

Are you ready for winter driving conditions?

We have been pretty lucky for the last few winters, which have been fairly mild with little or no snow, at least in East Anglia.

This means that many of us will have little experience of driving in really wintry conditions, so we have a few tips for you.

Using chains or special winter tyres is rare in this country as they are generally not needed, but there are still hazards drivers need to be aware of and know how to handle.

The main winter hazards are high winds, driving rain, fog and sometimes snow.

Driving in rain and fog

In both cases, the road surface is likely to be more slippery and visibility will become more difficult so the first piece of advice is to drive slowly, steady and smoothly.

Remember, if there has been a dry spell, oil deposits on the roads may increase the risk of skids and, in rain, tyres losing grip so that the vehicle aquaplanes.

You should also ensure that you leave extra room between your car and the vehicle ahead, particularly on motorways. In treacherous conditions, where visibility is reduced by spray, it is better to decelerate rather than use your brakes.

If you are renting a vehicle for a long-distance drive in such conditions, you may need to use windscreen wipers and the screen washer to clear the windscreen more frequently, so make sure the water is regularly topped up.

Another tip for driving in fog is to use dipped headlights rather than main beam, which can make it harder to see ahead.

Winter emergency kit

A blanket, drinking water, warm coat and a torch, plus a shovel in case of snow drifts should be part of the emergency kit if you get stuck somewhere, and make sure to keep your mobile phone topped up.

Headlights

The Highway Code’s Rule 226 states that you must use your headlights if visibility is seriously reduced. A good rule of thumb is that this is generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet).

Also, if the car is fitted with rear or front fog lights and you have used them in fog, you must switch them off once you are clear of the fog.

Driving in wintry conditions is really about using common sense and adjusting your driving, not taking risks.

Ross Francis

Blog Driving Fog Rain Winter

The Future of Vehicle Renting

Ross Francis

The Future of Vehicle Renting

The future of vehicle renting in an all-electric era

It is difficult to argue against the benefits for the climate and reducing pollution of a wholesale change to electric vehicles.

Already, car maker Volvo has announced that all its new cars launched from 2019 will be partially or wholly battery-powered.

Countries, too, have been quick to declare deadlines for all vehicles to be fully electric. The UK and France have set a deadline of 2040 for ending sales of petrol and diesel engines. In India, the hoped-for deadline is 2030 and in Norway it is 2025.

Austria, China, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Korea and Spain have also set official target dates.

What needs to happen to turn aspiration into reality?

Not everyone wants to own a car, so it is likely that there will still be a demand for rented vehicles.

But regardless of whether people own or rent vehicles there will need to be huge changes to the infrastructure that will be needed to support electric cars and vans.

Clearly, there will need to be a network of public charging stations and the existing network of fuel stations could be re-configured. Already there are charging points in some spaces in town centre car parking facilities.

Even charging a vehicle at home overnight is not simply a case of plugging a cable into an ordinary household socket.

One of the main issues with electric vehicle battery technology is the length of time re-charging can take, although this may improve in time.

There are currently three levels of charging:

Slow – which requires a type 1 connection and can take up to eight hours

Fast – which requires a type 2 connection and offers a charging time of three to four hours

Rapid – can be as little as 30 minutes but chargers and cables are not universal.

It is likely that motorists on the move will need the rapid charge facility and motor manufacturers will have to collaborate to provide a universal cable and connection system. It would not be realistic for converted petrol/diesel filling stations to offer anything other than Rapid charging.

Installing the infrastructure is likely to be costly and this is likely to affect the vehicle rental business too.

Among the questions rental companies will need to consider are the costs and the charging options they will adopt. Again, it would make sense for them to go for the Rapid charging model. Is there likely to be any Government help towards the conversion costs?

In addition, they will need to consider if they will need extra space in their yards to accommodate the number of vehicles they will need to rent out for the business to be profitable.

Then, there is the issue of supplying the charging cables with the rental vehicle – and ensuring they are returned!

Given all these issues, the planning and preparation that will be needed, a deadline of 2040 is really not a long way ahead.

Blog Vehicle Renting

How insurance works on a Robertsons rental vehicle

Ross Francis

Rental Vehicle Insurance and Claims

Given that there has been some adverse publicity about customers being overcharged on insurance and damage repair particularly by rental companies with a European connection we thought our customers would like to know exactly how we handle the whole issue.

We have a damage report for every vehicle, detailing its general state of repair. When a customer comes in to rent a vehicle we give them a copy of that report and ask them to also walk around the vehicle themselves and tell us if they spot anything not already listed in the report.

Vehicles are often returned out of hours at the end of rental periods, and the keys posted through our letterbox, so if we find additional damage on a returned vehicle our first action is to speak to the customer about it.

We insure all our vehicles but customers can choose the level of excess they are willing to pay. The minimum level is £200 and the highest is £750. Customers can pay a little extra on the rental if they wish to reduce the level of excess payment.

Obviously if there has been a collision, we would expect our customer to exchange insurer details in the same way as if they owned the car, and to get the contact details of any other party involved in the collision.

If the car has been in a collision, or sustained other damage, during the rental period customers are asked to fill in an accident form, which we then send to our insurers.

If the customer is considered not to have been at fault for the damage the excess payment deposit is returned to them by our insurers.

We take care of any damage repairs. We don’t have “preferred suppliers” who have to pay for the privilege. We prefer to get estimates from local companies that we know and trust and we then supply them to our fleet insurers.

Our system is therefore as cost-effective as possible for our customers and we have confidence that repairs are carried out by trusted, local suppliers who we know will do a good job at a reasonable price.

Blog Rental Vehicle Vehicle Insurance

Book ahead for rentals

Ross Francis

When you need to book ahead for a rental

While vehicle rental for our business account customers is fairly consistent throughout the year, we do experience peak time in demand for vehicle hire from the general public.

The months from March to September see the heaviest demand and there are two main reasons for this.

Firstly, people are most likely to move house from March onwards, generally hoping to complete the process before September and the start of the new school year. Very few people want to move home just before Christmas if they can avoid it!

This means that the demand for van hire is at its peak during the summer months as more people are choosing to organise their own moves. Usually, when people are buying a home completion day, when the moneys are released, is also the moving day, and often people have little leeway.

It’s therefore a good idea, if your move is tied to a specific date, or is at the peak time of year to book at least a week, or better, two weeks ahead.

Secondly, summer is the time for school and club trips, whether they are for a day or longer, and this means higher demand for mini-buses.

Then, of course, once the school term has ended, there are the family days out, which means higher demand for rental cars or people carriers.

Again, it helps us to meet your requirements if you can give us a week or two’s notice for booking a vehicle during the peak times of year.

Over time, we have noticed the demand for different types of vehicles has been changing. For example, with changes to the standard driving licence, which no longer includes mini buses, we have seen a decline in demand from the general public for these, but at the same time an increase in demand for people carriers.

This means that as a company, we have to keep an eye on the trends and adjust our fleet accordingly. But we have never let a customer down. We have branches throughout Suffolk and Essex so we can move a vehicle from one branch to another where it is needed.

Failing that, if we are completely fully booked, our MD will go to an auction and buy another vehicle!

Blog Renting Vehicle

Renting a vehicle – What are the formalities?

Ross Francis

What are the formalities when you are renting a vehicle?

Depending on whether you are renting as a private individual or as a business, there are several formalities to complete before you collect your vehicle.

Unless the vehicle is going to be used outside the UK, there are no restrictions on mileage. If you do want to take a vehicle abroad you will need our permission.

Business

For general day to day use business people are always on our insurance, although local authorities and businesses can also use their own insurance.

If a business is using its own cover, we would need to see a copy of the insurance certificate. Once a vehicle is assigned to the company, they would need to inform their insurer of its registration number.

While there are no specific restrictions on use, we do ask the purpose for which the hirer will be using the vehicle. This is particularly the case for vans and trucks. We would not supply a brand new vehicle if a business was going to use it to transport builders’ rubble for example.

We expect our business customers to check their drivers’ licence details with the DVLA.

Personal rent

Before we agree to rent a vehicle to a private user we do a licence check with the DVLA on the customer’s behalf. It is important because it can affect the insurance cover.

Often people don’t know how to do it or do not have the time, so we do it in-house as it can be a frustrating and lengthy process. It can be difficult to get onto the DVLA website, which can be down for several days for maintenance from time to time. Occasionally using the website for no obvious reason there is no trace of a particular licence.

If that happens we will ask the customer to bring their licence into the office and then try the alternative checking method of telephoning the DVLA. This has its own problems when we have to wait in a queue – an expensive option at 95p per minute! – but not a cost we pass on to our customers.

We need to check people’s licences because our rental vehicles are covered by our own insurance and licences bearing endorsements with more than 2 speeding or parking offences may need clearance from our insurance company.

There are other conditions attached to renting vehicles and you can check them in the terms section of our website.

Blog Renting Vehicle

Author: Ross Francis

We’re expanding!

Reassurance that our customers’ data is secure

Helping drivers to stay healthy while on the road

Happy New Year

Full means full when returning a rented vehicle

Are you ready for winter driving conditions?

The Future of Vehicle Renting

Rental Vehicle Insurance and Claims

When you need to book ahead for a rental

What are the formalities when you are renting a vehicle?