• Home
• Used vehicles
• Product news
• Dealer news
• Compliance
• Buying advice
• Archive

RENTAL SURVEY

• The strength of demand for hire vehicles derives partly from the buoyancy of the British economy, and partly from a changing attitude among Britain's transport managers. Hiring a truck is no longer seen as an admission of defeat: a failure to secure sufficient trucks for the job in hand, Instead truck rental is seen as an economic way to meet peaks in demand.

More and more transport managers are looking to truck rental companies to provide flexibility, but is this confidence justified?

ES="-T53.1111.M.— A transport manager's first demand of 'a truck rental company is that it should have the right vehicle available at the right time. Unfortunately, our experience suggests that many truck rental

companies in the capital are finding it hard to keep up with that demand.

We sat down to book the vehicles six days before the test was due to take place. We rang the south London offices of Ryder Truck Rental, Whitgift Hire, Truckrent, Godfrey Davis, Avis, Hertz, Swan National and BRS Truck Rental.

A very helpful chap at Swan National apologised that his company did not rent out vehicles above 3.5 tonnes, but then spoilt everything by warning us we would need an HGV licence to drive a 7.5-tonne vehicle. Only BRS could offer us a 7.5tonne box van on the chosen day, and

its Croydon office told us we would need to arrange the insurance ourselves. That was not acceptable. After a whole afternoon on the telephone we had failed to book even one vehicle.

The following day we phoned truck rental depots outside south London, with far greater success. By the end of the morning we had booked five trucks; from BRS Truck Rental (insurance included); U-Hire; Whitgift Hire; Europcar (who referred us to Reading Garage); and Stormont.

BRS TRUCK RENTAL

The BRS truck was hired from the company's depot at Cathedral Hill Industrial Estate in Guildford, near to the Dennis factory. This is a big depot with 37 vehicles, though not all are available for rental.

Service at the BRS depot was fairly good, despite a delay while the man behind the desk hired a vehicle out to another truck rental company (U-Hire, of which more later) and tried to find a part-time driver to handle a job for Grants of St James.

As with several of the other rental companies we surveyed no deposit was required. Instead we were asked to sign a blank credit card slip (Access and American Express wouldn't do nicely). We were also photographed on micro film. The man behind the desk checked we wanted the vehicle for non-commercial purposes (we said we were moving) and asked if we had driven a vehicle of 7.5 tonnes before.

BRS only wanted a clean driver's licence as proof of identity. Much of the rental agreement form was filled in and then we were taken to the truck, an MAN 8.136 box van, registration number D119NGN.

The man from BRS manoeuvred the MAN from the crowded parking bay and then checked off the various dents and scratches against a chart. He then went through the elementary controls including, after a request, how to operate the tachograph. There was one significant ommission in his instructions — use of the air brakes. Our non-HGV driver was surprised at the first junction by the power of the brakes, when everything fell off the front seats including most of the driver!

On collection the vehicle was fairly dirty and could certainly have done with a clean-out in the cab, where we found an old rag and an empty Coke can.

One other criticism of the BRS service was the failure of the company to provide a vehicle with a full tank of diesel. The BRS man apologised that the tank was only a quarter full, but that could have caused further delay had we been travelling any great distance.

WHITGIFT HIRE The oldest vehicle in our test sample was hired from Whitgift Hire in Crawley. The B-reg MAN 8.136 had 122,440km on the clock. We collected the vehicle from a shed in the old British Rail goods yard on Gatwick Road, Crawley.

The woman at Whitgift was friendly and relaxed, almost to the point of being happy-go-lucky. Like BRS she did not require a deposit, just a blank signed credit card form (this time American Express did do nicely). She checked the driving licence and queried the Yorkshire address of driver Bryan Jarvis.

She offered to show our driver around the truck, which he declined. Another Whitgift employee had driven the vehicle, E969AGJ, into the yard minutes earlier. He said he had checked the oil and water of the vehicle, and claimed it was "AOK!" Nobody checked the bodywork of the vehicle before we drove away.

The MAN was fitted with two fuel tanks. One was empty, the other threequarters full. There was no explanation as to how to switch from one tank to the other, nor any indication as to which tank was being used.

Inside, the cab was filthy. The seats were grimy, there were footprints everywhere (including the windscreen!) and there was mud caked on the dashboard. In the glovebox we discovered: several old tacho charts; 25 Royal Mail parcel dockets from the local Redhill depot; a curriculum vitae from somebody seeking work as an insurance agent; and a delivery pass to provide entry to Gate Eight at Glaxo's Greenford site.

The vehicle's loadspace was in a terrible state. The floor was covered with a liberal sprinkling of bird seed, feathers and droppings and there was a 20x8cm hole in one of the floorboards. When we hired the vehicle it was raining and water was penetrating through a couple of holes in the roof.

EUROPCAR/READING GARAGE The rental office at Reading Garage is open from 8arn to 6pm. We arrived at about 9am. The reception staff was polite, helpful and dealt efficiently with the paper work.

They asked to see our driving licence and wanted details of the driver's address, age and profession. Although no deposit was required they did ask for a booking fee of £20 to be paid two days before the hire date. This was included in the overall charge of £73.60 which we paid by cheque, backed up by a cheque card. The company did accept some credit cards, but not American Express.

With the final form signed, including acceptance of parking liability, we were shown to the D-registration Dodge G08. It had over 65,000km on the dock but was generally clean inside and out, although the body had not been swept out. A walk around the vehicle quickly identified most areas of damage such as the split mudguard, bent sideguard and further impact damage to the rear body corner, which the receptionist recorded on a form.

The receptionist decided to take the vehicle out of line and took it through the congested yard until clear of the gates. This thoughtful manoeuvre would be particularly helpful for novice truck drivers (in fact our driver was technical editor Bill Brock, who has been driving trucks for 30 years).

We were offered no advice on how to drive the vehicle, but were shown how to operate the tail-lift. No mention was made of the tacho and the only disc in the cab was the wrong type for the equipment. Stickers inside the cab gave information; on the overall height with warnings not to drive away with the tail lift down or without closing the rear shutter.

We were advised to push down both fascia-mounted buttons to the "off" position to prevent anybody tampering with the tail-lift controls when out on the road. The lady from Reading garage was unsure which of the switches operated the interior light and which was the power switch for the lift.

On driving away the cold brakes pulled to one side but improved after a few kilometres With a four-speed transmission the unladen GO8 gave a lively performance and cruised comfortably on the motorway at an indicated 65mph (105kmih).

The U-Drive depot is by the side of the railway line in Guildford's London Road Station. The entrance to the yard is narrow, and vehicles have to negotiate parked cars and the builders merchant's lorries that loiter there.

We waited until 8.45am when a cheerful lady turned up who explained that she in turn had to hire a BRS Mercedes 614, as all four of the U-Drive 7.5-tonners were out on hire. "It is a busy time," she agreed as she took an imprint of our credit card.

She made out a voucher for the full amount of the day's hire on the understanding that we brought the vehicle back undamaged, with no more than 130Iun on the clock and with a full tank of fuel. She checked our driving licence and noted the driver number. She also asked for the driver's date of birth, and asked whether we had any experience of driving 7.5-tonners. In answer to the second enquiry, we gave a vague yes, and left it at that.

No instruction was offered on the use of the tachograph but we were offered a lesson in the use of the tail-lift, if we could wait until the delivery driver turned up. Running short of time we declined the offer and, taking the three tachograph charts, made our way out to the vehicle.

The Mercedes was parked near the entrance in an easily-accessible place and facing the exit, where it was easy to drive out. The engine started on the first try, although stopping was on the exhaust brake, which was not pointed out to us.

Considering the use of the vehicle, the cab and body (which were not inspected with us) were in surprisingly good condition. A little grubby, perhaps, but the trim was all intact, the instruments all worked, and the floor and pockets were free of rubbish. After negotiating the tight turn out of the station yard we made our way to the test track in Surrey.

On the road the vehicle drove and steered well. The driveline seemed to be in good condition, although the exhaust brake was totally useless.

On returning the vehicle the yard was deserted, but we had been instructed to leave the vehicle as we found it and post the keys through the post box provided for the purpose. The reversing manoeuvre into the yard was a little tricky and might have provided problems for an inexperienced driver, but apart from that the hire was as straightforward as they come.

STORMONT VEHICLE HIRE

Stormont Vehicle Hire's premises in a small side-road off the main high street in Tonbridge, Kent don't exactly lend themselves to truck hire. There is little enough parking space for customers' cars, let alone a 7.5-tonner. The early morning traffic snarl-ups made us 45 minutes late for our initial 8.30am pick-up.

What makes this ironic is that the main Stormont Iveco Ford truck dealership, which supplied our 0813 Cargo box van, is ideally sited just off the A21 out of town and has plenty of space.

SVH's smartly-dressed lady receptionist, however, wasted no time in taking down our details and, after a brief but thorough processing of the paperwork, and the payment of the ,E100 deposit (by American Express) we were ready to get to grips with our 0813. Had we driven anything like it before?. Not wanting to give away our identity we volunteered that we'd "had a go" in a large Transit. "It's a bit different", she replied, looking rather worried.

"Did we have a tachograph chart with us?" Again we played it dumb and asked what a tacho was. After returning with two charts and putting one in for us, she gave a rather sketchy description on how to operate one, telling us: "You should fill in the centre at sometime so you'll be legal." She then set the mode switch on "other work". Fortunately we were familiar with the Lucas Kienzle tacho and SVH has the good sense to put an FTA guide to drivers' hours on the windscreen of its trucks.

What was the green band on the rev counter for?, we enquired. She wasn't really sure, but assured us that the 0813 drove just like a car.

After telling us that we had a full tank (actually it was only two-thirds full, but they didn't argue with us when we told them so on returning) we were ready to roll.

On the road the D-reg 0813 was well behaved, and with only 31,000kms on the clock it clearly hadn't been abused. With no weight in the back, however, the brakes had to be applied with caution, otherwise, it was a case of inspecting the windscreen from 2mm away.

Although we were given no instruction on how to operate the folding tail-lift it proved easy enough to operated once we had worked out the locking bar.

Our overall impression of SVH's rental service was favourable, although with a bit more attention to detail it would have been even better. The 0813 was well presented with a clean interior. Barring the tyres (of which more later) it was mechanically sound.

The Chelmer body had no signs of damage and, apart from a small pool of what looked like hydraulic fluid (which had not been cleared up from the previous customer) it was acceptably presented. SVH had also taken the trouble to specify the body with Shorfast tracking for use with load-restraining poles.

To establish the roadworthiness of the trucks we called upon the services of John Bowler, the Freight Transport Association's assistant south-east regional engineer. He had the task of giving each vehicle a full FTA vehicle maintenance inspection, lasting about an hour.

Bowler gave each vehicle a very thorough inspection covering: tyres, engine, fuel system, exhaust system, transmission, suspension, electrical system and lights, steering gear, chassis, wheels and axles, brakes and bodywork. The FTA uses a coding system to indicate the state of each component inspected. There are five grades from G, which is a safety-related item, possibly warranting a GV9, through to NVD, which means no visible defect.

Six years ago all five of the vehicles we tested were found to have two or more safety-related faults. This year the standard was much better, though three of the five trucks still warranted GV9s.

WHITISIFT HIRE Worst of the bunch by far was the B-reg MAN from Whitgift Hire which had 122,3731an on the clock. Though mechanically sound, the Whitgift vehicle warranted a total of five Gs. It suffered from the awful state of the body, with the most worrying fault being six loose bodymounting bolts. There was also a broken floorboard in the loadspace, a 10cm protrusion of metal at the rear of the truck (where a step had once been) and a broken rear reflector.

The last safety-related fault was one which became increasingly familiar as the day's test wore on. We had a puncture (in this case a slow puncture on the offside rear outer tyre).

IMROPCAR/READINO GARAGE The Europcar/Reading Garage Dodge truck had 65,9231an on the clock. It collected three Gs for a defective rear fog light, an inoperative front side light, and another puncture. These faults warranted prompt attention, wrote Bowler. This time the puncture was a real flat, on the nearside rear-inner wheel. Subsequent inspection by a fitter from Associated Tyre Services showed that the valve was broken at the valve end, and had probably been in that state for some time.