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Lead times affeding supplies
Page 51
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The British Vehicle Leasing and Rental Association has expressed its anger at manufacturers' long lead times. Kevin Swallow reports.
David Farbon is UK commercial director of Fraikin and chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Committee of the BVRLA. And he's "incredulous that a mature market,such as the commercial vehicle manufacturing industry, can get things so dramatically wrong for its customers" Farbon directly blames CV manufacturers' inability to assess correctly the UK market's needs, believing they are hampering modernisation programmes and customer-driven delivery service standards. "I hear excuses about the emergence of Eastern European economies driving production volumes to that dart of the world. But that must have been as lredictable as the continuing demand from the UK," he says. "BVRLA members can extend contract periods on these older vehicles to keep their operators on the road, and are having to do so Yet they are going to be less fuel-efficient than the modern vehicles our customers would like to be operating, and will be more demanding in terms of service and parts.
"It goes even deeper than simply the direct operational issues, though," he continues. "At a time when the transport industry is beset by legislation aimed at reducing its carbon footprint, and fuel duties that continue to rise,we are being forced by the manufacturers to run increasingly ageing trucks.
"When you look at the size of the UK van and truck rental and leasing fleet — which is around 550,000 — and see how many vehicles should have been replaced already, you begin to get an idea of the adverse environmental impact this problem is having on the UK," he says.