The system says it's in Leeds
The hire desk in one depot takes a booking for a telehandler. The hire system shows one available at another depot. They ring over. It isn't there. It went to a third depot last month for a long hire, came back off hire there, and has been sitting in that yard since. Nobody changed its location in the system.
Meanwhile the depot that has it doesn't count it as its own, so it isn't offered to their customers either. The machine is idle in plain sight.
Why depot locations drift
Moving machines between depots is normal. It balances fleet against demand and serves customers nearer another depot. The drift happens because the move is informal, and informal moves are quicker than doing it properly in the hire system when a customer is waiting.
- Transfers are arranged manager to manager by phone.
- Machines move on whichever lorry is going that way.
- Machines off-hired near another depot are collected to that depot.
- The receiving depot doesn't confirm arrival in the system.
- Depot performance is measured on fleet the depot doesn't know it has.
What drifting locations cost
Machines idle because nobody knows where they are. Cross-hire to cover machines you already own. Wasted journeys to collect a machine that has already moved. And depot managers arguing over utilisation figures based on wrong fleet lists.
Transfers also carry a real transport cost. When they are arranged informally, nobody sees how often machines go back and forth between the same two depots, or whether a category would be better permanently based somewhere else.
A transfer process that keeps locations right
- A transfer is requested in a few taps: machine, from, to and reason, with the requesting depot's booking linked if there is one.
- The sending depot accepts, and the move is added to the transport plan as a job.
- The driver records collection and delivery on their phone, and the machine's location is in transit between the two.
- The receiving depot confirms arrival with a quick check and photo, and the hire system's location is updated.
- Off-hires collected to a different depot update the location the same way.
- A daily list shows transfers requested but not moved, machines in transit longer than expected, and machines whose recorded location doesn't match telematics.
| Moment | Location shown |
|---|---|
| Requested | Sending depot, reserved |
| Collected by driver | In transit |
| Arrived | Receiving depot |
| Off-hired to another depot | Depot it was taken to |
| Telematics disagrees | Flagged for checking |
The hire desk afterwards
When the desk sees a machine at a depot, it is there. Transfers are visible from request to arrival. Machines off-hired near other depots are counted where they are. And the transfer report shows which categories keep moving, which is useful evidence when deciding where fleet should be based.
Signs your depot locations have drifted
- The hire system shows machines at depots where they aren't.
- Transfers are arranged by phone between managers.
- Receiving depots don't confirm arrivals.
- You have cross-hired while your own machine sat at another depot.
- Depot utilisation figures are disputed.