Vans you have not seen for months
A plumbing firm has had four of your vans on monthly hire for over a year. The hires renew each month, mostly. One month the renewal invoice was not raised because the agreement had lapsed in the system. Two of the vans are well past their service mileage. When one finally comes back, it has damage along both sides and a load area that has seen hard use, none of which was recorded along the way.
The customer is a good customer. Nobody wants a row about damage from months ago that nobody noticed at the time.
Why long-term hires drift
Rental systems and processes are built around short hires, with a check-out and a check-in close together. A monthly rolling hire has one check-out and then nothing until the end, which might be a year later.
- Renewals depend on someone extending the agreement or raising the invoice each period.
- Mileage allowances per period are rarely checked mid-hire.
- Services and MOTs fall due with the van away from the branch.
- Damage builds up over months with no record of when it happened.
- Rates are not reviewed, so an old hire can run at a rate well below current prices.
Where the money goes
Missed or late renewal invoices, excess mileage never charged, vehicles running overdue for service, and a large damage bill at the end that the customer disputes because it was never raised earlier. And long-term customers who feel ambushed at the end of a relationship that was going well.
The long-term hire manager we build
- Each rolling hire is held as a long-term agreement with a period, rate, mileage allowance and renewal date.
- Renewals are raised automatically each period, charged to the card on file or invoiced to the account, with the rate and allowance shown.
- Mileage is read from telematics or from a monthly odometer photo the customer submits from a link, and checked against the period allowance.
- Services and MOTs are forecast from the mileage, and a service swap is arranged: a replacement van delivered while the hired one goes to the workshop, or a booked slot the customer drives to.
- At a regular interval, the customer is asked for condition photos through a guided link. New damage is raised with them while it is recent and can be discussed.
- Rates and allowances are flagged for review at an interval you choose, so old hires are not left behind.
| Task | Short hire | Rolling hire with the manager |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | At return | Every period, automatically |
| Mileage check | At return | Every period, from telematics or photo |
| Service | Between hires | Forecast and swapped during the hire |
| Condition | At check-in | Regular photo checks during the hire |
Keeping the relationship easy
Long-term customers value not being bothered. The photo requests take them a couple of minutes, can be done by the driver at the start of a day and replace a much bigger conversation later. Service swaps arrive with a replacement van so their work carries on. A customer portal can show them their vans, renewal dates and invoices in one place, which their office usually appreciates.
Rolling hires that stay in good shape
The awkward case is a customer who wants to end a rolling hire at short notice, or to add two more vans for a new contract. Both are handled on the same long-term agreement: the end date is set and a final check-in is booked, or new vans are added under the same rate and renewal cycle, so the customer's office sees one account rather than a growing list of separate hires.
Renewals are billed on time, every time. Vans are serviced when due, without the customer losing a working day. Damage is discussed while it is fresh. At the end of the hire, the final check-in holds few surprises for either side, which makes it more likely the customer comes back.
Are your rolling hires drifting?
- Monthly hire renewals are sometimes missed or invoiced late.
- Long-term hire vans go past their service mileage.
- You do not see long-term vans for months at a time.
- End-of-hire damage leads to disputes with good customers.
- Old long-term hires run on out-of-date rates.