Tightening credit availability and uncertain economic times are having an effect on the way businesses hire vans, according to GE-owned TLS Vehicle Rental. In an article in Fleet News, major UK B2B van rental companies TLS and Northgate have confided that companies are turning to them to hire vans where they might previously have bought or leased them.

By owning fewer commercial vehicles and renting for longer periods, customers are able to reduce their liabilities and gain increased flexibility – if a van isn’t required for a couple of weeks, it can go back to the hire company and will cost the business nothing.

According to Carl D’Ammassa, TLS’ Chief Operating Officer, having “no long term financial commitment” is one of the “key benefits” of renting. He says that the ability to “hand back the vehicle at any time” is “very attractive” to many businesses in “tough economic times”.

Ross Clarkson, Marketing Director of Northgate, the UK’s largest van rental company, echoed the sentiment of D’Ammassa’s comments, telling Fleet News that they are seeing companies “that would have outright purchased their vehicles” switching to rental. Customers are attracted by the flexibility of van rental and are also being discouraged from buying by difficulties securing credit.

Of course, van rental has always had a number of benefits – not least a lack of responsibility for maintenance, repair or replacement of hire vehicles. When a rented van needs replacing or repairing, the van rental company will arrange this automatically and provide a suitable alternative, resulting in near-seamless vehicle availability without any hassle.

See Fleet News for more details.