Author Archives: Van Rental

Cut Van Hire Fuel Costs The Easy Way With VanRental.co.uk!

Leave a reply

Fuel gauge nearing emptyIn the latest edition of the vanrental.co.uk newsletter, I took a look at the popular habit of ‘chasing the cheapest litre of diesel’.

What I mean, of course, is driving out of your way to save one or two pence per litre when filling up.

The problem with doing this — apart from wasting time — is that you often end up wasting money, too.

In the case of my personal van, a short wheelbase Ford Transit, I usually get around 36mpg, which equates to a fuel cost of 17.6p per mile, assuming that diesel is 140p per litre, as it is in my area.

This means that a diversion of six miles to fill up will cost me £1.05.

If the fuel I buy is 2p per litre cheaper than I would have paid, then I have to buy at least 52 litres before I save any money (52 x 2p = £1.04).

I’m sure you can see the problem – the cost of the fuel required to drive to a cheaper garage can easily be more than the money you save at the pumps. Plus you waste a load of time, probably on your way to or from work…

There is a better way!

What I’ve found, through long experience, is that finding the cheapest fuel may save me a few pence, but learning to drive with a lighter right foot will save me pounds.

At the start of this post, I said that my average fuel consumption was 36mpg — but I have seen it vary from 33mpg to 40mpg, depending on how I drive.

On long journeys, with a light right foot and keeping motorway speeds below 65mph, I can get 40mpg. If I hoon around like Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne, then unsurprisingly, fuel consumption drops dramatically!

The upshot is that a 10% improvement in fuel consumption is quite easily achievable for many drivers — which equates to a cost saving of 1.8p per mile, no diversions or wasted time necessary!

Fiat Adds UK Market Share With 50% Rise In Sales

Leave a reply

New Fiat Ducato panel vanThe Fiat Professional brand recorded January-June sales figures of 7150 units during the first half of 2013 – up more than 50 per cent over the same period in 2012. The rise in sales means that Fiat’s share of the UK LCV market has risen by 1.3% compared with last year.

The addition of new Tecnico versions on the Ducato, Doblò Cargo and Fiorino models has been well received by customers and offer good value for money in terms of specification, with highly-competitive fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Fiat says that the Doblò Cargo range, which has recently been expanded to include new additions such as the Doblò XL and Doblò Maxi Crew Van versions, is continuing to perform strongly.

Fiat Professional’s versatile Ducato, which competes in the demanding large van market, now includes ESP (electronic stability programme) as standard across the entire range of Ducato vans, chassis cabs, combis and minibuses.

Commenting on the half year figures, Sebastiano Fedrigo, director, Fiat Professional UK said:

“We are delighted with the results achieved so far and it is particularly pleasing to see more and more customers driving our products.

“The Fiat Professional brand is growing and continues to make significant strides within the UK market. We are growing both in the corporate fleet sector and the retail sector where our  strong network restructure has proven very successful with June 2013 network registrations up 80 per cent higher than in the same period in 2012.

“We will be working hard to consolidate these results and are looking forward to further new appointments across the network in the very near future – testimony to the strength of our product offering and network back up.”

Van Hire Firm Recycles 810 Tonnes of Tyres In 2012

1 Reply

Hankook RA10 All-Season TyreBusiness van hire specialists Northgate Vehicle Hire has a UK fleet of 52,000 vehicles, mostly vans. As you can imagine, these vehicles get through a lot of tyres every year — 85,786 in 2012, to be precise.

These tyre are collected from Nortgate’s 60 UK depots by Vellco Ltd., which specialises in used tyre management. Vellco supplies all of the car and van tyres it collects to Sapphire Energy, a subsidiary of cement maker Lafarge. The tyres are shredded into 50mm pieces and then used as fuel in Lafarge’s cement kilns, instead of coal.

According to Northgate and Vellco, this process is environmentally beneficial, as it produces less nitrogen oxides than coal, while the energy released by burning the tyres is competitive with coal.

Not all tyres end up in a cement kiln, however — Northgate’s light truck tyres follow a different route. These tyres operate under much heavier loads than light vehicle tyres and, as a result, contain more steel than smaller car and van tyres.

To ensure that this steel component doesn’t go to waste, the light truck tyres are seperated into steel and rubber. The steel is recycled into new steel, while the rubber is ground down into small chips, or crumbs, that can be used to produce artificial sports surfaces and the springy black surfaces that have become so popular in children’s playgrounds in recent years.

It just goes to show that very little of our waste needs to go to landfill — and it’s entirely possible for recycling to be a profitable and efficient business.

Europcar Launches Business Connect Service For SME Customers

Leave a reply

Europcar has launched a new service aimed at SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) customers — smaller business customers who may not normally be able to access high-volume corporate deals.

The service is called Business Connect and aims to give SMEs more choice and flexibility than they enjoy at present. Some of the features of the Business Connect service are:

  • A choice of fixed rates, to help with budgeting, or variable discounted rates;
  • A choice of payment options, including credit facilities or no-contract credit card payment;
  • Access to Europcar’s online booking system
  • An Affinity scheme to provide employees with access to discounted car hire for personal use.

Europcar says that the Business Connect service will also offer a number of benefits that are usually only available to larger corporate customers, such as a guaranteed diesel option, a light damage option that waives any damage costs up to £400, and dedicated account manager support.

Delivery and collection and one-way hire are also available, although these services are on offer to regular retail customers of Europcar, too (not necessarily at the same rates).

Commenting on the launch, Ken McCall, Europcar UK Group Managing Director, said:

“The launch of Business Connect is part of Europcar’s commitment to our small business customers who are the engine room of the UK economy. Business Connect delivers big business benefits to smaller organisations, helping them get the best out of Europcar’s services by creating a rental solution that meets their specific needs.

“We know that SMEs have to be even more conscious of costs but can often find that they are excluded from the discounts and benefits that are afforded to big volume rental users.  Business Connect brings certainty on costs with discounted rates to keep UK SMEs on the move.  Plus our Affinity programme offers staff, friends and family discounts on vehicle rental booked via our consumer website, providing savings on leisure rentals.”

Europcar is Europe’s largest car and van hire company, and has more than 200 branches across the UK.

Hiring A Van With An Additional Driver: How Much Will It Cost?

4 Replies
Fifty pound note

Make sure you save money on van hire buy checking how much extras such as an additional driver, or sat nav hire, will cost, before you make your booking. The cheapest basic hire rate isn’t always the cheapest total cost.

Extra costs can be a minefield when hiring a vehicle, transforming a cheap daily rental rate into an expensive experience.

One common requirement is for an additional driver; not all drivers are used to driving long journeys, and even if you are, doing a long journey in a large, unfamiliar van can be much more tiring than making the same trip in your car.

(If it’s your first time driving a van, check out our ‘Driving A Van’ guide).

For this reason, having an additional driver is always a popular option for van hire customers — but it isn’t always obvious is how much this may cost.

On vanrental.co.uk we list a number of different hire companies, including seven well-known international hire companies and two major brokers which offer national coverage.

I’ve had a look at how much each charges for an additional driver, and the differences are surprising!

How much for an additional driver?

Remember, each company charges different daily van hire rates, too, so the cheapest additional driver fee isn’t necessarily the cheapest overall.

However, let’s take a look at the fees charged for an additional driver by some of the UK’s biggest van hire operators*:

Which company offers the cheapest total rental costs? It’s impossible to say, I’m afraid, but these figures may give you some indication of what to expect when comparing rental rates with our price comparison engine.

Other extras will vary

You may not need to have an additional driver, but there’s a good chance you will want another optional extra.

Perhaps you’ll be travelling on your own and would rather hire a sat nav to help with the navigation — or maybe your passenger will be a young child, who needs a child seat?

I’m afraid that in every case, charges vary between companies vary, and the only way to get a precise, all-inclusive quotation is to click through to each rental company’s website and complete a full quotation.

Sorry, but that’s the way it is — and anyone who tells you otherwise may not be being completely honest with you.

I’ll take a closer look at the cost of sat nav and child seat hire in future posts — stay tuned for more information.

*All figures were checked at the time of writing in July 2013, but these may be subject to change vanrental.co.uk and the author take no responsibility for any errors, omissions or future changes. Please check yourself before booking.

Hourly Van Hire & Overnight Van Hire – You Can Do It

Leave a reply

Daily van rental is usually charged for on a 24-hour basis. So if you collect your van at 9am on day one, and return it by 9am the next day, you pay for one day’s hire.

Unfortunately, if you pick-up a hire van at 9am and return it at 10am, you still pay for a fully day’s hire.

Similarly, if you collect your van after work at 5pm, and return it first thing the next morning, you still pay for a full day’s hire.

More flexibility?

The thing about van hire is that people only hire a van when they need to. It’s not like hiring a car for a weekend away — when you need a van, you may need it at any time of the day or night, and you don’t want to pay a penny more than necessary. 

For example, what about those times when you need to pick-up some furniture from Ikea on a Saturday afternoon, or pick-up a big eBay purchase one evening?

Perhaps you’re in a band and only need a van in the evenings, when you’re travelling to gigs that you fit around your day job?

The good news is that things are improving and that companies are starting to offer genuinely flexible services. Here’s an overview of what’s available:

Overnight Van Hire

If you want to hire a van overnight — say from 5pm to 9am — then Europcar is your best bet.

Europcar is Europe’s largest car and van hire firm and now offers overnight van hire from just £29* at most of its UK branches.

The deal is simple — collect the vehicle after 5pm and return it before 9am (if you return it after 9am, you’ll be charged a full day’s hire costs).

To learn more about overnight van hire from Europcar, click here.

Hourly Van Hire

The other common problem with daily van rental is that you may only need the van for an hour or two. This often means you have no choice but to pay for a 24-hour hire, despite  only needing the van for a small fraction of that time.

It’s worth noting that almost all hire companies will let you book a van for a few hours — or even one hour — but in most cases, you will be charged for a full day’s hire, regardless. You won’t explicitly be told about this — the company’s booking engine will just quote you a price that’s the same as the daily rate.

The best option we know of for standard hourly van hire is Europcar.

Europcar currently offers hourly van hire from just £11 per hour*  – click here for an instant quote.

What about car and van-sharing?

Hertz offers hourly van hire through its standard rental service, but it also offers something a little different — a car-sharing membership scheme called Hertz 24/7, which allows members to book, pick-up and drop-off Hertz 24/7 vehicles from Hertz 24/7 locations.

The deal is simple — as a member, you get a special key fob that gives you access to the vehicle you have reserved. The ignition key will already be in the vehicle and you simply get in, drive off, and then return the vehicle when you are done.

Members can book Hertz 24/7 vehicles online and billing is taken care of automatically — whether hourly or daily.

This scheme is similar to Zipcar and a number of other schemes that are increasingly popular, especially in big US cities, but also in London.

To learn more, visit the Hertz 24/7 On Demand website.

*Prices correct at the time of writing on 22 July 2013. T&Cs apply.

New Ford Transit Connect Offers 70mpg & 3.4m Load Length!

2 Replies
Ford Transit Connect

The new Ford Transit Connect goes on sale later this year.

Ford has published details of the improved fuel efficiency and load-carrying abilities offered by the all-new Ford Transit Connect, which will be launched later this year.

Saving Fuel

The new Ford Transit Connect ECOnetic will be capable of 70.6mpg and 105g/km CO2 emissions − a 34 per cent improvement over the current model, while the new Transit Connect will also be the first van offered with Ford’s award-winning and popular 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine, which is capable of a class-leading 50.4mpg and 129g/km CO2 emissions.

The most popular engine options are likely to be the Dagenham-built 1.6-litre 75 PS and 95PS Duratorq TDCi diesels, which will be offered in the standard models, with the ECOnetic getting the 95PS model. The choice of the higher-power engine option for the ECOnetic is presumably a timely reminder to operators that high power can equal better efficiency, as drivers in higher-powered vehicles tend to need to change gear less and work the engine less hard than in lower-powered models.

All engines will also be available with Ford’s fuel economy package — featuring Auto-Start-Stop, Active Grille Shutter and Smart Regenerative Charging — which is aimed at cutting fuel consumption under typical van usage scenarios, especially urban use.

Load Capacity

The load-through hatch in the Transit Connect

The passenger seat folds down, allowing loads of up to 3.4m (long wheelbase) and 3m (short wheelbase).

The Transit Connect will be available in short- and long-wheelbase models, which will offer total load volumes of 2.9m3 and 3.6m3 respectively, with full bulkheads fitted. Maximum payload will be a healthy 1,000kg, but where these vans also excel is in expanding the loadspace (safely) into the passenger space.

A load-through hatch in the van’s bulkhead will enable the Transit Connect to carry loads up to 3.4m long in the long wheelbase model and 3m long in the short wheelbase, while the sliding side door on the long wheelbase model will be wide enough to allow a Europallet to be loaded through the side door.

Careful shaping of the bulkhead will also mean that uniquely for this size of van, the Transit Connect will be able to carry 8′ x 4′ sheets of plasterboard and the like in the long wheelbase model, which will also be offered with flat-folding seats in its Kombi (crew cab) form.

The front passenger seat in the Transit Connect will fold upwards to allow large boxes to stand on the floor or long loads to slide through from the load compartment. Like the current Citroen Berlingo, the Transit Connect will also offer a central seat for a second passenger, although this is unlikely to be a seat you’ll want to use for long journeys.

Deliveries of the new Transit Connect are expected to start from the end of 2013.

UK CV Manufacturing Up 1.4% In June, As Home Sales Beat Export Slump

1 Reply

UK commercial vehicle manufacturing output rose by 1.4% in June, bringing to a halt a run of steep falls, according to the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

A 17% surge in domestic demand managed to overcome an 8% fall in export demand. The statistics are a sharp contrast to May’s figures, when export demand fell by 33% and home demand increased by just 1.4%. However, June’s figures still leave overall UK CV manufacturing output down by 13.5% so far this year, as these figures show:

CV manufacturing Jun-12 Jun-13 % Change YTD-12 YTD-13 % Change
Total 8,367 8,480 1.4% 56,096 48,517 -13.5%
Home 3,116 3,647 17.0% 21,908 23,874 9.0%
Export 5,251 4,833 -8.0% 34,188 24,643 -27.9%
% export 62.8% 57.0% 60.9% 50.8%

Data courtesy of SMMT (www.smmt.co.uk)

The fall in export demand is also a worry, in the longer term — a year ago, exports accounted for 61% of UK CV output, but that figure has now fallen to 51% and could still drop further. In the long run, home demand cannot absorb this kind of shortfall, but until the eurozone’s economic health improves, a recovery in export demand seems unlikely.

SMMT CV output rolling year totals

Total UK CV output vs. export demand — it seems unlikely that we will return to pre-recession levels, especially given the closure of Ford’s Transit plan in Southampton later in July.

Commenting on the figures, Nigel Base, SMMT Commercial Vehicle Manager, said:

“June’s CV output provides a welcome boost to our commercial vehicle industry, with volumes increasing 1.4% in the month, following a 17% surge in home market demand. Year-to-date volumes offer a slightly gloomier picture, falling 13.5% in the first half of 2013 as CV manufacturers continue to feel the effects of weak demand abroad.

The remainder of the year will be challenging, but strengthening UK demand is expected to support domestic manufacturers of vans, trucks buses and coaches.”

The rise in domestic demand does tally in with the fall we have seen in used van values over the last two months, and suggests that UK van operators are finally starting to move back towards a more typical replacement cycle, rather than the extended cycles we have seen in recent years.

Mercedes & Thames Valley Police Get Tough on Cat Theft

Leave a reply
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter with catalytic converter

Metal detectors… PC Richie Paul and Sgt Dave Metcalfe from the Thames Valley Police precious metal theft team, with a catalytic converter and a Catloc® security device

Mercedes-Benz van dealer Hughes of Aylesbury has joined forces with Thames Valley Police in a crime-busting initiative designed to thwart metal thieves.

Organised gangs nationwide are targeting catalytic converters fitted to many brands of van and 4×4, because of the high values of the platinum, rhodium, palladium and other precious metals they employ to clean exhaust emissions. Both types of vehicle are vulnerable to this crime because of their relatively high ground clearance.

On several occasions police have caught suspects red-handed with batches of catalytic converters, but have been unable to bring cases to court because they had no way of proving they were stolen.

Mercedes-Benz has led the way, working closely with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) to tackle this industry-wide issue. Since last September Mercedes-Benz has ensured that all exhaust systems on new Sprinter vans are security-etched – with windscreen stickers warning thieves that the ‘cat’ has been marked, this is proving a significant deterrent. It also means that should the component be stolen and subsequently recovered, police have a much better chance of bringing a successful prosecution.

Now Hughes of Aylesbury has gone a step further by inviting customers who bought their vans before the manufacturer began etching catalytic converters at the port of entry, to bring their vehicles back into its workshops and get the job done free of charge.

In a joint initiative with Thames Valley Police, Hughes’ Service Manager Darren Nottingham has written to some 2,000 customers warning:

“In minutes thieves can simply cut the catalytic converter from the exhaust pipe of a parked van – they then sell it, achieving anything from £50 to £200 for each one.

“The costs to you, however, are likely to be far greater. As well as those associated with the loss of man hours and having your vehicle off the road, catalytic converters can cost close to £2,000 to replace.”

In addition to etching each catalytic converter with the vehicle’s registration number, Hughes of Aylesbury is also spraying the unit with UV-tagged forensic paint.

Physical security for your cat

Like other Mercedes-Benz dealers, for extra protection Hughes can also supply and fit Catloc® devices and ProCatt alarms. Anti-tamper bolts are used to fit the Catloc®, which provides a protective shield for the catalytic converter, while the Thatcham-approved ProCatt system is designed to activate if the exhaust is cut, the bonnet is opened, the exhaust, engine or battery are tampered with, or the catalytic converter is unbolted.

Detective Inspector Ian Wood heads Thames Valley Police’s Op Smog, which combats metal theft; he is also the regional co-ordinator for this category of crime, for the Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex forces.

DI Wood says:

“Catalytic converter theft is becoming increasingly organised and is a problem that affects many different types of vehicle. We are keen, therefore, to work with manufacturers and their dealers to combat this crime by making it more difficult for thieves to steal these items in the first place, and making it easier to bring successful prosecutions when we catch them.

“So, of course, we fully support Hughes of Aylesbury’s retrospective security marking initiative, which we would like to see other dealers replicate. Not only will it make it less likely that Hughes’ customers become the victims of crime, but it will also make our jobs easier when it comes to recovering stolen items and bringing the perpetrators to justice.”

If you’re a Hughes customer, then getting your cat etched and marked with UV-tagged forensic paint for free seems a no-brainer — but in the long run I suspect that more physical security will be the only solution, as the potential rewards of this fairly simple crime will remain tempting.

Ford Transit SuperVan 3 Unleashed At Goodwood Festival of Speed [video]

Leave a reply
Ford Transit Supervan 3

Ford Transit Supervan 3 in action at Goodwood, last weekend.

Ford’s famous Transit SuperVan 3 turned heads on Goodwood Hill at the Festival of Speed last weekend, driven by former Ford racing driver Anthony Reid.

Ford SuperVan 3 – a one-off replica 1994 Ford Transit – was developed by the Brentwood-based company more than 20 years ago. It has a top speed of 150mph and is powered by a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 Ford Cosworth engine, which produces 295bhp.

Anthony Reid, previously drove for the factory Ford Team Mondeo in the BTCC in the 1990s — his best championship placing was a 2nd place finish with 193 points in 2000. He said:

“Over the last 20 years of racing cars, Ford’s SuperVan 3 is by far the craziest vehicle I have ever driven. It’s ludicrously loud, incredibly quick and received masses of attention from the Goodwood crowd.”

The Supervan family raised the profile of Ford’s famous Transit range yet further.  Supervan 3 is a much-developed version of Supervan 2, the Transit-like body hiding a mid-engined Ford C100 racing chassis.  Although it looks like a load-carrying vehicle, there is absolutely no space for a payload, as the engine and transmission are mounted behind the cabin.  The all-independent suspension and vast racing tyres are out-and-out race car specification, though the driving position is that of a van.

You can see the SuperVan 3’s predecessors in a blog post I wrote a while ago — all three are genuine one-offs with rip-snorting performance and great looks.

For those that are interested, here are the technical details — otherwise scroll down for a great video showing the SuperVan 3 in action at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend.

SuperVan 3 Technical details
Construction: Aluminium/composite monocoque chassis with mid-mounted engine driving the rear wheels.  Steel, aluminium and glassfibre body shell.
Engine: Ford-Cosworth V6, 2935cc, twin overhead camshafts per bank, four valves per cylinder.  Tuned to Pro Sports 3000 spec, including dry sump.  Power output approx 295bhp @ 6,800rpm
Transmission: Five speed, longitudinally-mounted Hewland
Suspension:  Front and rear – independent, coil springs, wishbones, anti-roll bar.  Rack and pinion steering.
Brakes: 279mm (11in) diameter ventilated carbon discs, Brembo four-piston callipers, carbon pads
Performance:  Top speed approx 150mph (241kph)

Here’s a video of the SuperVan 3 in action at Goodwood last weekend: