Author Archives: Van Rental

New Gadget Makes Empty Vans Slow Down & Saves 10% On Fuel

1 Reply

Modern diesel engines are pretty good to drive and offer massive amounts of torque and outright power. One of the consequences of this is that many modern vans, when empty, are pretty fast.

The problem is that vans need to have a reasonable level of performance when loaded, which can almost double the total weight of the vehicle. Providing this performance means that they are unnecessarily fast when empty. We’ve all seen vans keeping pace with BMWs in the outside lane of motorways – an empty van is a fairly swift vehicle. However, much as van drivers might enjoy this aspect of their vehicles, it is not such fun for the person who pays the fuel bills.

High performance comes at a cost and it is possible to save significant amounts of fuel by applying a lighter right foot when driving empty. This is not something that all van drivers will do voluntarily – so, unsurprisingly, someone has come up with an electronic gadget that will force them to…

The Zeta ExcelArate has just been launched as a £500 option on new Mercedes-Benz Sprinters. It monitors the vehicle’s weight and allows just enough fuel to be used to provide a moderate level of performance – and no more. According to Fleet News, it has been trialled with companies including Parcelforce, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Ocado and the results have been good, with fuel savings averaging around 10% – a massive reduction in a fleet’s annual fuel bill.

The ExcelArate can also be programmed to provide a speed limiter that can be varied by a fleet manager – for example, vans that do not do motorway work can have their top speed limited to 60mph.

I do not expect that this is device is likely to appear on rental vans, where customers pay for their own fuel, but it does provide fleet managers with a solution to a problem that has been growing for some time – even though drivers may not be quite so keen on it…

Source: Fleet News

Aylesbury Van Rental: P&A Van Hire

Leave a reply

I’m very pleased to welcome P&A Van Hire of Fleet Marston, near Aylesbury, to the vanrental.co.uk directory. P&A Van Hire is a family firm that has been established for more than 35 years and offers a wide range of services.

Vans available to hire from P&A include:

  • Short wheelbase Transit panel vans
  • Long wheelbase Transit panel vans

Located just off the A41 at Fleet Marston, between Waddesdon and Aylesbury, P&A Van Hire is conveniently located and offers van rental from just £55 per day for drivers over 25.

To find out more or arrange van hire, contact P&A Van Hire direct:

If you’d like to see your van hire company listed on vanrental.co.uk, click here for details of our advertising options.

Renault Bags Van of the Year At What Van? Awards 2011

Leave a reply

The new Renault MasterRenault has won four awards at the recent What Van? Awards 2011, including the prestigious Van of the Year and Large Panel Van of the Year awards for its all-new Renault Master model. This follows on from its Fleet World Best New Van award earlier this year.

The Master is available in both front and rear-wheel drive and comes in a variety of payloads and lengths that mean it offers a realistic challenge to almost all the other large panel van models on the market.

The new Master is also being rebadged and sold as the Vauxhall Movano, continuing the long-standing partnership arrangement between Vauxhall/Opel and Renault.

What Van? editor Paul Barker said that the new Master was “…an excellent new addition to the light commercial vehicle market” and that the “increased breadth of range, including rear-wheel drive models for the first time, and the industry-leading levels of interior functionality and practicality in particular swayed the judges’ decision.”

You can read our thoughts on the Renault Master here – suffice to say that if quality and reliability are up to scratch, it looks like a formidable market player that is a big improvement on the old model.

Renault’s other What Van? awards were for the introduction of its latest customer service initiatives, Renault iCare and Renault Pro+ and for its forthcoming Renault Kangoo Van Z.E. electric van, the first all-electric van to be built completely by a mainstream vehicle manufacturer.

St Albans Van & Minibus Rental: St Albans Car and Van Hire

Leave a reply

I’m very happy to welcome St. Albans Car and Van Hire to the vanrental.co.uk directory on this snowy afternoon. St Albans Car and Van Hire has been established for 36 years and offers a wide range of cars, vans, minibuses and lorries for hire. Continental van hire is also available by arrangement.

The following rental vans and minibuses are available:

  • Small vans,
  • Short, long and extra-long wheelbase panel vans
  • Luton vans with tail lift
  • 3.5 tonne dropsides, tippers and car transporters
  • 8, 15 and 17 seat minibuses
  • 7.5 tonne flatbed, curtainside and box lorries

St Albans Car and Van Hire is located just off the B651 St Albans Road, to the north of St Albans.

To find out more or arrange to hire a vehicle, contact them direct:

If you’d like to see your van hire company listed on vanrental.co.uk, click here for details of our advertising options.

New P&O Ferries Will Almost Double Capacity on Dover-Calais Route

2 Replies

P&O is preparing to bring into service the largest ferries ever used in the Channel. The first ship, the Spirit of Britain, will replace the Pride of Dover from the 23rd January 2011 and will provide nearly double the capacity of the ship it replaces. The first sailing is currently scheduled for 0415 on the 23rd January.

The Spirit of Britain will be able to carry up to 180 lorries and 195 cars, plus 1,750 passengers. It has a whopping 3,746m of vehicle lanes – if loaded only with cars, it could carry more than 1,000, as opposed to 650 on the current ferries.

The Spirit of Britain and its sister ship the Spirit of France will be the largest ferries ever operated in the Channel and have been designed to ‘Dover Max’ size – the largest ships that can be handled by the existing ferry port facilities in Dover, Calais and Boulogne (for those times when striking French workers put Calais out of bounds…).

Each of the new ships weights 49,000 tonnes, is 213m long and is expected to operate on this route for 25 years – as have the existing ships.

Shropshire Van Hire – Van Rental In Shrewsbury

Leave a reply

Shropshire Van Hire is the latest advertiser to join the vanrental.co.uk directory. Based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire Van Hire provides self-drive van hire and van with driver services and can offer the following types of van:

  • Small vans
  • Medium and long wheelbase panel vans
  • Luton vans with tail lifts

The company is based just to the east of Shrewsbury at Abbey Lawn, close to Holywell Street and only a short distance from Shrewsbury railway station. Shropshire Van Hire’s vans are all white with no signwriting – so business customers can present a professional image to their clients without it being apparent that their vans are rented.

If you’d like to see your van hire company listed on vanrental.co.uk, click here for details of our advertising options.

Student Self Storage & Van Hire – The Holidays Are Coming!

Leave a reply

If you’re in typical student accomodation, you will have to move out at the end of every term. That means you will be emptying out your room in just a few weeks’ time.

But where is your stuff going to go?

You might manage to fit everything into a car – but that probably means a long return trip for Mum and Dad in their car(s) or manically cramming everything into your own car. Neither option is ideal.

We recommend student van hire and/or self storage over the holidays. Companies such as Big Yellow provide short-term self storage at very reasonable rates in most major towns and cities around the UK.

Similarly, some van hire companies will hire to students – even down to the age of 19 (click here for more details of the Hertz student van hire offer if you’re aged 19-24).

To get started, choose one of the links below:

BorrowABanger.co.uk – Plymouth Van Hire

Leave a reply

I’m very happy to welcome our newest advertiser, BorrowABanger.co.uk of Plymouth, to the vanrental.co.uk directory.

BorrowABanger.co.uk is located on Blagdons Marine Business Park, Embankment Road, Plymouth.

BorrowABanger.co.uk offers economy car and van hire. Renters can save money by using their own insurance to insure their hire vehicles.

Hourly van hire is also available – at the time of writing, you can hire a van for four hours for just £29.

To find out more or to arrange van rental, contact BorrowABanger.co.uk direct:

If you’d like to see your van hire company listed on vanrental.co.uk, click here for details of our advertising options.

Collect Triple Nectar Points With Hertz Van Hire

Leave a reply

If you have  Nectar card and need to hire a van or a car, you might want to check whether there is a Hertz van rental branch in your area.

Unlike other van hire companies, Hertz is part of the Nectar reward scheme and you can collect Nectar points on all Hertz vehicle rentals.

Rent a car or van through Hertz between now and the 31st January 2011, you will get triple points: 6 points for every £1 spent (rentals must be completed before 31st January 2011).

Outside this offer period, the normal rate is 2 points per £1 spent.

Here’s how to claim your Nectar points when booking online with Hertz:

  1. If you have a Promotional Code bonus points voucher for Hertz, enter the six digit PC code into the ‘Promotional Code’ field of the booking form when making your booking.
  2. If you do not have a Promotional Code, don’t worry – you can still collect points.
  3. When you reach the ‘Review & Book’ stage of the booking process, select Nectar from the Frequent Traveller/Loyalty drop down list. You should then enter the last 11 digits of your Nectar card number into the Frequent Traveller/Loyalty card number field, without any spaces. You must do this regardless of whether you are using a bonus points voucher.

Once your rental has been completed (i.e. you have returned the car or van), your points will be added onto your card within 28 days.

Hawkwell Van Hire – Harris Hire

Leave a reply

I’m delighted to welcome our newest advertiser, Harris Hire of Hawkwell, to the vanrental.co.uk directory. Harris Hire is based on Main Road in Hawkwell, near Hockley and Rochford in Essex.

Harris Hire offers an wide range of vans and lorries, including:

  • Short wheelbase vans
  • Long wheelbase vans
  • 3.5t curtainsiders with tail lift
  • 7.5t curtainsiders
  • 17.5t flat bed with crane
  • 8-seater LWB Sprinters with luxury seating and separate storage area – splitter vans

All vehicles come with unlimited mileage and Harris Hire offers a 24/7 service by arrangement. They will also provide a driver for your van for an additional hourly rate if required.

If you’d like to see your van hire company listed on vanrental.co.uk, click here for details of our advertising options.