Many people are often surprised when they learn that their contract hire company may never see the vehicle they are leasing.
However once the customer has placed an order, the contract hire company requests the car or van from the supplying dealership, the dealership receives the vehicle from the manufacturer, they then give it its pre-delivery inspection (PDI) and the vehicle is delivered to the driver by an agency.
Yet according to Phil Elms, sales director at Sandicliffe Motor Contracts, there should be greater involvement by the leasing company, who should at least carry out its own vehicle checks prior to onward delivery. “We adopt a far tighter supply process than most contract hire and fleet management companies,” said Phil.
“We micromanage every aspect of the supply chain, ensuring each vehicle is brought to our own PDI depot so that our team can make a comprehensive set of checks prior to its onward delivery using Sandicliffe employed drivers.
“This has huge advantages in terms of quality control, because any potential concerns are managed by us, and not left as a timeconsuming burden for the driver and fleet manager to resolve.”
Phil explains that the 2 ‘touch points’ at the start and end of each vehicle’s contract can be the most stressful for any customer leasing their cars and vans.
“That moment a vehicle is delivered, its got to be right,” said Phil. “The driver does not want their day disrupting due to vehicle problems, and nor does the fleet manager.
“Similarly, when the vehicle is collected at the end of the contract, everyone wants this to go smoothly. Yet disputes about vehicle condition, recharges and fair wear and tear can be a real frustration to customers.
“To overcome this, rather than employ agency drivers to ship the car off to auction, all of our vehicles are returned to our depot so that we can carry out a post-lease audit and liaise professionally with the customer if we believe there are any issues which they may not be aware of.
“By seeing vehicles at the start and end of every contract has no detrimental impact at all on lead times, but is a huge benefit for our customers and their drivers.”
For more information about Sandicliffe Motor Contracts’ approach to contract hire, please call Phil Elms on 01159 466 466 or email [email protected]
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