Case study: ‘The fleet is vulnerable to outside forces’

In the past few years a public sector fleet manager (who asked not to be named) has experienced one provider closing, two acquired and a fourth expanding too rapidly through acquisitions, resulting in a drop in service.

In the first instance he had an inkling the company was in decline. “We were in a two-way recharging situation,” he explains.

“They charged us for vehicle hire and we charged them for maintaining the vehicles at our workshops.

“But we began having difficulty getting paid. At the same time they were on our case within hours of invoicing us for vehicle hire for us to pay them.

“They then threatened to repossess the 40 vehicles we hired from them unless we bought them.

"Luckily our other provider came to the rescue and bought them as we didn’t have the capital.”

But his relationship with that provider has also soured.

“They have bought a number of companies that were going under but I don’t believe they have the resources to support those acquisitions,” he says.

He finds this provider less helpful than they used to be and he is having to reach for his contract more often.

As a result he is now reducing the number of vehicles he has with them.

Things went slightly smoother when his other two leasing providers were acquired by other leasing companies.

“What I’ve learned is that the fleet is vulnerable to outside forces,” he says.

“And the first situation with the supplier going bankrupt taught me that the supplier will look after themselves and you may be on the receiving end, in a negative sense.

“I think the wider issue is: don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”