PHH Vehicle Management and vehicle rental firm Ryder are joining forces in the UK to offer a vehicle management package which has reduced running costs of the Ministry of Defence's white fleet in Germany by £9 million each year. In 1996 the two companies united to win the fleet services contract for British Forces Germany which combined the strengths of each to manage a fleet of 2,500 and has resulted in a 27% reduction in vehicle management costs.

The consortium now believes it can bring such savings to the UK, with gas, electric and water companies as its prime target. PHH/Ryder is approaching 60 utilities with a combined fleet of about 108,000 vehicles, ranging from cars and light vans, to trucks and roadsweepers, offering its new vehicle management package. Under the new arrangement PHH and Ryder manage - with joint control - 381,000 vehicles in the UK, buy and sell more than 32,000 vehicles a year, run 40 vehicle workshops with 4,537 staff.

The partnership is designed to unite PHH's core skills of fleet management, contract hire, accident management and fuel management with Ryder's expertise in maintenance, workshop management and logistics. John Wisdom, marketing director for Ryder, said the partnership was setting itself goals of reducing utilities' transport costs by 20%, improving vehicle availability and utilisation and offering 'flexible solutions to meet evolving needs through a partnership approach based on working closer to the customer'.

This latest announcement comes as PHH/Ryder waits to hear if, together with Interleasing, it has won the £400 million contract to manage the MoD's 10,000-strong UK-based white fleet. The three companies, united under the banner Fleetserv, are competing for the contract against Lex Service.