Enterprise Rent-A-Car is urging fleets to place greater emphasis on the planning and analysis of vehicle requirements during contract negotiations with rental companies.

Rob Ingram, director of business rental at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, said: “It’s increasingly important to understand the detail of your business transport requirements and plan how they will be met.

“Organisations need to analyse their rental needs carefully, using the tendering or negotiation process to understand in detail how different providers are set up to offer the best, most cost-effective services."

In addition to looking at top line numbers such as the daily rental, delivery charges and size of network, Enterprise is advising businesses to pay closer attention to other key areas:

•  Analyse where your employees, offices, suppliers and customers are located in order to establish where you will most likely need vehicles, and then check that the rental provider has branches close to these locations.
• Drill down into the detail of delivery charges: some contracts have a limited mileage delivery and collection (D&C) radius and may charge extra for additional miles – and this can soon add up.
• Check how providers will help to enforce the company’s rental and transport policies in order to help reduce costs and emissions. This could include restricting what vehicle types your employees can hire, as well as other alternatives for shorter journeys. Are they able to integrate that policy into the booking service, especially online? How do they manage exceptions, such as when larger or different vehicles are needed.
• How will your rental company support a sudden spike in requirements or a last minute booking? Are they able to source and deliver vehicles at short notice, even in times of high demand?
• What is the approach to agreeing accidental damage? Is there a transparent and fair process for monitoring and measuring damage that will incur a recharge?
• Is daily rental the only service required? Many businesses and government organisations now use car sharing initiatives operated on an hourly basis, with smaller vehicles to reduce the cost of shorter trips. However, monthly rental or longer term contracts may be more appropriate for specific projects or groups of employees. By analysing vehicle requirements in more detail, companies will get better value from the full range of rental solutions
• What reporting and management information is provided as part of the contract to establish value and provide greater understanding of the business’s needs? Is there a standard format or can these reports be tailored to suit specific requirements?

Ingram added: “Rental has become more complex but it’s also growing rapidly, with new services and options available to meet the burgeoning demand.

"Providers should be able to deliver against the changing needs of the customer, whether through new technology, new products, or more and closer branches.”