KEEPING on top of your fleet of vans as well as trying to run a business means you are likely to have a lot of plates spinning at one time.

If you’ve got too much on those plates, then perhaps outsourcing the management of your van fleet could be a solution.

This could take away many of the headaches, such as providing maintenance of existing vehicles to the more complex challenges of running the fleet day-to-day. Outsourcing can reduce costs, increase efficiency, improve driver safety and free-up time.

After all, there’s a lot to think about:

  • Who is driving what, where?
  • How much fuel is being used?
  • What maintenance is required?
  • What happens if a vehicle is off the road
  • What if one of my drivers has an accident

Those are just a few of the what ifs. Before you know it, looking after your vans is taking up valuable time. Time which you really need to run your core business.

How can outsourcing help?

Northgate Vehicle Hire is a serial winner of the Business Vans, Van Fleet Management award, so who better to provide advice?

Northgate provides bespoke fleet management to create solutions for each of the key management areas: vehicle management and maintenance, accidents, fuel and risk.

This cradle-to-grave service helps clients identify fleet efficiencies and cost savings. Its 12 months+ offering is a minimum-term product that’s a flexible alternative to contract hire or ownership.

It offers improved hire rates, with a shorter minimum commitment, without penalties. Service, Maintenance and Repair (SMR) and replacement vehicles are included as standard.

Uniquely, clients may swap their vehicle once during the hire term should an alternative vehicle become necessary. Vehicles may be customised and branded to client specifications.

The Northgate UK fleet is circa 52,000 LCVs and 1,400 cars, and it can supply virtually any type of vehicle through our outsourced supply chain.

In the 12 months since the Redde Northgate group was formed, the Fleet Management offering has been strengthened – based upon feedback from Fleet Managers, and utilising group solutions.

It offers a complete fleet outsource solution or the total flexibility to selectively hand-pick only those services required, focusing upon safety, compliance, vehicle downtime, cost efficiency and increased control at every stage of the customers’ operations.

Northgate’s Fleet Management offering includes:

  • A flexible account managed solution – Its fleet management support service looks after vehicles for whole of life, from dealing with compliance to cost control, leaving customers to run their business with an account manager on hand if needed.
  • Administration of service, MOT, tax and insurance renewals and repair of defects.
  • Communications with drivers, letting them know where they need to be and when for any service events.
  • Minimised vehicle downtime through mobile servicing, evening’ and emergency repair services.
  • Fleet planning and scheduling to keep the time vans are off the road to a minimum.
  • A large network of workshops across the UK.

Northgate said that over the past year it has saved customers on average £63,000 (average data based on two Northgate customers having approximately 2,000 vehicles on hire) from sourcing alternative parts to ensuring workshops are capturing repairs that are still under manufacturers’ warranty.

For van operators, Northgate said it is vital to become an extension to their team. Its Customer Support Centre (CSC) is now a one-stop shop for all vehicle requirements and queries – saving customers the inconvenience of ringing multiple branches to find out availability.

Northgate has also invested in technology to enable the Customer Service team to work remotely, without affecting service levels. 80% of them have the ability to undertake roles entirely from home, giving added flexibility if there are spikes in demand and allowing us to be available to support Customers through the current uncertain times.

It has also rolled out a suite of online meeting capabilities allowing the team to conduct highly effective meetings and reviews in a secure environment.

Northgate’s bespoke packages help customers looking for minimum term contracts, giving them stability with their rentals. These terms run for up to 48 months – giving customers the assurance that their future van rental requirements are taken care of.

It also understands that such a commitment is not required by every business, so offer total flexibility, allowing organisations to rent from us for as long as they need to.

Click here to find out more about Northgate Vehicle Hire

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