Study reveals fleet management practices in the Netherlands

A new study into fleet management processes among Netherlands rental companies has highlighted where rental companies could make improvements to the management procedures, particularly in areas such as disposal of the fleet and knowledge of maintenance and repair costs.

Netherlands rental consultant ConsuRent surveyed over 100 fleet owners over the past six months - including rental companies and the equipment divisions of contracting companies - and revealed the results at a workshop held at the RAI exhibition centre on the opening day of the International Rental Exhibition (IRE).

The survey found that half of all companies who have fleet investment plans do not have fleet disposal plans - in other words are considering and planning what equipment to buy, but do not have a well thought out plan to sell these machines at the end of their economic lives.

A similar lack of detail was found among some renters when it came to understanding the precise costs involved in running their fleets. Almost 28% of respondents had no data on repair costs, and fully 40% do not know the split between repair and maintenance costs.

Ron van Es, founder and managing director of ConsuRent, told IRN that the survey revealed a historical focus among rental companies on commercial and operational activities and not on fleet management.

Almost 60% of companies outsource their equipment inspections, and there is a more general trend towards outsourcing, with the desire to outsource maintenance and repair activities also a clear trend in the survey.

Respondents said that total annual maintenance, repair and inspection costs should be at 5-8% of the total fleet value.

The findings were presented by Arnold Grootveld, an experienced rental manager in the Netherlands, who carried out the analysis for ConsuRent.

A full report on the findings will be included in the July-August issue of International Rental News (IRN) magazine.