As summer approaches, the vehicle rental industry experiences a significant uptick in demand. With more people hitting the road for the summer holidays, rental companies face increased risks. From managing a higher volume of rentals to ensuring the safety and satisfaction of customers, summer presents unique challenges that require robust risk management strategies. Prohire Software’s Risk tool is the perfect solution to address these seasonal demands, ensuring rental companies can navigate the summer surge effectively.
In this blog post, we worked with Alexi Paxman, Director at Southern Self-Drive, a family-owned vehicle rental company with over 60 years of experience serving Portsmouth, Fareham, and the surrounding areas. Alexi shared valuable insights into how Southern Self-Drive, known for its commitment to customer service and operational excellence, effectively manages risk during the busier summer months.
With her industry insights and mentorship from her father, Richard, Alexi detailed their challenges and how they effectively leverage Prohire Risk to navigate peak periods.
During summer, the vehicle rental industry must contend with several heightened risks:
- Increased Rental Volume: The peak season brings a surge in rental activity, leading to more transactions, a higher turnover of vehicles, and increased pressure on staff and resources.
Alexi comments, “Yes, the summer season presents significant challenges due to increased rental activity. We see a higher volume of one-off hires and ‘walk-in’ customers during this period.”
- Driver Safety: With more rentals come more drivers, some of whom may be inexperienced or unfamiliar with the vehicles they are renting. This increases the risk of accidents and vehicle damage.
- Vehicle Wear and Tear: The increased usage of vehicles during summer can lead to accelerated wear and tear, making regular maintenance and real-time monitoring crucial.
- Fraud and Theft: The higher volume of transactions can also increase opportunities for fraudulent activities and theft, requiring vigilant monitoring and preventive measures.
Prohire Risk: Your Summer Risk Management Partner
Prohire Risk is designed to help vehicle rental companies manage these summer-specific challenges, providing the tools to ensure a safe and profitable peak season.
Efficient Driver Screening
Prohire Risk enhances driver screening processes, which is crucial during the busy summer months. With more rentals happening daily, it’s vital to quickly and accurately assess each driver’s risk profile. Prohire Risk uses advanced algorithms to analyse driving history and behaviour, ensuring that only responsible drivers get behind the wheel. This reduces the likelihood of accidents, protecting the company’s assets and reputation.
Real-Time Vehicle Monitoring
Summer rentals often mean longer trips and higher mileage, leading to increased wear and tear. Prohire Risk offers real-time vehicle monitoring, alerting companies to potential maintenance issues before they become serious problems. This proactive approach helps maintain the fleet’s health, ensuring vehicles remain in top condition for all renters.
Fraud Prevention and Detection
With the increase in rental volume, the risk of fraud also rises. Prohire Risk employs sophisticated fraud detection mechanisms to identify suspicious activities, such as identity theft and fraudulent payments. By flagging these issues early, Prohire Risk helps companies avoid financial losses and maintain customer trust.
Alexi notes, “We were motivated to adopt Prohire Risk due to recurring issues with ‘walk-in’ hires or last-minute hires, which extended into prolonged periods of unpaid rentals. This type of hire seemed to be causing financial and logistical challenges, which you can imagine during the busier periods, added unnecessary stress.”
Regulatory Compliance
Ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal regulations is particularly challenging during peak seasons. Prohire Risk simplifies this process by maintaining up-to-date records and automating compliance checks. This ensures all rentals are conducted within legal guidelines, reducing the risk of costly fines and legal issues.
Prepare for a Safe and Successful Summer with Prohire Risk
As the summer brings opportunities and challenges to the vehicle rental industry, Prohire Risk stands out as an essential tool for effective risk management. By enhancing driver screening, enabling real-time vehicle monitoring, preventing fraud, and ensuring regulatory compliance, Prohire Risk equips rental companies to handle the summer surge with confidence.
Don’t let the peak season catch you off guard. Embrace Prohire Risk and ensure a safe, efficient, and profitable summer for your vehicle rental business.
Alexi shares specific examples of Prohire Risk’s effectiveness: “Prohire Risk has proven invaluable in numerous situations. Although I specifically mentioned 1 day or last-minute hires as the worst culprits, we had a customer flag up on the risk system for a pre-booked campervan hire. It was a woman as an additional driver who had pre-booked months in advance, hiring out of her local area. She was flagged for being a bad payer by a different rental company. As a result, we did not risk hiring her.
I could give you plenty of examples of individuals being rejected from our Portsmouth branch, who then try to hire from our Fareham branch. Prohire Risk encourages inter-branch communication by allowing us to create profiles for these customers with their contact details, licence number, and a description of why we should not hire them.”
Fraud Prevention and Compliance
Regarding fraud prevention, Alexi adds: “While I couldn’t give you a specific example, we actively avoid hiring any individual who shows up on the Prohire Risk System. It is also useful for companies that receive warnings from United about fraudulent company names being used, as these can be added by anyone in the team and flagged to the front desk staff if they call & try to hire. We still get the odd one or two now and then, so we add them to the system for the future.”
Operational Impact
Prohire Risk also significantly enhances overall risk management. “Prohire Risk has enhanced our risk management by making staff more vigilant regarding customer behaviour. Logging customer details allows us to identify patterns that may indicate potential risks, so staff are savvy to these customers’ tactics,” Alexi explains.
While specific cost savings have not been quantified, Alexi notes that the absence of Prohire Risk increases the likelihood of renting to high-risk individuals. “Without the ability to perform credit checks, there’s no reliable way to determine a customer’s payment reliability. In some instances, we have experienced theft of tippers and the use of rental vehicles in illegal activities—information that cannot be discerned solely from a check code and proof of address.”
Customer Satisfaction
Prohire Risk contributes to customer satisfaction and safety by ensuring that vehicles are rented to reliable and trustworthy individuals. Alexi emphasises, “More often than not, individuals flagging up on Prohire Risk do not return their vehicle ready for the next customer, and unless you have a spare vehicle lying about or you can cross-hire one at short notice, you must let a customer down.”
Advice for Others
Finally, Alexi offers advice for other rental companies: “Implementing Prohire Risk is a quick and efficient process that can potentially save your company substantial amounts of money and prevent misuse of your fleet. Logging customer information takes only a few seconds but provides significant long-term benefits. We have seen ‘offenders’ on our risk system try to hire from us again, but of course, as all staff have access to the risk system, they instantly have all the information they need to make an informed decision.”
Don’t let the peak season catch you off guard. Embrace Prohire Risk and ensure a safe, efficient, and profitable summer for your vehicle rental business.
