Afternoon all,
Last night (as some of you will know) I arranged to hire a box van for this Saturday. I won't name the company I've used as I'm a little wary of falling foul of the name and shame rules.
Anyway, I'm worried about how this is all working out to be honest. The truck was supposed to be delivered at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. In actual fact it, it's just been delivered now. The two drivers have parked it in my flat car park, reversing it rather hard into a hedge to try and make it fit, have given me the keys and left. I have no paperwork of any sort, and although I have rung their office and had confirmed that my rental doesn't start until Saturday morning in the period between the delivery drivers ringing and them actually getting here, I'm feeling rather exposed.
The truck itself is a T reg, and is really pretty battered. I'm not that bothered as long as it is covered by breakdown insurance, but I am concerned that I have got no proof other than the photographs that I have just gone and taken, that it was delivered in this state.
I just sent an e-mail to the head office of the company asking for confirmation of the rental dates, for paperwork, for confirmation that my photos of the damage will indemnify me against that, for indemnification against anyone claiming against me for the hedge (especially as I can't move the truck as I'm not insured until Saturday), and for clarification on the arrangement for collection. At the moment I've been asked to just leave the keys inside one of the wheels. Frankly that makes me nervous, as what happens if the truck gets stolen?
All in all, I'm a bit worried. It seems like this could go wrong in all sorts of ways. Any thoughts from anyone?
Gord
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All you have mentioned is common practise, it is their responsibility until the hire starts and then theirs again once it is off hire - normally the delivery drivers will go through a sheet with you noting all the marks, if not then they may have left one in the van, if not there then you have not signed for any damage and are not responsible. As for the keys, that is also quite normal - I have done the same when working for hire companies in the past.
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Cheers TU, I've got an email from them confirming that they are responsible, so I'm much happier now.
If I'd known I'd have gone looking for parked boxvans and checked for keys - could have saved £200! :)
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+& just to add to your concerns, did you see the programme, a couple of months back, where a family loaded up their entire wordly goods, ready to make an early start, on their housemove, only for the van to de stolen during the night.
Double check your insurance, as well as your locks n keys!!
VB
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Yeah, I thought about that. Nothing's going in it until the morning I leave!
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Sounds OK to me - if you haven't got any paperwork, or signed anything, then how could they make a claim against you?
I'd regard the fact that it's battered as an advantage - I hired a van last year that was pristine. It was really difficult to cover up the little dent it acquired while it was in my care!
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I like that way of looking at it. Nice one.
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I hired a 15 year old Transit Luton with 300,000 miles, no 1st gear and it leaked diesel all down the road. But it was cheap, the leak wasnt near anything hot and when I told them, they said sorry, when your done, we will give you a discount next time.
And they did. Plus they rented me a nearly new van the next time too.
Your situation sounds mild compared to what some companies will hire you!
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We hired an F reg Luton Tranny van to move house a few years ago. Two of the most interesting "features" of the vehicle in question were the numerous cogs attached to a pole behind the driver's seat and the fact that the passenger's floor mat seemed to be sitting in a pool of liquid that didn't smell all that different to diesel.
Also, when you accelerated hard, the fans would emit air completely independent of whether you'd switched them on on or not. There was a severe earthing problem in as much that a number of lights would illuminate when you braked. That's another thing. The brakes seemed to apply themselves worryingly slowly; the pedal was more like a request to possibly think about slowing down slightly rather than stopping the van itself. The ignition barrel was hanging down after numerous theft attemts - the odometer stated it had done only 40,000 miles (clearly a 5 was missing from there) and the alarm had a habit of sounding in mid journey.
That being said, we managed to fit a hell of a lot of stuff in it. It paled into insignificance though when the neighbours across the road, also moving on the same day hired an articulated lorry with an army of people to help them.
Needless to say, I'm not going to name the company!
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when we moved, i hired a sprinter lwb - think it was £70 for the day, but boy could it shift!! And it had the rotating beacon on the top....
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Drive Your Way - If anything can, TerraCan
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I'm seriously tempted by some flashing amber lights for my Terracan..
www.emergencyequipmentshop.co.uk/index.php?cPath=3...9
I would like the blues, but the police may not... :-))))
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Drive Your Way - If anything can, TerraCan
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>>I hired a van last year that was pristine.
>>It was really difficult to cover up the little dent it acquired while it was in my care!
>>
In years past Transit Luton type vans had a very light fragile body.
IIRC it was in order to avoid being classed as a lorry or some such dodge.
It was so so easy to damage the alloy panels that full insurance was never an option.
So I know that concern about even bumps from the inside when loading it.
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As Henry K says, aluminium bodies are very easily damaged and expensive to repair. they are lighter and cheaper though.
Another point to bear in mind is that the average 3.5t luton with a timber / composite body and a tail lift can probably carry just over a tonne no matter how big it is, and the penalties for overloading are severe.
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I hired a Luton some years back from a company that printed t-shirts! They had a van and apprently just rented it out as a sideline. It was very old, battered about and in a pretty poor state. As I would be returning it outside of business hours, I was instructed to park it in front of their office and put the keys through their letter box, which I duly did. The next day I received a call from the company asking when I would be taking their van back. It turned out they'd had a break-in (supposedly?!) and someone had stolen the keys and the van. From memory I had one call from the police, gave a statement and that was it. Never heard any more on the matter.
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The standard Transit Luton, especially the diesel, is an absolute dog of a vehicle new, ages fast in the hands of hirers and is always purgatory to have anything to do with. One I hired once had just come back from Hull, Billingsgate or somewhere of the sort and had fishy water slopping about in the water traps liberally scattered through the load area. Roller shutter back doors don't work properly. The whole thing rattles incessantly. The aerodynamics are appalling and the fuel consumption heavy despite incredibly slow journey times.
Hard luck. Take aspirins and try not to think about it.
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Reading all that, I'm really pleased that I've gone for a 7.5 tonner. I did look at a Transit Luton, but wasn't very convinced. I think one of those huge Iveco vans would take more..
Anyway, I've nearly finished packing everything up now. Of course that means that 90% is in boxes so I'm 10% of the way through the task :-(
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Don't forget your reduced speed limits!!! Also, if it has a speed limiter fitted remember you are not allowed in the 3rd lane on a motorway!!
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if you are still reading this gordon m make sure the vehicle satisfies the road traffic act before you move the thing eg,
tyres with tread
handbrake/footbrake working satisfactorily
all light/horn working
wipers working with water
and dont forget to check ALL levels as well
sorry if this has already been said.
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\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Cheers for all the advice guys, all worth looking at. I have to say the nearside front tyre hasn't got too long to live by the looks of it. Is it 1.6 mm for this sort of vehicle?
Gord.
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Cheers for all the advice guys, all worth looking at. I have to say the nearside front tyre hasn't got too long to live by the looks of it. Is it 1.6 mm for this sort of vehicle? Gord.
Nope, tyre depth on vehicles over 3.5t are 1mm.
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