Because it is possible to book cars by the
hour and half-hour, it means that unlike some other solutions, multiple employees can use the same vehicles. There is also a hybrid solution, which
The SUPPLIER MARK WALKER, general manager UK, Zipcar
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF BENEFITS FOR CORPORATES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES. One is, if employees need to make a business journey by car, they can access existing Zipcar vehicles that are already out there, from their home if that’s convenient – and
very often it is. Some corporate customers prefer to have dedicated cars, so we can set up what is effectively a car-pool service for them. The cars are usually parked at the company’s premises, employees can access them 24/7, and we provide excel- lent management information about every single trip.
The TMC
CHRISTIAN GLEAVE, chief executive officer, Review Travel
WITH CAR-SHARING, IT DEPENDS ON THE CORPORATE – clearly some companies and organisations could benefit hugely from such schemes, but one suspects they are relatively few and far between. To my mind, the biggest challenge facing
car-sharing clubs looking to break into the corporate market is that, as I understand it, the vehicles have to be returned to their
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
original location – a business traveller heading overseas can’t leave the car at the airport, but would have to be accompanied by a ‘spare’ driver to take it back. The hybrid scheme works well for or- ganisations with a high volume of traffic between multiple sites, such as local authorities, but for those with only an occasional need for a car, such schemes are unlikely to be cost-effective. For very small businesses and sole
traders, the convenience and cost-saving of being able to book a locally-available vehicle could be an attractive option, but that presents another challenge – business meetings are often somewhat impromptu affairs, and cannot generally be arranged around the availability or otherwise of a car. Another challenge, for suppliers, is that,
for obvious commercial reasons, they tend to be centred in larger towns and cities, where public transport alternatives are generally readily available. Why take a car across London, for example, when it’s probably quicker to take the Underground? However, on the plus side, there are clearly organisations for which car-
we currently operate with a number of councils, where we ring-fence a number of cars during business hours, Monday to Friday, for their exclusive use. Outside those times, at evenings and weekends, any Zipcar member can use those cars. For the corporate client, there are also
three ‘hidden’ benefits that accrue. First, duty-of-care is taken care of; second, these cars will be much lower-emitting than the typical privately-owned car; and third, one of the unexpected benefits is that it eliminates the need to drive to work. If you need your own car for work, obviously you have to drive it there in the first place – once an employer provides a car-sharing service, people walk or cycle to work, or use public transport, reducing emissions still further.
sharing clubs could represent a real and valuable solution. The biggest bonus would seem to be the elimination of the employees’ need to use their own cars for business purposes. The more sophisticated clubs’ manage- ment information systems provide data on which to base cost-saving initiatives and which, incidentally, remove the po- tential for expense claim fraud; parking charges are drastically reduced, if not eliminated altogether; and the evidence to date indicates there is also a significant environmental benefit. The biggest advantage, however, is
the reassurance that the vehicles are of a consistently high standard. Employees may miss the familiarity of their own cars – the box of tissues on the back seat and the Tic Tacs in the glove compartment – but employers certainly won’t miss the duty- of-care worries. Car-sharing club membership is unlikely to be of benefit to more than a small segment of the corporate market, but for those for whom it works, it works well.
BBT MAY/JUNE 2016 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128