Compliant vans for Rochford Plant Hire

Rochford Plant Hire provides vehicles for its sister company M&S Water Services (Utilities) Ltd for its work with a range of major water companies.

M&S Water Services (Utilities) vehicles are expected to meet strict standards laid down by the company’s clients, which means Rochford requires its own suppliers to be trusted and consistent when it comes to the quality of their service.

For the past four years, Rochford Plant Hire has trusted Reflex Vehicle Hire to provide vehicles that meet its requirements on time, every time.

The vehicles have a range of bespoke requirements, including waterproof ply-lining, sinks and heavy-duty towbars, along with unique livery.

Phil Sweeney, Rochford Plant Hire Compliance Manager, said:

We send a list of requirements to Reflex Vehicle Hire and they supply a one-stop-shop all the way down to seat covers. We order vehicles and they know what we need, so I rely on them as a trusted supplier to deliver vehicles to the specification we expect.

They know our business, so we don’t have to keep referring back to them once an order is placed. The only things we might need to change are delivery dates or locations. I don’t think other companies could provide a service like that.

The close working relationship extends to trouble-shooting operational issues with vehicles, such as when vans were experiencing clutch issues, which was related to towing heavy loads; Reflex swapped vehicles for heavy duty variants that could cope more easily with the workload.

Reflex’s flexible approach includes arranging in-field servicing to avoid vehicle downtime, with mobile engineers visiting the site in the early morning, so that work is completed by the time drivers arrive to take out their vans.

Phil said:

Reflex go out of their way to provide what we need. We are very happy with the service and we have a really good working relationship with the team.

In addition to high service levels, Rochford Plant Hire also benefits from access to the latest tracking and dashcam technology as part of the Reflex Vehicle Hire ‘safety as standard’ commitment.

Tracking data has been used for a variety of purposes, ranging from proving that M&S Water Services (Utilities) drivers were on-site at the time scheduled by a client, to checking vehicle availability for urgent jobs or identifying any issues with driving standards where employees could benefit from advice or training.

The company also uses instant alerts when vehicles enter the London congestion charging zone, to ensure fees are paid and penalties avoided, something that will become increasingly useful as more towns and cities introduce charges within Clean Air Zones.

As M&S Water Services (Utilities) is high-profile because of its vehicle livery, dashcam footage is used to verify claims about any on-road incidents and defend against inaccurate accusations.

Phil added:

We are really pleased with Reflex and have recommended them, which has led to another business appointing Reflex Vehicle Hire as its supplier.

We have been approached by other hire companies but can’t see any reason to move to anyone else.