Fleet briefs: Latest news from R2C, Vehicle Remarketing Association, Radius, Addison Lee, G3 Vehicle Auctions, Lookers Leasing and Trakm8

Lookers Leasing and Trakm8 join forces

Lookers Leasing has announced a new partnership with Trakm8 to offer telematics to its corporate fleet customers across the UK and Ireland.

The integration of Trakm8's telematics solutions will allow Lookers Leasing to provide fleet operators with a suite of tools to monitor driver behaviour, vehicle health, and other critical aspects of fleet management.

Key features of the new telematics offering include driver behaviour monitoring, vehicle health and dashboard warning light monitoring, service and MOT reminders, vehicle checks and tracking, private/business mileage reporting, EV telematics, first notification of loss, fleet risk management and fleet decarbonisation reporting.

In addition, Lookers Leasing will offer Trakm8’s RH600 4G integrated telematics camera.

Matthew Stokell, sales director at Lookers Leasing, said: “We are thrilled to enter a fresh new partnership with Trakm8. Their telematics offering is the best on the market due to the level of insight they can provide.

“This insight will enhance the experience for our corporate fleet customers. We see our new telematics offering as a crucial step to delivering an amazing customer experience and service.”

R2C reports record levels of customer support success

Fleet software specialist R2C has reported record high levels of customer service during the first quarter of 2024.

The firm logged 11,861 customer interactions in the period from January to March from the 126,276 users of the platform, with almost all – 99.55% – resolved within four hours.

R2C monitors every customer interaction, either through online chat, email, telephone call, internet or face-to-face, and these can range from a forgotten password to more significant technical queries.

Managing director Debbie Fox (pictured) said the results from the first quarter are a direct result of investments being made in new workshop software products such as finance Integrations, as well as a continuing focus on expanding the customer service team.

She added: “We’re seeing more and more fleet workshops move over to digital systems to streamline their operations and ensure vehicles are not off the road for a second longer than they need to be.

“As this digital transition continues, we appreciate that customers need support and, in some cases, reassurance as they transition to a new way of working – we’re happy to do this and the results of our quarter one performance show we are providing very high levels of customer support.”

Addison Lee announce strategic partnership with HQ

Addison Lee has signed a strategic partnership agreement with HQ to expand its ground transportation offering.

By integrating with HQ’s SummitGround platform, Addison Lee will be able to tap into the HQ Connect network of supplier partners in geographies worldwide, providing their clients with a consistent global experience.

"We're thrilled to partner with Addison Lee, a renowned leader in the UK private hire and taxi industry," said Amiad Solomon, CEO and co-founder of HQ.

"This partnership allows us to support millions of rides across the globe, furthering our mission to provide businesses with a powerful, cost-effective, and sustainable global ground transportation solution for all their corporate mobility needs.”

Addison Lee’s CEO, Liam Griffin, added: “For years London’s businesses have trusted us to provide them with best-in-class, tailored transport solutions, including stress-free, premium journeys to and from the airport.

“With business travel on the rise, our partnership with HQ provides our customers with door-to-door global transport solutions, meaning they can enjoy a quality travel experience both overseas and at home.” 

Exclusive launch sale at G3 Bedford  

G3 Vehicle Auctions has announced a new sales calendar for their recently acquired auction site in Bedford.

A launch sale, now scheduled for today (Wednesday, June 19), will feature more than 250 vehicles from a mix of new and existing G3 vendors, with a full sale schedule in place from the June 24. 

Significant investment in G3 Bedford has doubled the company’s operational footprint to more than 28 acres, increasing stock capacity and servicing a broader buyer base. 

From June 24, G3 will implement a new schedule of three sale events weekly covering Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

These sales will mirror the options offered at their G3 Castleford centre, with Monday offering the Essential sale, Wednesday offering the LCV and Economy sale and Friday providing the Elite fleet stock.

Group auction manager, Liam Corcoran, said: “We are excited to now announce the launch of the G3 Bedford site to both our existing G3 customers and the new wave of buyers we have seen apply over the last few days as we lead up to the sale.

“It is inspiring to see the ever-growing list of buyers already booked in to join the auctioneer team and I, for viewings of the vehicles pre-sale where we look forward to meeting dealers to assist walking the lines ahead of auction.” 

EV battery health checks are subject of July’s VRA member meeting

Battery health checks and their impact on the used electric vehicle (EV) market will be the main discussion at the July member meeting of the Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA).

Being held at Cox Automotive in Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire on Thursday, July 25, it will include contributions from battery health experts Aviloo, Altellium and Clearwatt, as well as the results of a VRA survey on the best way to apply battery health checks to the remarketing process.

Also, Robin Brundle of Recyclus will provide a briefing on EV battery recycling, handling and logistics.

VRA chair Philip Nothard said: “We know that used car and van buyers have serious concerns about the possibility of battery degradation and failure when they consider an EV, and battery health checks are the best potential solution to allaying those fears.

“We’ll really be drilling down into the subject at this meeting, looking at the pros and cons of the different technologies available, practical issues such as when and where tests are needed, how to present the information produced to trade and retail buyers, and the potential impact on vehicle values.

“This is a subject that we know our members want to know more about and that reliable, impartial information is not always easy to obtain, so we’re expecting a high level of attendance.”

A discussion about the impact of the general election result on remarketing will also take place at the meeting. The names of those taking part are the process of being finalised but will include representation from across the sector.

Radius’ UK Fuels network soars above 4,100 sites with Valero agreement

Radius is celebrating the network’s growth to more than 4,100 sites as a result of its strategic agreement with Valero.

The agreement sees an additional 390 Texaco and Valero sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland becoming part of the UK Fuels network, joining the 410 Texaco sites that are already on the network.

This means that UK Fuels fuel cards will now be accepted at all Texaco and Valero sites in the UK.

Radius’ agreement with Valero, which includes the resale of the Fastfuel and Texaco the Business fuel cards, started in the 1990s, and its fuel cards are accepted on the UK Fuels network.

This longstanding relationship has developed over the years, with Valero expanding their Texaco brand and Radius growing their UK Fuels network year after year.

Jonathan Haseler, chief revenue officer at Radius, said: “Surpassing the 4,100 sites milestone is a great step forward for Radius and Valero’s customers, as it makes fuel even more accessible.

“Our solutions add real value for our clients, and our UK-wide fuel card offering is unparalleled. Our agreement with Valero and the Texaco brand is one of our longest-standing, and this new agreement will allow it to flourish for many more years.”

Radius offers technology-led solutions to businesses in 19 countries across five continents. Founded in 1990, the company is headquartered in Crewe.