not strictly taxi but of relevance to our tradeLet’s Move In London: “Every shared car takes between 9-15 cars off the road”
A car sharing service may be just what infrequent London drivers are crying out for, but how would this sort of fleet be managed in reality?
Iftikhar Uddin operates a car rental fleet under the business name Let’s Move In London. The fleet comprises over 50 cars, and is currently looking to acquire 20 more.
We caught up with Uddin to find out more about how the business manages its fleet.
What type of vehicles are in your fleet and how did you choose them?
We have a variety of cars including Vauxhall Zafiras, Volkswagen Polos, Peugeots, Hondas – a wide range.
Do you rely on any fleet telematics or driver assistance technology?
Yes – Let’s Move In London works through car sharing platform Drivy, who provides the technology for our vehicles. Known as Open Technology, it allows car drivers to find, instantly book and unlock our cars without having to meet us in person.
How do you fund your fleet?
We’ve used a mix of our own personal savings, loans and finance deals.
Does your carbon footprint matter to you? What do you do to keep emissions and fuel costs down?
European research shows that every shared car takes between 9 and 15 cars off the road, so yes this is important.
Car owners have their cars sitting idle for 96.5% of the time, according to the RAC, and this is a huge waste.
Peer to peer car sharing is good for the environment. To keep emissions and fuel costs down I look to only include environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient cars in my fleet.
How have you future-proofed your fleet? What changes will your business look to make as it scales up?
With the 20 new vehicles that we’re looking to add to our fleet, they will likely be Smart cars because they’re convenient, small and easy to manage, plus our business will be prepared for the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone regulations.
As we continue to scale up, we need to work with partners such as Zero Car Wash to help us manage the fleet and ensure great rental experiences. Such services are vital because they help us with monitoring the health of our cars, damage checks and cleaning after rentals.
Would you use a fleet management provider or do you prefer to keep your fleet in-house? Why?
We’re a small family business, so we both work as a team to manage the fleet – that’s my 3 sons, my wife – as well as partnering with Zero Car Wash.
What have you found to be the biggest challenge with fleet management?
Penalty Charge Notices – like any other rental agency, all fines are sent to my address
Penalty Charge Notices – like any other rental agency, all fines are sent to my address as the owner of the vehicles. We work with our partner Drivy to ensure that the liability is correctly transferred to the driver and all costs covered.
What would be your dream car?
It’s hard to say but once I have driven say a Bugatti Veyron or a Ferrari La Ferrari, I know I would never feel the same getting back into my humble Audi A5!
If you could go on a road trip anywhere, where would you go?
Around the world in 80 days in a motorhome!