Fleet management company Eqstra Fleet Management (EFM) has entered into a three-year contract with UK-based software and e-trading delivery company Fleetondemand.

The contract, signed on February 18, involves Fleetondemand supplying Eqstra with a vehicle rental system that is fully integrated not only with Eqstra suppliers through eXtensible Markup Language to get real-time availability and make reservations but also with EFM customers, giving them the flexibility to book vehicles at any time and place using the Web.

EFM MD Murray Price explains that the company reviewed the solutions being incorporated by global leasing companies, which led to the introduction of Fleetondemand.

“The corporate rental brokering model is well entrenched in the UK and the Fleetondemand solution is widely recognised as a market leader in that market. The solution enables us to adopt First World technology at a fraction of what it would have cost us to try to develop a similar solution locally.

“In addition, the Fleetondemand solu- tion is highly flexible and configurable, which enabled us to develop and launch a proved ‘plug and play’ solution within three months, suited to our local market needs.”

Owing to EFM having multiple suppliers on board, the customer is offered a one-stop shop, reducing the administrative burden of dealing with more than one rental supplier.

The Fleetondemand solution will directly benefit Eqstra customers, which, in turn, will assist with EFM customer retention and acquisition. The solution is designed to reduce the cost of rental provision as it leverages off a number of different rental providers.

In addition, the system consolidates all the clients’ rental administration and simplifies the process of booking and managing rental spend.

“For us, the most important aspect of the system is that it can automate most of the administration involved in rentals and, because reports flow back directly into our core system, we can provide our customers with a single fleet invoice. More importantly, we can prove the cost savings and value that the client realises by using the solution,” Price says.

This is the first business-to-business service of this nature to be launched onto the South African market and he believes that it will make a significant difference to customers’ operations.

“Part of the reason for signing with Fleetondemand is their long-term strategy. Fleetondemand recently signed a contract with motor insurance company RAC, in the UK, which will allow the company to further develop its solution to include other fleet-related services.

“As part of our contract, we have direct access to any improvements that are made on the solution. This allows us to learn and grow with our supplier, ensuring we keep abreast of the latest developments. We are naturally keen to continue the partnership and [are eager] to learn and grow our value-added provision to the benefit of our customers through this and a potentially expanded contract,” concludes Price.