Prévoté Location generates 26% of the turnover of the Prévoté group (Méru, 60110). And is thus one of the five entities out of nine of the group which practice the rental of vehicles. With Prévoté Transports SA, Transpicardie, Sopamex, Magetrans. Leasing builds customer loyalty. “The rental business is contracted for the year, which makes its business sustainable. The confinements of 2020 barely affected it”, underlines Stéphane Bouvry, purchasing manager of Prévoté.
Rental-trained drivers
to temp agencies.
Of the more than 400 Prévoté heavy-duty engines, 50% work under a rental contract, the majority of which with a driver. “Customers who own their fleet are struggling to find drivers and manage their absences, reports Mathieu Thienpont, director of operations. Prévoté offers them the right vehicle and provides trained and operational driving staff twelve months out of twelve. The use of temporary workers, which the tense social context makes necessary, is limited to the strict minimum. And we organize Prévoté training schools every year to guarantee our quality of service. This advantage allows us to obtain new customers. And brings to 95% the share of rental with driver at Prévoté Location. In addition, we complete our offer with daily availability to allow our customers to smooth out their peaks of activity. »
A dealer at home
The rental of vehicles with driver binds the carrier to its customer by an exclusive legal relationship. “The vehicle can be in the colors of the customer. We take care of its maintenance and repairs with no impact on the customer’s business thanks to the maintenance and repair contract we have with Renault Trucks, explains Stéphane Bouvry. The manufacturer operates directly on the road and at our delocalized sites in Soissons and Amiens or through its concessionaire, Établissements Lenormant, located in our integrated workshops in Méru and Persan. When the truck breaks down or passes its annual technical inspection, we replace it with its equivalent. »
3 to 4 million euros per year in vehicle renewal
Prévoté takes particular care of its rental fleet. “My vehicle TCO management includes the purchase price. But also the costs of use, maintenance, repair at a Renault Trucks site and the final resale price, comments Stéphane Bouvry. Once a year, I go around the rental fleet to eliminate trucks over five years old. I also plan renewals and renovations with a key account sales manager who knows the contract deadlines. It reallocates vehicles at the end of the contract. Or, if the customer so wishes, extends the contracts, subject to the signing by the customer of a clause sharing the risk of lengthening fixed assets. »
“Then all this data is submitted to the manager Jean-Stéphane Prévoté, who validates it. We thus spend between 3 and 4 million euros per year to renew our vehicles and buy new vehicles for each new contract or each contract renewal. Our fleet is mainly Renault Trucks and 100% Euro 6. As two to three trucks are stopped every day, we keep twenty five-year-old vehicles as relay vehicles. »
Transport liability limited by the rental
The management of the rented driver is carried out under a special legal regime. “The majority of our drivers are based on our sites for their pick-up and service purposes,” explains Stéphane Bouvry. Others are relocated to our customers such as Rosny-sous-Bois, Aubervilliers, Compiègne. Their social management is carried out remotely by telematics. Mathieu Thienpont adds: “This implies real autonomy and driver reliability. The organization is in fact tailor-made for the needs of the client. 24/6 management of operations maintains continuity of service. The exclusive rental contract with driver retains responsibility for the vehicle’s driving and maintenance operations with the lessor. It also gives the tenant that of the transport operations. The driver temporarily becomes his attendant during loading and unloading operations. If an incident occurs on the goods during these times, the tenant assumes the damage caused to the goods. »
Urban deliveries using CNG or electromobiles
Prévoté also leases 400 semi-trailers under seven-year contracts to bring them added value. The group secures them with a reversing radar and stepladders inserted between the longerons and deployable to access the platform. Stéphane Bouvry also follows the evolution of refrigeration units using gas, hydrogen or even kinetic electricity supplied by the SAF axle equipped with a dynamo unit. The purchasing manager is also in charge of the energy transition of the group’s fleet. Three gas-powered Scania carriers are already running for Cercle Vert and Scapnor customers. And Prévoté tested electric trucks from Renault Trucks and Volta Trucks for urban deliveries in Paris. Finally, for long distance, he is considering the B100.
