Particularly in big cities, they are already a familiar sight: shared cars. In the UK, Jungheinrich has investigated whether the concept behind the shared car can also be translated to the mobile material handling market. The result is a new rental concept - supported by an app - called Power Buy the Hour. Sharing a forklift with neighbours is just a small step.
Before developing the new concept, Jungheinrich carried out extensive research in the UK into customer needs for rental trucks. The main conclusion was that the current 'from 9 to 5' approach to short-term rentals no longer fits these times, when operations continue 24/7. As many as 61 per cent of the 300 respondents shared that view. Moreover, a majority expect to benefit if rental trucks were delivered faster. And 21 per cent stated that the payment models no longer fit their needs.
With these findings in mind, Jungheinrich has developed a new rental concept where customers pay by the hour. They can choose from different packages 600, 800, 1000 or 1200 hours and a minimum term of 12 months. Does it turn out during the year that they need more hours? Then they can buy extra hours or switch to another package. Neil Warren, director of rental at Jungheinrich UK, says: "Some companies may only use a rental truck for two or three hours a day. This model is much more interesting for them. They now get an invoice every month for the number of hours they have used."
Part lift truck
A new app was developed with the rental concept, which gives insight into the status of rental trucks at any time. Customers can see at which location at what time a hire truck has been deployed. If an unauthorised employee starts driving the truck at an unusual time, the app sends a signal. Every month, customers can receive a pdf with information on the use of the trucks. "The focus is now on combustion trucks, but eventually we want to apply this concept to all trucks," says Warren.
With this concept and with the app, it is only a small step to a share truck. "Suppose two adjacent companies each only need a forklift for a few hours a day. Why couldn't they share that truck? Or think of airports, where many small businesses wait to get started. We could set up an unmanned 'forklift station' there with several trucks ready to go. The user just has to 'swipe' his rental card and the truck of his preference is automatically released. We know who takes the truck and send an invoice at the end of the month", Warren said. Power Buy The Hour is already running in the UK and will also be introduced in Poland in the second quarter. This will be followed by rollout to other countries.
