As drivers and car and van fleet operators get ever more concerned about environmental issues, a new breed of car and van hire business is emerging; green vehicle hire.

The last few years have seen several green car and van hire businesses appear in the UK rental market and the trend looks set to continue - with major hire operators like Hertz also now marketing green car hire.

While environmentally-friendly car and van rental is certainly a worthwhile goal, I must admit to some uncertainty about what it actually means - after all, most of these vehicles are still running on petroleum-based fuels and are still occupying a space on our crowded roads.

To satisfy my curiosity and cure my ignorance, I decided to look into the concept of eco-friendly vehicle hire a little more closely to find out what green vehicle hire companies are really doing to help the environment.

The approach I took was to search the internet for UK hire companies advertising themselves as green, or as offering green/eco-friendly vehicle hire. I then tried to ascertain from their websites what it is they do to make a positive contribution to the environment. Here’s what I found - these are taken from a number of different companies - no one company does all of this, although some come close:

• Only using vehicles that are exempt from the London Congestion Charge
• Providing carbon-neutral vehicles
• Offering hybrid/electric cars and vans
• Purchasing carbon offsets to equal the emissions from their rental vehicles
• Making donations to environmental charities/education schemes
• Offering hire vans and cars that run on 100% biodiesel
• Running their business in a eco-friendly manner - for example, buying electricity generated from a renewable source, strict recycling, uprated building insulation, etc.
• Only providing vehicles with the lowest CO2 emissions ratings in their class

As you can see, there are a number of truly worthwhile approaches to car and van hire in the list above - plus a few that are hard to put a value on.

I don’t think there is any doubt that the vehicle rental industry has a role to play in protecting the environment; their short fleet renewal cycles should also mean that they start with an inbuilt advantage over most vehicle operators. Always operating new vehicles should mean that you automatically benefit from the latest low emissions and fuel-saving technology - even without trying!

It’s good to see that some companies are going a stage further in trying to reduce their fleet’s impact on the environment - but if you are considering green van or car hire, make sure you understand exactly what eco-benefits you are getting for your money, as companies’ approaches do vary widely.

Note: If you’re looking for information about the Misfuelling Prevention Device - as seen on Dragons’ Den - click here.

More than 50,000 RAC members put the wrong fuel in their car in 2007, according to a report released by the breakdown company. 50,000 drivers - and that’s just the RAC members who requested breakdown assistance following their misfuelling mistake…

As a driver of a hire van, you are probably more likely than average to put the wrong fuel in your van - especially if you normally drive a petrol car. You may be busy and pre-occupied with driving a large, unfamiliar vehicle - and using the petrol pump is probably a deeply-ingrained habit.

Unfortunately, putting petrol into a diesel engine can damage it severely. At best, you will have to pay for a mechanic to pump out all of the fuel from the vehicle - at worst you will cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to the engine.

Whatever happens, your rental company will hold you responsible for any costs resulting from you misfuelling - so it pays to be careful.

Here are some helpful tips from the RAC for drivers of diesel vehicles:

1. UK diesel pumps are always black or yellow (petrol pumps are usually green).
2. Many rental vans have a label near the fuel filler cap telling you what fuel to use - check for this before you fuel.
3. Petrol nozzles are smaller than diesel nozzles. If the nozzle seems unusually loose when inserted into the filler neck, check again that you are using the right fuel. Diesel nozzles will fit easily but without space around them. Petrol nozzles will be noticeably looser.

Here’s what to do if the worst happens:

1. Don’t start the engine - don’t even put the key in the ignition, as some vehicles start pumping fuel before the engine is started.
2. Call the breakdown service provided by your rental company. Follow their advice exactly.
3. Be prepared to pay a charge for having the fuel pumped out of your vehicle. If this is the worst that happens, count yourself lucky!
4. You will of course lose the fuel you have just paid for when it’s pumped out - it will be contaminated with the correct fuel and completely unusable by anyone.

If you have started the engine and driven the vehicle before realising you have put the wrong fuel in, then stop the engine as soon as possible and call for breakdown assistance. If you’re lucky you will just need all the fuel pumping out of the vehicle and there will be no engine damage.

However, it’s possible that you will have caused serious damage to the engine. The main reason for this is that petrol does not have the oily, lubricating qualities of diesel. This means that using petrol can cause accelerated wear and overheating damage in a diesel engine - bad news.

Finally, most of these comments apply to putting diesel into petrol engines, too. The only difference is that you shouldn’t be able to do this. Diesel nozzles are wider than petrol nozzles and don’t fit easily into petrol filler necks - so if you are having to force a fuel nozzle in, stop. You will be using the wrong fuel.

Environmental concerns are a growing factor in the vehicle rental industry, with both rental operators and customers starting to showing a growing interest in reducing their carbon footprints.

Most large rental fleets change their vehicles fairly often, thus benefitting from the typically lower emissions of newer models.

However, Green Motion founder Richard Lowden believed that it should be possible to take environmental considerations a lot further than this - and founded his company, Green Motion Vehicle Rental, to prove it.

Green Motion’s environmentally-friendly approach extends throughout their business - from their carefully-selected vehicles right through to their choice of cleaning products, office fittings, power supplier and working practices.

Green Motion’s cutting edge vehicle fleet includes vehicles from a number of different manufacturers, all selected for their best-in-class CO2 emissions and for offering other additional benefits, such as electric power, hybrid power and ‘Stop & Start’ technology that eliminates wasteful engine idling time.

Green Motion’s rental vans are exclusively supplied by Citroen, who are one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of low emission vehicles. Citroen’s diesel engines are amongst the most modern and fuel efficient available and the company also offers additional emission-reducing technology, such as its self-regenerating Diesel Particulate Filter System and electronic gearbox system.

We are delighted to welcome Green Motion to myLocalVanHire.co.uk and look forward to promoting their green van hire locations to our visitors:

• Green Motion Oxford
• Green Motion Milton Keynes
• Green Motion London Palmers Green
  

If you have any questions about Green Motion’s vehicle rental services, you can contact them directly on 08700 600 600 or email them at reservations@greenmotion.com.

Here at myLocalVanHire.co.uk our van hire directory is constantly expanding - and we are pleased to be able to welcome two new member companies.

Admiral Self Drive Van Hire

Admiral Self Drive Van Hire is a West Midlands based van hire and self storage company. With branches in Birmingham and Walsall, Admiral offer a full range of vans including Lutons with all-important tail lifts and 17 seater minibuses. European cover is available - phone for details.
You can see full details of their locations here:

http://www.mylocalvanhire.co.uk/Birmingham

http://www.mylocalvanhire.co.uk/Walsall

SOS Self Drive Van Hire

SOS Self Drive Van Hire is another Birmingham-based van hire company offering a wide range of hire vans - including Lutons, 17 seater minibuses and Transits. SOS also offer ‘man and van’ services, minibuses with driver and European cover for hire vehicles.

You can see details of their location here:

http://www.mylocalvanhire.co.uk/Birmingham

Modern vans are so refined, easy to drive and powerful that it’s sometimes easy to forget that you aren’t driving a car.

National Van Rental’s small business specialist Frank Reynolds has put together some tips to help keep you on the straight and narrow in your hired van. This advice is especially relevant if you are constantly jumping in and out of different vehicles or are travelling on an unfamiliar route:

Before starting your trip:
• Check your mirrors are all set correctly so that you can see as much as the road as possible.
• Ask someone to guide you out if you need to back out of a space.
• Make sure the doors are securely locked at the back or on the side of the vehicle.
• If unsure check the height of the vehicle with the van rental company.

When out on the road:
• Remember you will need a bigger braking distance as the vehicle will be much heavier than a normal car – so don’t get too close to the vehicle in front.
• You will need to take turns and corners much slower than you would in a car.
• Check your route for bridges and overpasses – you may find a route you use regularly in a car is no longer accessible due to the clearance height.
• Be aware of trees which may be overhanging the road.
• Ensure any loose loads are properly secured.
• Ensure that you signal well in advance of making a manoeuvre – and make changes slowly.

National Van Rental have a UK van hire fleet of 5000 vans - available from over 100 branches nationwide. To learn more about National Van Rental or to book a van, just click here (National Van Rental).

We would like to wish all of our customers and colleagues a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all here at myLocalVanHire.co.uk.

We look forward to bringing you more of the best van hire deals and local van hire information in 2008 and thank you for your support in 2007.

If you’re hitting the road in a hired van over the seasonal period, take care and travel safely.

Best wishes,

The myLocalVanHire.co.uk team

If you are planning on picking up or dropping off a hire van at one of the UK’s airports this summer, prepare for additional checks and delays driving up to the terminal building.

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