Cars hired in from other companies
When your own fleet is full, hire a car in from another rental company and hire it on to your customer. The car joins your fleet for the agreed dates only and goes out with the same checks. Its supplier bill is made from the agreed cost.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- A wedding party wants six cars on the busiest weekend of the year and you have four free, so you turn the booking away.
- Cars borrowed from a friendly rental company are not on your system, so they are booked twice or never checked out.
- The other company's bill arrives a month later, and nobody remembers what was agreed or which hire it belonged to.
How it works
- A Rent Manager opens Rental > Vehicles > Availability > Cross-Hires and presses New. Give the Supplier, Their Reference, the Vehicle (for example a black SUV) and the Class. Then the Depot, the plate, From and Until, and the cost Per Day or For the Whole Time.
- When the car arrives, press Receive. A rentable car is made for it, marked hired in, ready in the yard of that depot.
- Book it on rental orders like any of your cars. It can be booked only between From and Until.
- When your customer has brought it back, press Return. The car leaves your fleet.
- Press Make Supplier Bill. The supplier's bill is made: the days from From to Until times the day cost, or the whole amount.
Everything it does
The cross-hire
- Number (made by itself), Supplier, Their Reference, Vehicle, Class, Depot, plate, From, Until
- Cost: Per Day (the default) or For the Whole Time
- Status: Planned, In Our Fleet, Returned, Billed or Cancelled
- Cancel only while Planned; once received, return it instead
- Filter Not Billed; group by Supplier, Status and Entity
- Each cross-hire belongs to one Entity; every change is kept in its history
The car while it is yours
- Made on Receive with the vehicle name and "hired in", the cross-hire number as its code, the class and the depot
- The supplier, their reference and the plate are written in the car's note
- Busy before From and after Until, so the planning board, the booking page and the API never offer it outside those dates
- Handover and return checks, billing and charges work as for your own cars
- Return is refused while the car is still out with a customer
The supplier bill
- Per Day: whole days from From to Until, at least one, times the day cost
- For the Whole Time: one line for the agreed amount
- A draft vendor bill to the supplier, with their reference
- The bill counts the agreed dates, not the day the car really went back; change the bill if they differ
Profit per car
- With profit per car, the posted supplier bill counts as the hired-in car's cost, under hired in, so you see what each cross-hire earned
Who uses it
Rent ManagerAgrees the cross-hire, receives and returns the car, and makes the supplier bill.
Hire desk (Rent User)Sees cross-hires and books the hired-in car for customers.
AccountsChecks and posts the supplier bill.
Where you use it
- Web: Rental > Vehicles > Availability > Cross-Hires; the hired-in car in Rental > Vehicles > Items > Vehicles with the others
- The SmartMy Rental Staff app: the hired-in car's handover and return checks, like any car
- Not built: hiring your cars out to other companies as a trade partner; use a normal rental order with that company as the customer
- Not matched yet: tolls and fines for a hired-in car, because its plate sits in the note, not on the car's number plate
What you control
Settings
- Cost type: Per Day to start with
- Who may add cross-hires: Rent Managers; Rent Users can see them
Notifications
- No message is sent for cross-hires; customers get the usual rental messages for their order
Questions
Can a hired-in car be booked after we have to give it back?
No. It is busy before From and after Until, so no order, booking page or API can book it outside those dates.Do hired-in cars go through our checks?
Yes. They go out and come back with the same handover and return checks as your own cars.What if the car goes back to the supplier a day early?
The supplier bill counts the agreed From and Until. Change the draft bill before you post it.Can we see whether a cross-hire made money?
Yes, with profit per car on Scale. The posted supplier bill counts as that car's cost against the rent it earned.Related features
FLEET AND DEPOTSVehicles and machines in classes, self-drive or with driverEvery car, van or machine is its own bookable item, grouped in classes your customers recognise. Each item says whether it goes out self-drive, with your driver or operator, or both, and what a driver needs to hire it.HIRE ORDERSPlanning board: drag to move, click to bookSee every car and machine by day on one board, with bookings, cars out, call-offs and blocks as coloured bars. Drag a reserved booking to another day or car, and click a free day to start a booking for that car.FLEET VALUEProfit per car with a keep, sell or buy-more hintFor any period, see each car's rent invoiced, its costs, its profit and how much of the time it was out on hire. A hint says which cars to buy more of and which to think of selling.CHECKSHandover and return checks with photos, meters and signaturesEvery handover and return runs through a check from your own template. Check points are cards by team, answered with one tap. The check also takes required photo angles, meter readings, the item list and damage marks. Each team signs its part, and the customer signs last. The new check starts from the last one, so readings show their value before and known damage is already listed. The signed report goes to the customer as a PDF.HIRE ORDERSHire orders from quote to returnEvery hire runs on one order. It starts as a quote and is confirmed with the cars reserved. It goes out through a handover check, comes back through a return check, and is closed once billed. Class bookings get a free car at confirmation, and clashes are refused with the booking named.LONG HIRES AND PARTNERSMarketplaces, agents and brokers with commissionBookings from rental marketplaces, travel agents and brokers carry the channel and its booking number. The commission is worked out when the hire ends. You either pay it on one vendor bill or bill the channel when it collects from the customer.
See your fleet on it.
Tell us how many cars or machines you hire out, from how many depots, and how bookings reach you today. We will set up your fleet with you on SmartMy Rental.