A short, sharp audit can tell you most of what you need to know about your fleet provider — current or prospective. The questions below cut through marketing and reveal the real operation underneath.
On the vehicles
- How old, on average, is your fleet?
- Where is the maintenance done?
- Are you DVSA accredited for ATF MOT testing?
- What's the standard pre‑hire inspection?
On compliance
- How do you handle DVS for London operations?
- How do you handle vehicles over 3.5 tonnes for commercial use?
- Where does responsibility for tachograph compliance sit?
- How do you respond when regulations change?
On commercials
- Are rates fixed for the contract?
- What's included and what's excluded?
- How do you handle mid‑contract changes?
- What's your typical end‑of‑contract experience?
On service
- Is account management dedicated or queued?
- What's the escalation path when something goes wrong?
- What's the average response time for a same‑day replacement?
- Can I speak to a customer of similar size?
On the company
- Are you independently owned?
- How long have you been operating?
- Where are your physical sites?
- Who runs the engineering operation?
What good answers look like
Specific, measurable, willingly evidenced. Vague or defensive answers usually mean what they sound like.
Want to audit your current provider? Run them through these questions — and compare with SVH.
