It’s been a very difficult time in the private hire industry of late. Rider demand has fallen off a cliff and both the operators and vehicle vendors such as ourselves are working hard to find the right balance between supporting drivers and keeping businesses above water.
Here at Otto Car we reacted quickly, dropping our weekly rental payments on our PCO Car Hire and Rent 2 Buy scheme by 50% before anyone else. This alleviated a lot of pressure off our family of PCO drivers as the crises grew.
To make such a decision, we needed support from our lenders, who all stepped up to the plate and leaned in. We also used our data to inform our decision, noticing the significant decrease in mileage amongst PCO drivers in the capital.
Whilst we wait for the industry to bounce back, we’ve been looking at other areas where we can assist PCO drivers in providing for their family. We automatically updated all of our PCO driver’s insurance to include food and courier delivery and created a help guide to London’s top delivery companies.
With the ability to use their own PCO car, many will find the transition relatively straight forward, especially with the likes of Uber Eats and Amazon Flex.
Behind the scenes
The slowdown in the market hasn’t stopped us in our tracks. Behind the scenes the Otto Team is working hard on delivering a new CRM system to strengthen our customer service offerings and fuel company growth.
Looking forward
Standing still isn’t an option. The Otto Team continue to push forward, supporting our PCO drivers through this difficult times whist building a better service product in the background for when the market bounces back.
Written by Richard Tester