"These factors have always kept us at Europcar 'moving your way' as we like to say," he noted. "A significant proportion of our customers are corporate and we have served many of them for more than 20 years. We see our network facilitating their success and the country's economic growth and social development."
Always top of mind at Europcar is ensuring that customers arrive safely at their destinations to carry out their business. Every vehicle undergoes a 30-point quality check each time before being rented out.
In addition, should vehicle theft or an accident occur, business disruption is minimised thanks to rapid dispatch of a replacement vehicle, activated by use of the share call number for Europcar's 24-hour call centre on all vehicle key tags.
An entire section of Europcar's website is devoted to improving road-safety awareness, with plenty of tips to keep drivers aware: go to www.europcar.co.za/Content/driving-tips. Beyond this, with its parent Imperial Group, Europcar has actively driven the I-Pledge campaign to transform poor driving and dangerous road behaviour into safer choices.
These include a Scholar Patrols initiative, which is delivering road-safety training, road-safety equipment and upgrades to designated scholar crossings at more than 250 underprivileged Gauteng schools.
"Through Wheel Well we, and the rest of the Imperial Group, are also involved in collecting and recycling car seats from parents whose children have outgrown them," said Lydall. "Europcar donated seats as well as a cash contribution of R25,000. Wheel Well cleaned and sterilised the seats before they're dropped off with families who are desperately in need."
There are drop-off points for Wheel Well in corporate and schools, or email az.oc.dlevhgih@staesrac for more information.
"These initiatives show how I-Pledge is about saving the lives of people of all ages on the SA roads," said Lydall. "That's what makes the initiative so dear to our hearts at Europcar.
"More than 150, 000 pledges have been made so far and more than 90% of Imperial employees have taken the I-Pledge. We urge our customers to take this personal responsibility also, especially during Transport Month."
Drivers can sign up to I-Pledge at www.ipledge.co.za
As well as facilitating safety standards, economic growth and development, Europcar as a transport business is part of SA's transformation process, pointed out Lydall.
"Attaining Level Two BBBEE rating was a highlight for us," he noted. "We're proud that today our management team includes more than 50% women."
Europcar creates a culture of entrepreneurial thinking, said Lydall, backing this with training programmes at various levels based at the Europcar Learning Centre, which opened in August 2012.
Previously disadvantaged individuals who failed matric are assisted in obtaining a comparable marketable qualification through the Further Learning Competency (FLC) programme. A further 50 previously disadvantaged individuals are participating in learnership and graduate programmes, such as the MDP in business administration and generic management.
"South Africa's road-safety record has been a profoundly sad one to date," said Lydall. "But I believe corporates like ourselves in the transport industry can and must help improve road-safety attitudes and understanding of the importance of roadworthy vehicles, through our customers and through the ongoing training and empowerment of our staff."
