Mark Bevan, head of strategic relationships at Business Travel Direct, offers advice on how to manage ground transport suppliers:
1. Ask open questions, covering how the company vets drivers – by age, licence, insurance, history, working hours etc.
2. Make it part of due diligence that the controller gives drivers a good mix of business, short and long journeys, to ensure they are motivated.
3. How do suppliers monitor client feedback?
4. Making savings: can they deliver ride-share, for example?
5. Tie the supplier contractually, so that service-level agreements are black-and-white, covering penalty clauses, compensation and so on.
6. Review overseas suppliers regularly over Webex or at trade shows in the UK.
7. Can suppliers’ technology be integrated into your technology and processes?
8. Make sure someone can automate and track large volumes of business in one city at their end and yours; and for ad hoc business, ensure you can monitor it.
9. How and how often is management information delivered?
10. How is waiting time charged? For example, is it in increments of ten minutes, or 30 minutes?