The Whole Truth

Worries about investing in new vehicles while the economic recovery is still precarious are driving the growth in flexi-leasing that is underpinning growth in the light commercial vehicle market, according to Ford.

Flexi-Leasing is essentially where you take out a lease on a new vehicle and every couple of months you may ‘upgrade’ the vehicle to a newer model’. In many ways this industry idea is ‘better’ for corporate vehicles such as executive car hire, rather then the traditional market for leasing vehicles which is the ubiquitous van rental market.

Ford’s commercial vehicle boss Steve Clary spoke to BusinessCar about the developments and changes that they are facing and successfully dealing with:

“The challenge for us is to have available stocks on the ground to meet opportunities that come at us quite quickly,Contract hire and larger fleet customers have more forward planning and ordering, so the shift to flexible leasing means you have to be quicker to respond to opportunities.”

Clary said the shift in how many businesses are acquiring vehicles shouldn’t have a residual value impact. “I’m not overly concerned about the impact on RVs; they still retain the vehicle for three or four years, it’s not like daily rental,” he said.

The sub-3.5 tonne van market was up 17% on 2009 over the first seven months of the year, and up 25.2% year-on-year in July. Ford is predicting that the LCV sales figures will end 2010 at least 10% up on 2009, with a further 10-15% growth coming in 2011.
“Looking to the second half of 2010, the coalition Government has driven much of the uncertainty, but I don’t share some market commentator’s pessimism about a double-dip recession,” said Clary.

Although people can be assured that flying remains one of the safest forms of travel, the same cannot be said for our pets. In a rather depressing piece of news earlier this month, the conditions that endanger animals during travel became apparent, when seven puppies died after a flight connecting Tulsa to Chicago. Heat stroke is suspected to be a major factor in the deaths as record high temperatures continue each year across America.

And they arent the only ones, since the five years US airlines have been required to report travel related animal deaths the Dept. of Transportation claims that 144 pets have died during transport. Over half of the dog deaths were of short-snout breeds such as bulldogs and pugs, which are prone to breathing problems as well as a myriad of genetic abnormalities.

However if flying is a essential part of your vacation (and you have enough money in your savings accounts!) and you really cant imagine leaving your beloved pets at home or in a animal shelter, then you might be willing to take the risk and will struggle with the limitations. Different animals have different rules, with the larger breeds restricted based on temperatures, and a flat out ban on short-nosed dogs in the hotter seasons.

The Florida based company, Pet Airways,is just one company that specializes in pet travel needs instead of people. Pet Airways celebrated their first anniversary last month, with over 1,000 animals flown through them thanks to a fleet of three Beechcraft 1900 aircraft, which can accommodate up to 50 animal crates per flight, and nearly every flight is filled.

Pet Airways expecting a major expansion in the coming years, they want to reach 25 of the largest cities in the world.

However the service is not exactly like a minor expensive, with the average one-way fare costing around $250, larger dogs reaching prices of up to $600. However the cost may be equal to the care, as the animals are monitored during flight time and any extra attention is given to those animals that may need medications or other medical needs.

Pet Airways is not the only company looking to expand or alter their attitude to pet travel. Animal Airways, which is a global pet flight and relocation company, is expanding its professional services by upgrading the airline ticketing department.

“In order to provide families travelling with pets with a comprehensive package for the whole family we are currently scouting worldwide for travel agencies and tour operators”

Animal Airways has been a essential client of the veterinarian institution, created in order to assist the millions of pet owners flying with their pets or shipping them abroad as cargo.

Dr. Eytan Kreiner, Animal Airways’ head veterinarian:

“Being a global company we have the privilege of serving clients from all over the world. We work closely with diplomatic corps, exchanged students, business delegations, NGO members etc. Although our target audience is diverse, every single client is concerned with shipping his pet safely and comfortably. Animal Airways was one of the first companies to recognize this need and offer a professional solution combining: pet’s safety, health, comfort and well being.The company is expanding the ticketing department in order to reach new potential clients and improve the services available to the company’s regular clients. As part of the re-organization, Animal Airways is seeking new affiliates as we are especially interested in collaboration with travel agencies and travel operators worldwide.”

The newly upgraded ticketing system will provide customers from across the globe with a 24/7 service, offering them not only airline tickets for people and pets but also consultation regarding flight and journey plans, overnight boarding solutions, pet-friendly hotels and resorts, ground services at the airport etc, and is set to begin at the end of the year.

What an iPhone might look like...

The release of iOS4 included the capability of your iPhone communicating with an external keyboard via Bluetooth or even USB.  So far, nobody’s taken advantage of that feature.

Enter designer Altamash Jiwani who envisions a wraparound iPhone case with a sliding QWERTY keyboard and a pass-through port for charging.  In Jiwani’s design, the keyboard can be used either closed (covering the screen) or open, letting you see the entire screen.  In essence, it would turn your iPhone into an “iBlackberry” or “iDroid.”

Mind you, this is still just a conceptual prototype, but it does beg the question: how come nobody’s offered up an external iPhone keyboard yet?

It really does seem a shame that people are not keen on having keyboards on phones anymore. Lets look at the obvious reasons why an actual keyboard trumps a LCD display keyboard.

1. If you break the screen badly the chances are that you will not be able type effectively and use the phone to its full potential.
2. Break a button and you can get a replacement keyboard easily online, from the manufacturer or from the plethora of phone shops on the high streets.
3. Better for your fingers? I have read research that suggests that the layout of a keyboard is wrong and should move down in lines not in slightly diagonal lines.

However, I tend to use a phone with a LCD display keyboard because they are cooler. But then I just went ahead and bought before checking my current account