EGHAM (Oct. 24, 2018) – Enterprise has today introduced its new online booking platform – Enterprise Travel Direct (ETD) – following a 12-month pilot programme in partnership with several of the UK’s largest public sector fleets. This free, interactive online journey planning and booking system is specifically developed to help organisations better manage how their employees travel for work.

This is the first journey assessment and booking system that enables customers to compare the cost of daily rental, hourly car club and grey fleet based on a planned journey and real-time vehicle availability.

ETD enables employees to compare the actual cost of a specific journey at a determined time depending on whether they use a private vehicle and recharge mileage, a car club or a daily rental car. Employees can then choose the best option, such as selecting the lowest rate or the most sustainable choice, depending on the company’s travel policy, which is programmed into the system to ensure complete compliance and control.

A key benefit is that ETD requires employees to log details of every planned journey before the trip is taken, including trips planned in a private vehicle, to assess whether daily rental from Enterprise Rent-A-Car or automated access and hourly hire from Enterprise Car Club could offer a more cost-effective option. This gives businesses unprecedented control as all too often grey fleet travel is only recorded after it has happened, when the mileage is reclaimed through expenses.

ETD also requires employees to confirm that their private vehicle is suitable for business use, so organisations that allow grey fleet as an option can be reassured that these journeys are risk assessed before employees travel.

The web-based user interface is simple and easy to use. Employees input a range of variables including the date, time, duration as well as start and end point of a proposed business trip.

ETD then offers employees a range of options based on their company’s corporate travel policy and enables them to select the most appropriate and cost-effective option. It automatically calculates whether daily rental or automated 24/7 hourly car club hire would be best for that particular trip and shows the rental cost and the location of the nearest available vehicle in real time.

The system also shows the cost of the grey fleet journey if this is permitted by the travel policy. This means employees can make an informed choice based on total cost as well as vehicle availability before booking their preferred option.

As ETD captures all journey data, over time, organisations can precisely map employee travel patterns and collaborate with Enterprise to identify even better solutions.

In order to ensure effectiveness and usability, ETD has been extensively piloted with a number of large public sector fleets with an overwhelmingly positive response. It has already led to fewer journeys, lower business mileage and helped to change employee behaviour.

Adrian Bewley, assistant vice president of business mobility UK & Ireland at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, said: “This is a huge step forward in how businesses and public-sector fleets manage employee mobility. You can only be certain you’ve made the best choice for a trip if you compare the total cost of the available options – daily rental, car club and even grey fleet.

“ETD has evolved from our existing booking platforms and has been subjected to rigorous real-world testing. We believed it was vital to give senior decision-makers absolute clarity on the actual costs of keeping their employees mobile.

“Businesses have struggled to measure and contain the real cost of employee mobility because they lacked the data or it wasn’t available in a format that could be easily analysed. Because ETD records all the details of every journey, it provides employers with a wealth of data that can be used to refine business travel to more cost-effective options.

“ETD ensures employees remain compliant with company policies. It can be tailored to meet the specific needs of each business, such as consistently applying travel policies that might prohibit employees from hiring certain sizes or types of vehicle. With a level of functionality far beyond that of any traditional online rental booking tool, ETD has the potential to change how organisations deliver business mobility to their employees.”