Stolen vehicles: “100% secured within 48 hours and then recovered thanks to Echoes”

Christophe Réding has been the security manager at FlexiFleet since May 2022. He shares with us what his day-to-day work is like and his experiences with Echoes tools.

Echoes: Could you tell us about Flexifleet?

Christophe Réding: FlexiFleet is a leasing and long-term rental company founded in 2017, specializing in serving private-hire drivers. It’s important to note that this clientele generally has limited access to traditional credit or leasing, due to the mistrust banks have toward their status, their line of work, and their irregular income. Hence the need for a solution designed to give them access to vehicles, which are their essential tools of the trade. FlexiFleet negotiates car purchases on its own behalf with manufacturers, dealers, and lenders, then makes them available to private hire drivers through long-term leases lasting 36 to 48 months. We also offer medium-term leases, starting at 3 months, for self-employed drivers who are just starting out in the business or have a temporary need for a replacement vehicle. Our fleet consists of approximately 2,500 vehicles on the road, mainly premium sedans or SUVs as well as vans.

Echoes: What led you to adopt geolocation solutions? 

CR: For all car rental companies, vehicle misappropriation poses a major threat. Misappropriation differs from “simple” theft in that there is a contract between the rental company and the driver: by failing to meet their contractual obligations to pay monthly installments, the driver is guilty of breach of trust. In reality, drivers who engage in this type of misconduct rarely have malicious intent: they are generally self-employed individuals who are unable to balance their income against their expenses and eventually become overwhelmed. In all cases, we work with the customer to find amicable solutions before initiating legal proceedings. If an amicable solution cannot be reached, we seek to recover the vehicle as quickly as possible. Indeed, insurance does not cover breach of trust, and a lost vehicle results in a significant loss on our balance sheet.

Echoes: Why did you choose Echoes?

CR: Previously, Flexifleet occasionally used other solutions available on the market, with varying degrees of success. In the months following my arrival, several vehicles were lost due to a lack of effective tracking. Echoes’ CarLocate solution won us over with its ability to provide real-time vehicle location, unlike many other competing devices. The benefit is clear when tracking a vehicle moving abroad, but also when malicious customers enlist the help of a complicit garage to disable data transmission. As soon as the data stream is interrupted, we use the vehicle’s last known location to identify the garage in question and take appropriate action. In this regard, the accuracy of the manufacturer’s data is impressive, with a location pinpointed to within a few meters!

Echoes: How do you retrieve the vehicles?

CR: It varies greatly depending on the situation. Before any recovery attempt, the first step is to identify instances of vehicle misappropriation. To help with this, I use CarLocate every morning to map vehicles that have left the designated area, which helps me detect suspicious cases. The priority is then to file a report and secure the vehicle—that is, locate it and ensure it cannot move, even if that means using remote immobilization. The next step is to bring it back to us; to do this, I reach out to my networks to request assistance from local police or specialized companies in Eastern Europe or Africa. Our post-theft response procedure, of which Echoes is an integral part, has so far enabled us to secure 100% of vehicles within 48 hours. They are then returned to us in the following days or weeks, depending on the location and the situation.

Echoes: What do you particularly like about the Echoes tools?

CR: CarLocate stands out for its simple and user-friendly interface. Also available as a smartphone app, it allows for quick and easy viewing of routes. Unlike many competitors, vehicle locations are accurately displayed on a dynamic map, which proves to be very useful.  But above all, we appreciate Echoes’ high-quality service on a daily basis, with staff who are readily available and attentive. More than just a supplier, Echoes is a true security partner to us.