Yesterday I had to go to Kerikeri to collect one of my rental trucks that had experienced some difficulties whilst on rent and so I flew north to collect the truck and then had to drive home in some of the most appalling weather I have driven in for a while. Whilst for a lot of the time the rain held off when it did rain it absolutely poured down with large amounts of surface water on the road making for most unpleasant driving conditions.

But what really surprised me was the large amount of rental vans that i saw on the road particularly small camper vans so obviously there are still a lot of tourists taking advantage of the lower rental rates that would apply at this time of the year on rental vans and I guess there where just as many rental cars on the road it’s just that they are harder to spot.

Here at James Blond Ltd although we do not rent camper vans we do have a large amount of other vans available for hire including passenger and cargo vans, so if you need to be on the road at this time of the year moving goods or your sports team then give us a call and discuss your needs.

One of the questions we get asked the most here at James Blond Ltd when it comes to renting Minibuses and minivans is how many people can i carry and how big do your minibuses go to.

So in terms of passenger numbers you can carry up to 11 people on a class 1 car licence provided that you are not transporting them for hire or reward therefore a 12 seat van is as large as we go in terms of capacity for passengers. To carry more you would need a class 2 licence as well as a P endorsement allowing you to operate a vehicle with more than 12 people in it.

In terms of cargo space our 12 seat Ford Transits are the biggest in their class when it comes to rear cargo space but even with the large cargo area in the rear this is not enough for some and a luggage trailer will give them the capacity they seek. The Ford Transits are also powerful enough to tow one of our single axle furniture trailers as well as carry 12 people if you really need the space.

Of course if there are only 7 or 8 of you heading away on a day trip then you probably don’t need the amount of space I have been discussing but we can assist with smaller minivans as well so call the team at James Blond Ltd and we will do what we can to assist.

Here at James Blond Ltd we often have people come in to rent a car who have to make an unexpected journey and are unsure that their car will make the trip or they don’t have a car or they don’t have enough seats to carry everyone if they are traveling with more than 4 or 5 people. Often these people have also never rented a car before and the whole thing can be quite daunting.

We try to make things as easy as possible with a range of rental cars and minibuses that will accommodate up to 12 people at realistic rental rates with a bond that our customers can afford.

Here at James Blond Ltd we can have you on the road in as little as 5 minutes making the time spent organising things as easy as possible, we also do the little things to make it easier like no charge for extra drivers, we ensure that all of our rental cars are full when you collect them so you don’t have to put fuel into it before you hit the road.

With the largest fleet of vehicles in west Auckland we find ourselves almost never running out of rental cars so if you need to get somewhere in a hurry come and see the team at James Blond Ltd or call us 0800 525 663

Today at James Blond Ltd will be a very difficult day for myself as Saturday is one of the busiest days of the week and last Sunday i rolled my ankle causing a grade 2 high ankle strain whilst practicing Basketball for the James Blond social team. This has made it very difficult to walk and getting in and out of the rental cars has proved to be quite the challenge.

As i check the booking system this morning I notice that there are 33 pre bookings for rental vehicles and whilst this is not the biggest number we have had it is still quite a lot with 26 of them booked to go out at 8.30am this morning so all three desks will be pumping trying to keep up with the flow of customers.

Here at James Blond Ltd a usual Saturday can result in around 45 to 50 rental checkouts and that means a whole day spent on the run so with a large swollen ankle i must say that i am looking forward to today with some trepidation and am wondering what state my ankle will be in by the end of the day.

On the basketball front the doctor says 4 to 6 weeks and that sounds like a very long time to be recovering to me so it will be interesting to see how long it takes.

Last night the James Blond Auckland Pirates played their last home game of the season and with 3 games left in the NBL all to be played away from home the Pirates will not be back again in Auckland until 2013. But and a big but before next year there is still this years championship to be won. The Pirates have already qualified for the final four to be played in Wellington on the 25th 26th of this month and the team here at James Blond are hoping that we have backed a winner.

One of the things about being involved with sports sponsorship is that it’s sometimes really hard to see a real return on your money in terms of cash back in the bank but personal satisfaction by having all the players drive our rental cars and developing an association with the players in the team make it more than worth while.

So lets hope that the James Blond Auckland Pirates can pull off the wins over the next few weeks and we can be sure that we have indeed picked a winner just like you can if you choose our company for your next car rental or minibus rental.