10 ways Ford Pro can help you get more from your vans

Running a fleet of vans can be hard and time-consuming. So, any helping hand or a way to make things simpler is always welcome. That’s where Ford Pro™ and its vehicle, charging, software, financing^[1], and servicing solutions come in.

An innovative first-of-its-kind offering from one of the world’s biggest, most-trusted van brands, Ford Pro™ services were designed specifically to meet the needs of busy fleet managers who want one powerful easy-to-use platform to integrate all their fleet tools, rather than a multitude of different applications from different providers.

Ford Pro™ Software products pull in data from all your connected vehicles – including Ford’s latest-generation Ford Transit and all-electric Ford E-Transit models – to power an integrated suite of intelligent Ford Pro™ solutions that brings all of your telematics, servicing, running cost and charge event information together in one streamlined digital eco-system.

Using Ford Pro™ Telematics solutions you can monitor your connected vehicles’ health and performance, helping you plan servicing, maintenance and repairs more pro-actively to fit your schedule and reduce downtime, while also using data to track and lower your fleet’s running costs^[2].

Over 122,000 customers are already enjoying the benefits of using Ford Pro™ across Europe. So, here are all the ways in which Ford Pro™ can help you get even more from your vehicles.

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1. FordPass Pro: perfect for drivers and small businesses

Ford Pro™ is eminently scalable for all types and sizes of business. So, let’s start with the small. All Ford Pro™ drivers should consider the FordPass Pro smartphone app^[3] an essential download, but it also lets small business owners without a dedicated fleet manager track the data from up to five vehicles through ‘My Garage’, allowing you to see their location and health status.

The FordPass Pro app also lets you interact remotely with your Ford vehicle when fitted with FordPass Connect, so you can check its location and remotely lock or unlock the doors.

Thinking bigger, the FordPass Pro app lets you track your vehicles’ fuel levels and find fuel stations, along with advance service reminders and live vehicle health alerts to stay on top of your vehicles’ maintenance. The result: less time worrying about your fleet, and more time focused on growing your business.

2. A helping hand from Ford Fleet Management

What if you’re a fast-growing small or medium-sized business, struggling for the time, resource or expertise to quickly upscale your fleet at the same pace? That’s where Ford Fleet Management can help.

Delivered with leading fleet and funding specialist ALD Automotive, it’s a full-service solution that lets you focus on the bigger issues at hand. You get access to the full suite of Ford Pro™ integrated software and services, while adding dedicated account managers and consultancy services to help you find, fund and run the most effective van fleet solution for your business^[4].

3. Simple flexible funding with Ford Pro™ Financing

Whatever the size of your business, negotiating the complex and time-consuming maze of options for funding your vehicles is a major burden on your time and energy. That’s where Ford Pro™ Financing makes things simple with a single, transparent, and flexible financing solution: Ford Pro™ FinSimple^[1].

Ford Pro™ FinSimple covers the purchase and lease financing of commercial vehicles, van conversions, or the cost of Ford Pro™ Charging infrastructure, while offering flexible commercial lines of credit, combined billing, online account management and the ability to work with finance experts to find the right solution for you.

4. Analyse key data with Ford Pro™ Telematics Essentials

Ford Pro™ Telematics is the heart of the Ford Pro™ Software suite, with Ford Pro E-Telematics specifically designed for the fast-growing range of all-electric Ford vehicles^[2] – giving you an easy-to-use range of tools, alerts and vehicle insights that let you monitor your vehicles’ health, location and status through one smart intuitive dashboard interface.

Ford Pro™ Telematics Essentials^[5], which comes free with any of the new generation of connected Ford Transit vehicles with a FordPass Connect modem, works with FORDLiive to let you see a vehicles’ health status, with advance service reminders and live health alerts to help you manage servicing, maintenance and repair work more pro-actively.

Once connected via a Ford Pro™ Software product, the vehicle also shares data with Transit Service Centre technicians, so you can arrange faster, smarter repairs which minimise the disruption caused by vehicle downtime.

5. Go the extra mile with Ford Pro™ Telematics

The full Ford Pro™ Telematics^[2]package adds a wealth of tools, including GPS tracking, geo-fencing and security alerts that help you keep track of your vehicles’ location or unauthorised use, as well as fuel consumption data and safety information including letting you know if your driver is not wearing their seatbelt.

Ford Pro™ Telematics can even deliver valuable insights into driver behaviour – delivering in-vehicle coaching through verbal prompts if the engine idles too long or the driver accelerates or brakes too harshly, while also helping you pick the right training for more fuel- and cost-efficient driving or safety compliance.

Ford Pro™ Telematics’ multi-make functionality even lets you manage older Ford models and non-Ford vehicles in your fleet using a plug-in device, while Ford Pro™ Software works with proprietary and existing telematics systems through Ford Data Services and the Transportation Mobility Cloud.

6. Make the electric switch easy with Ford Pro™ Charging

One of the biggest challenges facing a business today is how to make the electric switch. And that’s where the Ford Pro™ experts can really help.

First, they can help you pick the right vehicle for your needs from Ford’s fast-growing line-up of electrified models – including the all-new Ford Transit Custom plug-in hybrid, and the upcoming, compact All-New Ford E-Transit Courier (coming Q4 2024) and All-New, All-Electric Ford E-Transit Custom, as well as the capacious Ford E-Transit.

They can also help you set up EV-specific Ford Pro™ E-Telematics to monitor your vehicles’ charge status, efficiency and charging payments to help you further cut your vehicles’ running costs.

Looking one step bigger, they can even help you think about how you’ll charge your vans. Understanding that every business faces a different and unique challenge, they can help you identify plan, install and run a bespoke charging solution that’s tailored precisely for both your infrastructure and your business’s unique needs.

This includes full support for installing commercial-grade chargers at your HQ or depots, as well as home charger installations for your employees, giving you even more options for vehicle charging across your fleet.

On the road, Ford Pro™ Charging gives you access to the BlueOval™ Charge Network: one of the most comprehensive arrays of chargers in Europe, with over 25,000 charging points across the UK, including the fast-growing network of ultra-rapid IONITY chargers. Automatic payments, or a unique charge card for each vehicle in your fleet, bring it all together with monthly centralised billing for ease and flexibility.

7. Reduce vehicle downtime with Ford Pro™ Service

Vehicle downtime is the third-highest cost for van fleets after fuel and depreciation, costing businesses hundreds of pounds a day. That’s why Ford is committed to minimising the expense of downtime for your vans with a Ford Pro™ Service promise of servicing, maintenance and repairs that’s delivered at your convenience.

Ford Pro™ has an unparalleled dealer network of 115 Transit Service centres across the UK: all boasting Ford-trained technicians, using genuine Ford parts (with recommended fleet national pricing for clear, transparent costing^[6]) as well as specialised Ford-specific diagnostic equipment and tools. That means they can deliver the very best high-quality levels of care for your Ford van.

Ford Pro™ Transit Service centres typically offer extended opening hours, weekend opening and overnight servicing – as well as the option for a Ford Express Service – helping you get your vehicle back on the road faster^[7]. They can even collect and deliver vehicles back to you for even greater convenience.

8. Smart service planning with FORDLiive

When it comes to taking control of your vans’ servicing and maintenance, FORDLiive keeps you well ahead of the curve. In fact, it’s estimated that FORDLiive can reduce vehicle downtime by up to 60 per cent^[8].

Using live data from the new breed of connected Ford Pro™ commercial vehicles, FORDLiive’s uptime system lets you track your vehicle’s health remotely. It provides advance service notifications that help you plan for regular scheduled services at the most convenient time and date for you, as well as live vehicle health alerts that help you spot problems as soon as they occur (letting you respond faster).

Before your connected vehicle arrives at the Transit Service centre, Ford Pro™ technicians can use FORDLiive to view up to 60 days of data from your vehicle remotely. That means they can start to diagnose or plan any work in advance, including pre-ordering parts or making sure that a workshop bay is available for when your vehicle arrives. The result: minimum delay and minimum downtime for your van.

The FORDLiive Uptime Agents, working in dedicated uptime centres, are also on hand to help quickly manage maintenance cases or respond to emergency issues.

9. Bring the experts to you with Ford Pro™ Mobile Service

Ford’s extensive UK network of van dealers and Transit Centres make it easy to find a location close to you for servicing or repairs. But you don’t always have the time or resource to take one of your vans to another location – especially if it’s for a simple job. Well, that’s where the Ford Pro™ Mobile Service vans come in, cutting the hassle by delivering dealer-quality-level servicing at a time and location convenient to you^[6].

In the UK, more than 100 Ford Pro™ Mobile Service vans already cover 90 per cent of the country and are set to carry out 100,000 service and repair tasks this year. They can deal with 70 per cent of servicing and maintenance tasks for petrol, diesel and electric vans. They can even work on non-Ford vehicles.

10. Ford Pro™ Conversions: bespoke to your needs

Last, but not least, conversions. Around half of all Ford Pro™ commercial vehicles sold in Europe are converted in some way to suit a customers’ specific needs. That’s why Ford Pro™ has developed an extensive network of 200 Ford Pro™ Converters across Europe, ready to help you pick the right solution for your needs.

Ford Pro™ is also making conversions easier. As conversions require challenging and time-consuming integration with the vehicle’s electrical system, Ford Pro™ has developed a digitally streamlined Upfit Integration System for the All-New Ford Transit Custom.

It features an interface module that connects seamlessly to the vehicle’s electrical system and the 13in SYNC 4 touchscreen, rather than using bolt-on switchgear. This means conversions can be delivered more quickly, efficiently, reliably and safely, while users can control key features more easily from inside the cab.

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Images shown for illustration purposes and may not reflect UK specification.

^[1] Finance subject to status. Guarantees may be required. Exclusions apply. Ford Pro™ FinSimple is provided by Ford Credit, the financial arm of Ford Motor Company. Within Europe, automotive financial products and services are provided directly by FCE Bank plc and in association with external finance providers under various brands, including Ford Credit, Ford Lease and Ford Fleet Management. Actual products and services may vary due to ongoing product development and market availability and requirements. Ford Pro™ FinSimple will provide a one-stop financing solution for commercial customers; the availability of specific products, services and launch dates may vary by market.

^[2] Ford Pro™ Telematics is available for Ford vehicles with a FordPass Connect modem or an eligible 3rd party Plug-In Device (product features may vary). Ford Pro™ E-Telematics is complimentary for 12 months from the warranty start date on E-Transit and Mustang Mach-E models, after which subscription charges apply. Eligible Fleet/business customers only. Ford Pro™ Fleet Marketplace T&Cs apply.

^[3] FordPass™ Pro must be paired with FordPass Connect modem, available on selected vehicles. The on-board modem will be connected at the time of vehicle delivery. You may choose to opt in/out of certain data sharing. Data coverage and service is not available everywhere and terms of your data plan, including applicable message and data rates, may apply. FordPass™ Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy apply.

^[4] Business customers only. Funding / finance solutions provided by Ford Fleet Management UK Ltd, Oakwood Drive, Emersons Green, Bristol, BS16 7LB. Ford Fleet Management UK Limited (FFM UK), company registration number 12782519, is registered in England and Wales and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN.955446).  Guarantees and indemnities may be required.

^[5] Ford Pro™ Telematics Essentials is only available for Ford vehicles with an activated FordPass Connect modem. Eligible fleet/business customers only. Ford Pro™ Fleet Marketplace T&Cs apply. Screen designs may vary.

^[6] At participating dealers only.

^[7] Subject to availability. Services vary by dealer. Visit https://www.ford.co.uk/dealer-locator for more details

^[8] Estimated reduction per year based on (1) customer promptly responding to vehicle health alerts in FordPass Pro/Ford Telematics (to help avoid roadside assistance call outs) and (2) anticipated time saved using Ford Transit Centres for maintenance and repair (including Express Services). Actual reduction may depend on individual circumstances (e.g. driving style and vehicle use). For more information, see https://www.ford.co.uk/commercial-vehicles/servicing/ford-liive