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At the height of the recession, fleets with trucks under lease or rental contract rushed to return the assets and adjust contract terms. That has eased, two industry officials said, but the commercial truck rental and leasing sector has been soft and will likely remain that way until the key sectors of the economy begin to strengthen.
As the recession deepened, businesses trimmed fleet operations wherever they could. One result was that lessors were flooded with requests to cancel lease or rental contracts or change terms.
Matt Markus, vice president of lease and rental for Southland Idealease, Birmingham, Ala., said the dealership had to find a balance between accommodating customers so they would still be customers when the economy returns while also maintaining some value for the trucks. The most common solution was to extend contract terms.
“In our market, we went through a period where customers needed to turn stuff in,” Markus told LIGHT & MEDIUM TRUCK. “We try to extend leases so we get our residuals right when we dispose of them. We’ll go to a customer and offer a 12 to 24 month extension at a lower rate. It’s a win win for both of us. He gets a lower rate and we get to [stretch it out] to strengthen our residuals,” he said.
Markus said much of that has eased.
“For the last three to four months it’s been steady. People are not asking us to do those things anymore,” he said.
Similarly, Olen Hunter, director of sales for Paclease, Paccar Inc.
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