SPONSORED BY TRANSPORT ENTERPRISE LEASING (TEL)
As a business owner, you know the importance of managing costs. Maintenance on your fleet equipment is one the largest expenses your company will incur, but it also directly impacts operations.
Many companies opt for a full-service lease option to ensure maintenance is accounted for and to help provide a fixed cost for this planned expense. The problem that many companies quickly realize is that these “full-service” lease options are extremely limiting and have hidden or unrealized added costs.
So, what options do you have?
First, it is critical to understand the “full” cost of your lease agreement. Second, do your research.
There are companies like TEL that are changing the traditional lease model to help companies save money. TEL provides a customizable fair market value lease coupled with their nationwide fleet maintenance service included in the lease.
With TEL you don’t pay a monthly “full-service” fee.
Instead, you get TEL’s included priority service, a team of maintenance advisors that advocate to get your equipment in and out of the shop at reduced pricing. Also, all of TEL’s leased trucks are new equipment that is covered by the factory warranty. Their priority service gives you access to most all OEM service centers and other national service groups throughout the country. This also gives you the control of when and where you schedule your maintenance.
Conversely, when managing a fleet of trucks on a “full-service” lease, you are most often required to service your equipment through a limited network of service centers.
Depending on where you operate, this can be a real challenge, so always check to make sure the network aligns with your trucking routes. If you find yourself needing routine service and you only have one service center in a 50- or 100-mile radius, you may experience excessive downtime waiting for your truck(s) to be serviced.
Because your truck and everyone else’s trucks are reduced to using this one limited network, then wait times can be excessive — but that is not the end of the woes.
Another chief complaint about full-services leases comes when, as an example, you take your unit in for service … and you are suddenly required to replace and pay for a new front bumper due to a crack.
Because the service is being performed by the mandated “in-network” service center, that shop is required to fix any and all repairs that might affect the value of the leased asset, regardless of functionality and in excess of DOT minimums. Often, this can result in being required to replace an entire bumper for a simple crack, because most repair facilities don’t have their own body shop. Needless to say, such repairs add to the downtime of the vehicle, and the added expense for parts and labor is not included in your “full-service” lease fee.
Going back to companies like TEL, which provides a vast maintenance network and discounts on truck parts and labor costs, you only pay for what is needed to get your equipment back on the road.
TEL’s “No Surprises” lease program consists of:
- No Mileage Charges;
- No Rate Adjustments;
- No CPI Clauses; and
- No Variable Charges for the life of the lease.
This fixed-price leasing model provides business owners the ability to plan ahead with fixed costs while budgeting for continued growth. Adding their nationwide priority-service maintenance network and discounts on truck parts and labor caps-off what TEL has termed the TEL360 Advantage.
For more information about TEL’s Fleet Leasing program call 423-214-3910 or visit TEL360.com.
Linda Garner-Bunch has been in publishing for more than 30 years. You name it, Linda has written about it. She has served as an editor for a group of national do-it-yourself publications and has coordinated the real estate section of Arkansas’ only statewide newspaper, in addition to working on a variety of niche publications ranging from bridal magazines to high-school sports previews and everything in between. She is also an experienced photographer and copy editor who enjoys telling the stories of the “Knights of the Highway,” as she calls our nation’s truck drivers.
