Loaded with extras

Trailer-leasing companies today are doing much more than just renting out boxes. They now offer 24-hour emergency service, computerized maintenance, and other options.

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 5/1/1998

A box is not just a box. That's what trailer- and container-leasing companies are telling customers today. More and more, lessors are touting the value-added services they offer.

No wonder. The Truck Renting and Leasing Association, based in Alexandria, Va., says that some 275,000 trailers were leased in the United States in 1994 (the last year for which figures are available). To gain a slice of that market, lessors have to give

the customer special value with their lease. Here are a few of the additional services companies offer today.

Ryder offers three types of leases to suit customers' needs. Its full-service trailer lease includes comprehensive maintenance, tires and brake servicing, emergency road service, washing, painting and lettering of customers' names, and licensing and permitting.

Its standard service lease, on the other hand, provides preventive maintenance, tires and replacement tires for the trailer, and brake replacement due to ordinary wear and tear. Its equipment-only lease gives customers the option of handling fleet maintenance themselves.

Ryder has more than 800 trailer-leasing locations in North America. It furnishes storage trailers, refrigerated vans, flatbed trailers, electronic vans, and dry vans.