The leasing and rental market is anticipating growing demand as truck equipment availability recovers from pandemic-driven supply chain problems.
Industry experts anticipate a good market for rental and leasing operations in 2024 and going into 2025.
“We think it looks good,” Hadley Benton, VP of business development for Fleet Advantage, told FleetOwner. “With more interest rate stability and some market improvements—the banks will start to lend more and free up capital—leasing, I think, is going to make a lot of sense.”
Customers still prefer new equipment
Safety, fuel efficiency, and reliability remain top concerns for fleets that are renting or leasing. These priorities give customers a general preference for new vehicles—for their novel safety mechanisms, aerodynamics and powertrain improvements, and greater uptime.
Safety
Safety features are always a top concern for customers. Many newer trucks feature cutting-edge safety technology, such as collision mitigation systems, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, and more.
“As technology changes and gets better and better, folks are really looking for the truck that has the most advanced safety technology on it,” Benton said. “It’s not only going to protect the equipment; they want to protect their drivers.”
With fleets placing an increased emphasis on driver comfort, they are looking for equipment with suspensions that reduce noise and vibration as well as more in-cab comforts.
“Our customers see their fleet as an extension of their brand and continue to place an emphasis on the driver experience, from including various safety features to options that maximize driver comfort,” Dane Mercier, director of franchise operations for PacLease, told FleetOwner.
See also: Clark: Why full-service leasing is a winning strategy for companies
Fuel efficiency
Fuel costs are one of the greatest operational costs for fleets. It is not surprising that customers looking to rent or lease a truck will prefer one with the highest fuel efficiency possible.
“Fuel efficiency remains a significant focus across the industry,” Mercier observed.
A preference for fuel efficiency means a preference for new vehicles, with their ongoing improvements to aerodynamics and powertrains.
“One of the easiest ways to have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions and trying to stay current with some of the environmental regulations is to just simply refresh the fleet regularly,” Benton said. “The newer trucks are always going to be a lot more efficient and pollute a lot less.”
Reliability
Another key factor that influences the adoption of new vehicles is reliability. Fleets want vehicles to have the greatest uptime possible. A tractor undergoing maintenance is actively losing the company money.
“Age and mileage of course drive their preference,” Benton said. “They want to have newer trucks when possible and whatever they can do to minimize maintenance costs and maximize uptime.”
New equipment availability has improved
Supply chain disruptions have limited new equipment availability for multiple years straight. Now, however, equipment availability is looking up.
According to Mercier, “truck availability is generally back to normal in our current conditions.”
Though the outlook is positive, availability is still a challenge.
“Getting equipment can still be a challenge from a lead time perspective,” Benton said. “But it’s definitely a lot easier than it has been in the last few years.
“There has been a softening of the supply chain issues that we’ve all been accustomed to for the last few years, so that’s great for us as an industry,” Benton noted. “However, I would still say there’s still a lot of pent-up demand out there as fleets are trying to update aging equipment. Depending on the market and the specific assets, there are still long lead times.”
The convergence of regulatory and technological developments may further challenge equipment availability for unprepared fleets as the new equipment market begins to recover from its pandemic-driven supply chain disruptions.
“With a potential prebuy coming in 2026 and maybe the back half of 2025, availability may become more constrained,” Mercier predicted. “We have been counseling our customers on the importance of fleet management and having replacement cycles planned in advance.”
Benton also emphasized the importance of thorough planning for fleets to remain on top of potential equipment availability challenges.
“What it means is you’ve got to be strategic. You’ve got to plan ahead, and you’ve got to be thoughtful about when you place orders,” Benton emphasized.
