XTRA Lease has ordered approximately 9,400 new vans and reefers for 2012. Equipped with fuel-saving aerodynamic side skirts, the new models will replace many older model trailers that will be redesignated as local cartage or storage trailers, or sold.
Since 2010, XTRA Lease has invested heavily in new trailer orders, making late-model equipment accessible to trucking companies and shippers via rental and leasing programs. To keep its inventory updated, the company has ordered nearly 25,000 trailers over the past 2.5 years. In addition, the trailer lessor is refurbishing about 1,000 flatbeds to restore them to like-new condition.
“In an economic era in which few companies have the capital resources to keep fleets updated with high-performance, late-model equipment, XTRA Lease will continue to offer new trailers through rental and leasing opportunities,” said Bill Franz, president and chief executive officer. “Shippers haven’t reduced expectations for on-time deliveries. But completing them with an aging, over-the-road fleet is risky. We plan on helping fleets reduce their risk by making high-performing equipment available to them.”
New vans and reefers are due to arrive in XTRA Lease branches from manufacturers’ plants beginning in February. Production will continue through August. The company will continue to install trailer tracking units as a standard feature on vans targeted for the rental fleet.
“There is no other service available on a trailer more powerful than trailer tracking to help fleets reduce costs,” said Franz. “We’re committed to providing a service that helps customers locate dormant trailers faster, enabling them to return under-utilized trailers quickly and save significant rental costs.”
Fuel-saving aerodynamic side skirts and low-rolling-resistance tires are now standard features on XTRA Lease trailers. Side skirts save fleets an estimated 5% in fuel costs, based on US Environmental Protection Agency verification and depending on number of miles and speed traveled. Low-rolling-resistance tires can save an additional 1.5% in fuel, again based on a carrier’s trucking operation. Combined, the two features can save fleets 6.5% in fuel costs.
XTRA Lease’s new trailers can travel California’s highways without penalty, as they comply with SmartWay and the state’s greenhouse gas regulations.
Based in St Louis MO and owned by Berkshire Hathaway, XTRA Lease provides over-the-road trailers for rent or lease in the United States and Canada. With more than 60 North American locations, the company offers a fleet of about 80,000 trailers, including reefers, local cartage vans, dry vans, flatbeds, storage trailers, and specialty equipment.
Access www.xtra.com for more information.
