Minnesota-based Dart Transit has entered the trailer leasing and rental business.

Since late 2001, the company has been offering several hundred of its older 53-foot dry vans for monthly rent and long-term lease.
The new enterprise does not affect Dart's current operations, and it is not being marketed to Dart's independent contractor drivers.
The vans are ideal as storage trailers and for general hauling, according to Dart Leasing's Joe Tauer. Potential customers include shippers who need trailers as flexible storage units, and trucking operations that use leasing as a low-cost method of procuring additional equipment.
While Dart has usually traded or sold trailers at the end of the 10-year trade cycle, Tauer said these trailers were in excellent condition and management saw an opportunity to enter a new market.
To advertise the new service, stickers are being applied to the nose of all Dart trailers.