Ryder System will acquire substantially all the assets of the full service truck leasing, commercial truck rental and contract maintenance businesses of Edart Leasing Company LLC,
a regional transportation services company based in Hartford, Conn. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in January 2009.

Ryder will acquire Edart's fleet of approximately 1,450 full service lease and 150 rental units, serving more than 340 contract customers from Edart's nine Northeast locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Ryder will acquire approximately 600 vehicles that will be re-marketed pursuant to specific terms of the agreement.

"Edart Leasing is a well-known and respected, family-owned transportation service provider that has been a strong competitor in the Northeast," said Ryder Chairman and CEO Greg Swienton.

Founded in 1934, Edart Leasing was one of the largest independent truck rental and leasing companies in the U.S. still owned and operated by the same family that founded the company more than seven decades ago.