Cautious fleet managers often choose short-term equipment rental to ease into business expansion. Therefore, we traditionally look to trailer rental companies for signs of good news. But so far this year, the signals are fuzzy.

In the June issue of Heavy Duty Trucking, Senior Editor Patricia Smith talks with executives of the country’s two biggest trailer lease/rental companies, and discovered they had little more than guarded optimism for the immediate future.
With overcapacity a major hurdle, trailer lease/rental companies are gearing up for renewed business by offering customers ways to get by with fewer trailers, not more.
For instance, security is a major selling point for trailer tracking systems being offered by Xtralease. Meanwhile, TIP is tackling productivity from the maintenance side. Bigger, smarter trailers and less paperwork are other trends.
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