BELLEVUE, Wash., June 11, 2020 — When it comes to anniversaries, 40 is a big number. And, for PacLease, the full-service truck rental and leasing company, the biggest numbers are nearly 40,000 trucks being utilized in 570 locations throughout five countries.
“It’s very gratifying to our entire organization, and a tribute to our franchises, to be at the level we’re at now,” said Ken Roemer, PacLease’s president. “It’s been the combination of offering quality Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF equipment, along with a service philosophy that we think is unmatched in the industry. It’s what’s led us to continued growth through the years."
Starting in 1980, at the time of deregulation in the trucking industry, PacLease began ‘year one’ with 17 locations. “Deregulation was a big disrupter in the industry and it created more demand from private fleets who wanted to have control of their operations,” said Roemer. “PacLease fit right in with transportation solutions. The timing for our launch was great.”
Through the years, the company has continued to add locations throughout the United States and Canada, now having over 450 locations. PacLease began expanding services in other countries beginning in Mexico in 1996, Germany in 2007 and Australia in 2015. “The common denominator has been the quality of our custom spec’d equipment, backed by the support systems we have at PACCAR, and delivered by franchises and company stores that have a vested interest in their community. It’s been a tremendous formula for success.”
It’s a formula not lost on Scott Baird, general manager for Coast Counties Peterbilt, a PacLease franchise since 1994. “We started with one location in San Jose with five trucks in our first lease agreement. Now we have nearly 900 pieces of equipment operating under the PacLease banner in six California locations. We feel that when we start working with a customer, we want that customer to be a customer for life. And, it’s been working out that way. Part of the equation is we offer the best equipment in the industry tailored specifically for our customer. And, we have a mobile fleet of service trucks with master technicians to service customers at their location. That’s all backed by the nationwide coverage that the PacLease network offers throughout the country. It gives our customers the best of both worlds; local support, programs and spec’ing from a leasing company that knows them personally, with a service network that is there for over-the-road service.”
For Rodney Dutreix, general manager of Southland PacLease, the decision by Kenworth of Louisiana to join PacLease in 2004 has been nothing but successful. “We’ve expanded from our original two locations, in New Orleans and Gray, to include five additional locations in Louisiana,” said Dutreix. “Our ownership group understands how leasing can benefit our customers, and PacLease has become a very big and important part of our business. Today we operate more than 800 pieces of PacLease equipment.”
According to Dutreix, the success of Southland PacLease and the PacLease network as a whole, is in providing top-tier products and service. “When we show customers the trucks they can lease, how we can spec the truck to their exact application, and then give them a visit to our maintenance facility, 90 percent of the sales process is done, it’s an impressive combination,” he said. “Having the national support of PacLease, and the programs in place, like financing, emergency road service and national accounts, just cements our advantages. One of our largest customers runs coast-to-coast and relies on our entire network. We’re now in our fourth cycle of trucks with them, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the entire PacLease network.”
As PacLease heads into its next 40 years, Roemer said leasing will continue to grow, much of it due to technology changes. “Technology continues to grow at a pace we’ve never seen before,” he said. “With remote diagnostics, trucks tell us ‘what’s happening’ prior to their arrival in the shop, this allows us to triage trucks in advance to get repairs done quickly, saving valuable drive time. Moreover, with all the data being collected on trucks, predictive maintenance versus preventive maintenance is becoming more of a reality. It is the connected truck and PacLease is the connected leasing company that puts it all together.
“Our customers want to get into a premium truck with the latest technology and make deliveries,” concluded Roemer. “They don’t want to worry about upkeep, hiring technicians, dedicated maintenance facilities or the overhead that comes with it. That is where PacLease shines, and will continue to shine.”
About PacLease and PACCAR
PacLease is one of the fastest-growing commercial truck leasing companies in the transportation industry. PacLease has independent and company-owned full-service leasing locations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia. PacLease provides customized full-service lease, rental and contract maintenance programs designed to meet the specific needs of customers. A combination of reliable, custom-built trucks and complete service offerings allows customers to maximize the value of their transportation resources.
PACCAR Leasing is a part of the financial services group of PACCAR Inc, a global technology leader in the design, manufacture and customer support of high-quality light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates. PACCAR shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market, symbol PCAR, and its homepage can be found at www.paccar.com.