Do you lease semi trailers for your business to use, or are you considering leasing trailers? If so, it’s a good idea to develop a strategy that will enable you to maximize the benefit of those leases and your relationship with the provider. Below are some things to keep in mind as you put your plan together.
Clearly Define Your Needs
The first step in developing a semi trailer leasing strategy is to develop a clear picture of your needs. How many trailers are you looking to lease? Will you need them all year long? What type of trailer construction are you interested in? Do you want air ride or spring ride trailers? What features should the trailers have to accommodate the product or material you need to transport? Do you want or need GPS tracking? Thinking through these and other questions will help ensure that your leasing plan addresses all your requirements.
Pick the Right Leasing Partner
It goes without saying that in order to have an effective semi trailer leasing strategy you have to work with the right leasing partner. That means it is crucial to do your research. What should you be looking for in a provider? The first thing is extensive industry experience covering all types of equipment—flatbed trailers, refrigerated (i.e., reefer) trailers, liftgate trailers, etc. That experience should include knowledge of all the major manufacturers, like Great Dane, Wabash, Utility and others.
You also want to work with a company that is trusted and respected in the industry. One that is considered by its clients as more of a partner than a provider is ideal. You can be confident that an organization with that type of reputation will make your needs their top priority.
Insist on a Customized Plan
Your provider will definitely have some rules you have to abide by. But if you run into some hurdles, they should be willing to try to “find a way” to get you the semi trailers you need. If a leasing company is inflexible, that can be the result of a variety of issues.
For example, they may not have the industry background that helps them know when and where they can “bend” their procedures. It might also be a sign that they don’t have the resources required to accommodate your needs. Or, they may have had poor relationships with past clients that have left them with a chip on their shoulder. Whatever their reason for being rigid, you should steer clear.
Ensure Your Semi Trailer Provider Can Help With Holiday Shipping Surges
Most companies have one or more “busy seasons” during the year. For many, those periods occur around the holidays. If your organization experiences holiday shipping surges, you want to be working with a company that can accommodate them. And if there’s a chance that your company will have unexpected volume surges at other times of the year, it’s important to have a relationship with a provider that will do everything they can to help you out of a tough situation.
Leverage Your Semi Trailer Provider’s Expertise and Services
A good semi trailer partner provides more than just trailers. They also offer expertise that can improve your operations. For example, maybe you use a particular type of trailer simply because that’s what your company has always done. It never hurts to get your provider’s perspective on what is the right equipment for your needs. They may tell you that a different type of trailer could help you save fuel, make it more efficient to load and unload product or achieve some other kind of benefit.
Similarly, there may be processes related to the operation or maintenance of trailers in your fleet that you have always performed yourself but that your leasing partner can handle for you. Taking advantage of that service might save you time and money, and also just eliminate the hassle. So, a good question to ask your provider is, “What else can you do for us?”
Review Your Plan Regularly
You have a business to run, so it’s understandable that when it comes to your semi trailer leasing strategy, you might be inclined to “set it and forget it.” But if you do, you may be missing out on ways to improve your operations. For example, you may have needed to lease a certain number of trailers when you first engaged with your provider, but now you could get by with fewer. Or more likely, the number of trailers you leased initially is no longer meeting your needs. And maybe you’re finding a way to get by, but your transportation processes would be much more efficient if you had additional trailers.
It is also a good idea to talk with your leasing partner periodically to see if there are any advances in technology you should be aware of. For example, it wasn’t all that long ago that most trailers did not have GPS capabilities. Today, most do. When the next time- or money-saving feature comes along, you want to be sure and capitalize on it promptly.
Providing High-Quality Semi Trailers in Denver, Phoenix and Beyond
At Boxwheel, we don’t think of ourselves simply as a Denver-area semi trailer rental and sales or Phoenix-area semi trailer rental and sales. Our customers rely on us as an integral part of their shipping and transportation team. We not only help them execute their leasing strategy, we serve as a resource as they are developing it.
Our team has decades of cumulative experience in trailer leasing, and we are happy to share what we know with our customers and prospective customers. In doing so, we help them avoid potential pitfalls and conduct their transportation operations efficiently and effectively.
If you have questions about our streamlined, three-step trailer leasing process, our inventory of trailers for rent, lease or sale, or our company in general, please contact us at your convenience. Or if you are in the vicinity of our Colorado or Arizona location, stop by and see us. We look forward to talking with you about your semi trailer needs and how we can help you achieve your business objectives.