How do you know when a company has a successful sales strategy? Short answer: when success is all about sales execution. Long answer: when the company’s products and services are easy to sell, easy to buy and easy to justify.... read more
March 2016
Over the past six months, the transportation markets have become less stable, leading to some significant issues, which are the result of worldwide economic issues that have contributed to a down U.S. stock market, impacting many public companies in terms... read more
Feburary 2016
The equipment finance and leasing business is getting to be quite chaotic. Increased M&A activity surrounds us as investors seeking high yielding assets have begun to focus in on our industry. This week’s announcement that Rabobank Group is seeking to... read more
January 2016
Given the competitiveness of the trucking industry, it’s more important than ever for fleets to have the right mix of trucks in operation. To maximize profitability, this winning combination would include the right types of trucks for a given application... read more
January 2016
When I was a kid, people smoked on airplanes. When I was in college and flying to Europe on a regular basis to visit my girlfriend, now wife, airlines began introducing “non-smoking” flights. It was an awkward transition. But today... read more
December 2015
The good news is that the sales volume of the used truck market, especially the Class 8 portion, is generally stable. The alarming news is the significant increase in the number of used trucks that are literally pouring into the... read more
November 2015
My last blog spoke about the three elements that most strategic plans have at their core: first, increasing shareholder value, second, raising customer satisfaction levels, and third, enhancing employee engagement. Pricing methods can influence all three of these in different... read more
October 2015
The new and used truck markets have been quite hot over the past few years. Part of the reason was the pent-up demand from fleets that didn’t want to deal with the 2007 and 2010 emissions upgrades. Their fleets got... read more
The interaction of the new rules regarding sale treatment under revenue recognition versus the proposed new lease accounting rules will likely mean that sale leasebacks of equipment in which there is a non-bargain purchase option will not be considered sales... read more
October 2015
In the five years since the signing of the Affordable Care Act, the landscape of the medical financing industry has shifted from being primarily focused on physicians’ needs to now include the interests of financial decision makers. Meanwhile, lenders are... read more
October 2015
How do you analyze the fuel economy for the trucks in your fleet? There are a variety of different ways to measure fuel economy and not all of them yield the same results. The approach to measuring fuel economy should... read more
September 2015
Five years ago I was introduced to the equipment financing industry. Having implemented enterprise-wide automation solutions for large financial services companies, I was surprised that the industry is vastly manual. After studying the industry, and talking to lots of business... read more
September 2015
Reprinted with the permission of Barry S. Marks and LEAN I remember the day one of my kids asked what it was like in the Great Depression. After assuring them I was not that old, I told them to ask... read more
My last blog spoke about the three elements that most strategic plans have at their core: increasing shareholder value, raising customer satisfaction levels and enhancing employee engagement. Pricing methods can influence all three of these in different ways. Raising customer... read more
August 2015
If you’re in the transportation industry, you’re riding a sea of change. There’s change from federally-mandated emissions upgrades over the last 8 years, change from technology advancements and change from a roller coaster in fuel prices. Even our society has... read more
August 2015