Fleet Advantage conducted an online survey designed to take the pulse of Class 8 truck fleet managers on topics ranging from fuel economy trends to equipment acquisition and disposition, driver retention, maintenance and repair practices, and more. The survey revealed... read more
Feb 2015
On January 9, 2015 Santander bank raised $8.88 billion by issuing stock and cut its dividend by 66% to address regulatory capital issues. The bank’s shares have fallen 29%, resulting in a loss of $33 billion in market value. Santander... read more
Feb 2015
Every company has a strategic plan, right ? Many are three-year plans, some are five-year plans and some are informal, but in some form they exist for every company . The typical elements of a strategic plan are many and... read more
Feb 2015
When a disproportionate number of new units enter a fleet over a very short period of time, it can throw off the balance of older models and new in terms of average fleet age. This can lead to inconsistent and... read more
Feb 2015
Nearly 2,500 years ago Greek poet Sophocles quipped that he would “rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.” It seems that some people disagree with Sophocles — they fail without honor while trying to cheat the system. To the... read more
Jan 2015
Lessors and lenders engaged in equipment leasing and finance should remember that a usury savings clause is not a “get out of jail free card.” Historically, equipment lessors have been less concerned with usury issues than their straight-loan brethren. The... read more
Jan 2015
Although the official unemployment rate is 5.6%, it is a misleading number. The labor participation rate (the percentage of working aged people who are working or looking for work) is at 62.8%, meaning over 92 million working-aged people are not... read more
Jan 2015
In making the case for global equipment leasing during a session at the recent ELFA convention, consultants from The Alta Group, and executives from Societe Generale Equipment Finance and Genpact made the business case for expanding equipment leasing beyond American... read more
Dec 2014
In the not-too-distant past, it was common practice for grocery chains to use available capital to build new stores or remodel old ones, with the thinking that the best use of the money was where the expenditure directly touched the... read more
Dec 2014
Editor’s note: Bill Stephenson, chairman and CEO of DLL, released the following article, published in its entirety. The business we are in is about helping our customers thrive in tough, competitive marketplaces. This means having to understand their immediate business... read more
Nov 2014
Much work remains on the lease accounting project, and I do not anticipate a final standard until early 2015. The proposal, which has been through two exposure periods, was highly criticized by a variety of constituents in the latest public... read more
Nov 2014
IT spending is surging in our industry, but with lowered expectations regarding transforming organization cost structures. Business executives now believe that broader business strategies must be key components of major initiative business cases. They have also discovered that the cost... read more
Nov 2014
Does anybody out there care that the proposed accounting rules will cause all sale leasebacks (SLBs) with fixed price purchase options (FPPOs) to be accounted for as debt by lessees? Does anybody care that the proposed rules will also force... read more
Oct 2014
Recently, monitordaily reported GE Capital segment results showed overall net earnings for Q3/14 were $1.492 billion, down 22% from $1.903 a year earlier. All financial segments – Consumer, Real Estate, GECAS and Energy Financial – were off, with the exception... read more
Oct 2014
In mid-September I read an article on American Banker about the “Winners and Losers on CIT’s OneWest Deal.” There were some interesting conclusions drawn by the writer. For example, CIT Group CEO John Thain was listed as a winner because... read more
Oct 2014