Fleet managers and consulting professionals alike are constantly on the hunt for the drivers behind fleet management asset optimization, which can include equipment acquisition, regulatory compliance, risk and safety, maintenance management, fuel efficiency maximization, and asset tracking, to name just... read more
March 2015
Periodically in the equipment leasing industry, cases crop up involving schemes in which equipment is marketed as being essentially “free,” because the lessee will supposedly receive payments for advertising on the equipment, in an amount roughly the same as the... read more
March 2015
Discussions on effective leadership often land on a universal theme: how best to start — or strengthen — business relationships. At D&D Leasing, we are always seeking ways to do just that, from immersing ourselves in industry groups and community... read more
March 2015
The FASB and the IASB have been at their Lease Accounting project since July 19, 2006. They have lease project fatigue and want to get this project done quickly – possibly too quickly to really get good feedback from the... read more
March 2015
On November 11, 2014, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued a Preliminary Views document on a project to change current GASB lease accounting GAAP, but it is in line with the IASB approach rather than the FASB approach that... read more
March 2015
Editor’s Note: This is based in part on a panel discussion led by executives from Advantage Funding, TCF Equipment Finance and Residco on trends in transportation finance at the annual ELFA Conference in October. The following entry summarizes and analyzes... read more
Feb 2015
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