Perhaps you've realized the best route to acquiring fleet vehicles in your electrical or plumbing business is to lease. While you've calculated this as the best financial plan, what other options do you have to save even more money?
Going through a regular dealership to lease your vehicles doesn't always give you variations on the leasing contract.
If you go through a fleet management consultant, you can enjoy leasing options like walk-away leases.
What is a Walk-Away Lease?
With a walk-away lease, you can set a specific time period of how long you'll lease your vehicles, then turn in the keys when you're done.
It's a simpler way to do things if you plan to buy your own vehicles in ensuing years. The only thing is, you'll need a team helping you to fully understand how walk-away leases work.
Keep in mind that when you sign on for a walk-away lease, you still have to satisfy maintenance and mileage requirements in your contract. Nevertheless, the cost savings compared to buying are considerable. The company you lease from should also have a service plan in place to help you take care of maintenance easily.
Providing the Equipment You Need
You're going to need some telematics equipment in your fleet vehicles to track your drivers and how your trucks perform. Everything from dash cams to GPS systems are being used now in fleet vehicle scenarios.
These are expensive to purchase on your own. Yet, being able to lease these as part of your walk-away lease makes for more capital savings you can sock away to help grow your business down the road.
Working with this process also gives you a lower monthly rate than if paying on a purchasing loan. Many tax advantages are found as well when leasing equipment and trucks over buying.
Providing Ways to Save on Gas and Maintenance
If you're going to choose a walk-away lease, you'll want to make sure the program you're using offers various services to enhance the experience. Not all walk-away leases are going to give you efficient features to make the process worthwhile.
One thing to look out for is 24/7 roadside assistance. Since your electricians or plumbers are likely on call at all times, they need to have quick assistance if they encounter problems with their vehicles while on the road. Whether it's a flat tire, or needing a jumpstart, roadside assistance should always be a phone call away.
The same goes with driver fuel cards so your drivers can save as much as possible on gas. Considering gas prices are going up again this year, it's worth thinking about how leasing can save your business as much money as possible.
Fuel cards are noted for saving businesses like yours up to 15%, so ask about this service when signing on to a walk-away lease.
Reminders for Preventative Maintenance
As much as you want to know how to take care of maintenance in a hurry in your leased vehicles, the service you work with should also send you timely maintenance alerts.
This usually occurs through a mobile app, one of the technologies you'll gain working with walk-away lease plans.
Your drivers will simply receive a text alert when it's time for them to get an oil change or need the tires checked.
Easily Disposing of the Vehicles When Ready
Once you end the least term, you'll want a quick method in disposing of them without taking extra time or extra fees.
The best services will take care of this quickly so you can move on and make your next major business decision. Even if you want to buy your trucks at this point, the service you work with might be able to save you money by offering off-lease vehicles at reduced prices.
Here at Wilmar, Inc., we can give you all of the above through our walk-away leasing program.
Contact us to find out how comprehensive we are in providing everything you need for fleet management.
