Ryder to provide beverage fleets with longer durations for full-service truck leases

Ryder System Inc. said today it would offer its beverage-fleet customers full-service truck leases extending out 10 years, well beyond Ryder's standard 5- to 7-year length for its full-service leases.

Miami-based Ryder said that because beverage companies operate fewer fleet miles than the industry average, their fleets have a longer useful life than do trucks in other industries. As a result, Ryder said it makes sense to offer extended lease durations to its beverage customers. Ryder cited a 2013 Beverage World survey that found about three-quarters of delivery fleets run fewer than 40,000 miles a year, 47 percent of vehicles are 10 years of age or older, and 40 percent are between 5 and 9 years old.

Fleet miles logged by beverage companies are relatively low because truck runs are short-haul in nature between bottling plants and distribution centers and stores.

Under a long-term, full-service lease, firms like Ryder acquire vehicles according to the customer's specifications; provide financing, maintenance, and fleet-support services; and then manage the vehicle disposal to protect customers from the risk of depreciating vehicle residual prices. The goals are to allow customers to focus on their core business, minimize fleet downtime, and ensure a consistent level of fleet maintenance and repair performance over the course of the lease.

Ryder does not provide the drivers, according to Cindy Haas, a company spokeswoman. In a leasing arrangement, beverage companies typically use their bottling employees as drivers.

Haas said the food-and-beverage segment is a big business for Ryder, but she did not have a specific breakdown of the beverage industry's contribution. Ryder System Inc. said today it would offer its beverage-fleet customers full-service truck leases extending out 10 years, well beyond Ryder's standard 5- to 7-year length for its full-service leases.

Miami-based Ryder said that because beverage companies operate fewer fleet miles than the industry average, their fleets have a longer useful life than do trucks in other industries. As a result, Ryder said it makes sense to offer extended lease durations to its beverage customers. Ryder cited a 2013 **ital{Beverage World} survey that found about three-quarters of delivery fleets run fewer than 40,000 miles a year, 47 percent of vehicles are 10 years of age or older, and 40 percent are between 5 and 9 years old.

Fleet miles logged by beverage companies are relatively low because truck runs are short-haul in nature between bottling plants and distribution centers and stores.

Under a long-term, full-service lease, firms like Ryder acquire vehicles according to the customer's specifications; provide financing, maintenance, and fleet-support services; and then manage the vehicle disposal to protect customers from the risk of depreciating vehicle residual prices. The goals are to allow customers to focus on their core business, minimize fleet downtime, and ensure a consistent level of fleet maintenance and repair performance over the course of the lease.

Ryder does not provide the drivers, according to Cindy Haas, a company spokeswoman. In a leasing arrangement, beverage companies typically use their bottling employees as drivers.

Haas said the food-and-beverage segment is a big business for Ryder, but she did not have a specific breakdown of the beverage industry's contribution.