WHY LEASING MAKES SENSE FOR NATURAL GAS

Getting back to the C.A.T. announcement that it will be deploying 100 natural gas trucks out of Montreal, it’s interesting to note this will be a full-service lease arrangement with Ryder.

I had the chance to catch up with Scott Perry, v.p. of supply management with Ryder at the conference. I’ll never pass up an opportunity to interview Scott. He’s a great interview, refreshingly candid and incredibly knowledgeable.

Scott Perry
Scott Perry

We spoke at length about natural gas, its maintenance requirements and why leasing is a good option for fleets looking to enjoy the benefits of a lower cost fuel while mitigating the risks some of it entails.

You can read our full interview here. Bottom line is that transitioning the fleet to natural gas can provide some enormous cost savings, but also substantial capital costs and increased concerns about reliability and also the need to retrofit facilities and train technicians on how to service those vehicles. Leasing natural gas trucks allows a fleet to spread out the higher cost of the equipment while ensuring a ready supply of back-up trucks is available in the event of downtime and also leaving the maintenance requirements to Ryder.

Ryder has 500 natural gas trucks deployed in the US and another 300 on order and will be adding another 100 units to that total through its deal with C.A.T.

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James Menzies is editorial director of Today's Trucking and TruckNews.com. He has been covering the Canadian trucking industry for more than 24 years and holds a CDL. Reach him at james@newcom.ca or follow him on Twitter at @JamesMenzies.


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