As the world evolves from the severity of the early days of the pandemic, many industries including transportation continue to leverage partners to overcome new challenges. Fleet Advantage’s innovative Sale-Leaseback program was mobilized early in the pandemic to help organizations infuse cash into their operations, and today the program is being leveraged to help fleets utilize cash for driver bonus and retention initiatives.
Fleet Advantage is an innovator in truck fleet business analytics, equipment financing and life cycle cost management (LCCM). The company’s Sale-Leaseback program allows organizations to select the assets from their fleet that are older models and Fleet Advantage will purchase those assets and lease them back to the fleet for an interim period until they place an order and transition to new equipment when available. Utilizing a Sale-Leaseback can satisfy short-term needs without damaging long-term procurement goals due to build slot limitations.
Cash Subsidizing for Driver Bonuses
Driver shortages are among the most challenging issues for the industry entering 2022. The American Trucking Association (ATA) believes it needs 80,000 more drivers, and this number may swell to surpass 160,000 drivers by 2030. High demand, a lack of new drivers and retiring older drivers continue to play into the issue. Fleets are looking to identify new ways to either subsidize bonuses, or to offer an improved driver experience and workplace culture that reduces driver turnover.
“Our Sale-Leaseback program helps with a cash infusion for bonus subsidies, but transportation fleets are also reshaping their asset management strategies to reduce driver turnover rates,” said Brian Antonellis, CTP, Senior Vice President of Fleet Operations for Fleet Advantage. “Leading fleets are realizing that they can recruit and retain more drivers by building a culture that acknowledges safety and driver input while leveraging a more aggressive trade cycle driven by flexibility in operations and finance.”
Shortened Trade Cycles Improve Driver Retention
Safer trucks and an improved workplace culture that fosters including more driver input into truck spec’ing is helping fleets with better retention. The DRIVE Safe Act, part of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill President Joe Biden recently signed into law, should help pave the way for drivers under 21 years old to enter interstate trucking. It requires transportation organizations to utilize industry-leading technology including active braking collision mitigation systems, forward-facing event recording cameras, speed limiters set at 65 mph or less and automated manual transmissions. These requirements further illustrate the need to spec for newer trucks.
Sale-Leaseback Helps Achieve ESG Goals
By shortening the trade-cycle through Fleet Advantage’s Sale-Leaseback program, fleets can upgrade into newer trucks with these safety features more frequently. What’s more, progressive-minded organizations continuously include their drivers in specification conversations and even poll drivers for input during the process, so they feel like their voice is heard. By creating this type of culture, fleets will be more successful in retaining younger drivers.
In addition to newer trucks with safety features, Sale-Leaseback helps transportation organizations achieve environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, further appealing to younger drivers and their desires to work for sustainably conscious brands.