It can be said that the recent economic downturn was the catalyst of modern fleet management, forcing lift truck fleet owners to analyze their operations in ways they never had before.

Not only has the market seen tremendous advancements in fleet tracking and monitoring technology, but it has also witnessed the evolution of lift truck financing options. Savvy customers have developed an understanding of a truck’s economic lifespan, and lately more are focusing on the beginning of that life—the moment when a signature finalizes a purchase, rental or lease.

Because that moment can make or break a company’s efforts to optimize its fleet over the coming years, Modern spoke with industry analysts and lift truck finance experts to help readers prepare for that pivotal stroke of the pen.

“When a business considers acquiring a new piece of lift equipment, that’s akin to a consumer considering whether to buy, lease or rent a new car,” says Jonathan Kipp, relationship manager with GE Capital. Few consumers would rent a car just to get to work, or lease a backup vehicle, and fleet owners would be wise to avoid these situations as well.

Currently, many more lift truck customers lease rather than rent or buy outright, according to Kipp. “Many of the benefits of leasing apply just as much to small businesses as to Fortune 500 companies,” he says. “Leases can be structured to maximize cash benefits in addition to helping address a maze of tax and accounting rules, while mitigating many risks and expenses of asset ownership.”

Although the affordability and predictability of leasing offers improved cash management and flexibility, some customers still cling to the historical perception of leasing as a restrictive agreement destined to produce huge end-of-term bills.

However, as customers become more devoted to squeezing each and every penny from their fleets, so have equipment finance partners developed products around the same goal. Along with the fairly straightforward processes of buying, renting and leasing, customers can now pursue pay-by-the-hour leases, unconventional term lengths, negotiable lease provisions, and on-the-fly term extensions or monthly payment adjustments.

None of these options is a guaranteed success, but with a comprehensive understanding of the lift truck’s application and a working relationship with a finance partner, fleet owners will be ahead of the curve.

When and how to buy
Not long ago, more customers were buying outright than leasing, says Jeff Bailey, director of Crown Credit Company. “It has been a very trying last few years,” says Bailey. “During the recession, there wasn’t a lot of anything going on.”

There was pent-up demand, he says, and a lot of companies had cash built up—so, many bought outright. Government incentives for capital expenses contributed to the recovery. “Now we’re trending differently,” says Bailey. “Now it’s flip-flopping again, and more customers are leasing.”

For Brian Markison, senior manager for national accounts at Nissan Forklift, the decision of whether to buy or lease hinges on how quickly the customer will consume the economic life of the asset. If the answer is “quickly,” then lease. If the lift truck will only be used 1,000 hours per year, don’t lease. Instead, the customer might buy or rent long-term.

Another consideration, says Markison, is whether the asset in question is a specialty item or has a robust secondary market. If not, it might be best to buy.

Bill Buckhout, marketing manager for Raymond Leasing Corp., says the customer niche that buys equipment should have an application where equipment will last a long time, maybe as much as 20 years. “For all the right reasons, a customer who would like to pay in cash should not buy outright,” says Buckhout. “They might consider a single-payment lease, but then they’ll have to plan for that equipment to go away at some point. All kinds of bad things can happen when people try to buy something with a finite economic life.”

When and how to rent
Rentals for any length of time, whether one day or one year, require the customer to pay a premium for the convenience of returning a lift truck at their leisure. While rentals can provide great flexibility, they are also more costly.

“Short-term rentals must be just that—no more than two to three months,” says Markison. “A customer who keeps renewing these agreements can spend as much in one year as the asset would cost to buy outright.”

Some customers slip into this cycle accidentally, he says. Rental expenses might come from a different budget than capital expenses, and might be subject to less scrutiny as a result. “I’ve seen operations with rental trucks that corporate didn’t even know about,” says Markison. However, if a company is strongly averse to a commitment of more than 12 months to 24 months, a long-term rental might be appropriate, he says.

Tina Goodwin, director of financial services for NACCO Material Handling Group, has a different rubric. “When I look at renting, I think of a customer with seasonal peaks who needs a truck for just a month or two at a time,” she says. “That’s the only time I would recommend renting.”

Realistically, however, customers often end up in long-term rentals if they can’t find the right lease agreement to satisfy internal provisions, or if for any reason a rental is not subject to the same internal scrutiny, as in the case of Markison’s customer.

“Otherwise, there are essentially no advantages to the customer over a lease for the same term,” says Goodwin.

When and how to lease
Back when businesses were flush and lift trucks languished at the bottom of the list of priorities, lease agreements were executed hastily as a matter of housekeeping. Canned agreements rarely lined up with the disparate realities of the lift truck’s application, and leasing ended up with the reputation it is still working to shed.

“The lessee’s viewpoint was that leasing was just a ticket to get taken at the end of the deal,” says Bailey. “Now it’s a very desirable program. We quote leasing options on every sale.”

According to Kipp, the equipment finance industry continues to be a powerful engine for the U.S. economy, driving manufacturing and service sector supply chains across the country. In fact, the Equipment Leasing and Financing Association (ELFA) estimates that last year U.S. businesses, non-profits and government agencies financed $628 billion of capital goods or fixed business investments, up 21% from the year before.