“It’s very gratifying to our entire organization, and a tribute to our franchises, to be at the level we’re at now,” says PacLease President Ken Roemer. “It’s been the combination of offering quality Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF equipment, along with a service philosophy that we think is unmatched in the industry. It’s what’s led us to continued growth through the years.”
The company currently has nearly 40,000 trucks being utilized in 570 locations throughout five countries. The company started with 17 locations in its first year, 1980, as trucking was being deregulated.
“Deregulation was a big disrupter in the industry and it created more demand from private fleets who wanted to have control of their operations,” says Roemer. “PacLease fit right in with transportation solutions. The timing for our launch was great.”
Through the years, PacLease has continued to add locations throughout the United States and Canada and now has more than 450 locations in North America. PacLease began expanding services in other countries beginning in Mexico in 1996, Germany in 2007 and Australia in 2015. Roemer says throughout that growth, “the common denominator has been the quality of our custom spec’d equipment, backed by the support systems we have at Paccar, and delivered by franchises and company stores that have a vested interest in their community. It’s been a tremendous formula for success.”
As PacLease heads into its next 40 years, Roemer says he believes leasing will continue to grow — much of it due to technology changes.
“Technology continues to grow at a pace we’ve never seen before. With remote diagnostics, trucks tell us ‘what’s happening’ prior to their arrival in the shop — this allows us to triage trucks in advance to get repairs done quickly, saving valuable drive time” he says. “Moreover, with all the data being collected on trucks, predictive maintenance versus preventive maintenance is becoming more of a reality. It is the connected truck and PacLease is the connected leasing company that puts it all together.
“Our customers want to get into a premium truck with the latest technology and make deliveries,” he adds. “They don’t want to worry about upkeep, hiring technicians, dedicated maintenance facilities or the overhead that comes with it. That is where PacLease shines, and will continue to shine.”
