DRIVING THE INDUSTRY SINCE 1991 Courtney noted that DTF finances about 20 percent of all buses
sold by Tomas Built. “When customers come to us to, say, extend their term or buy the unit early, we help them because our whole existence is to make them happy. A bank does not care. Tey are agnostic,” he added. Tough leasing may be on the rise, Kaminsky said the industry needs to spread the word that leasing can help school districts optimize their budgets and stretch their dollars. He pointed out that transportation directors often consider other financing options with larger acquisitions like a school bus, including bond issuance money, because that’s the way they’ve done it in the past. Equipment leasing is another growing trend, as one leading heavy-duty vehicle lift manufacturer got into the game last year, while another has been offering this option for over a decade. Allis- ter Collings, president of SEFAC, Inc., told STN that financing lifts has been a significant proportion of the company’s lift sales for 10 years or more, and he predicts this will continue with interest rates still at a historic low amid a strong business climate. “Te traditional three-, four- and five-year plans are the go-to for most finance requests, but as the economic climate has improved, so has the tendency to commit to three-year plans. While these routine finance plans represent about 60 percent of SEFAC lifts sold on finance, we have seen an increase in a number of creative plans we have offered, such as the 0-percent finance we offered back in 2011,” he recalled.
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY Of the new initiatives, Collings said the most popular has been
their fixed cost agreement. In a typical 60-month agreement, the customer pays a regular monthly installment that covers the equip- ment purchase as well as an annual inspection by a SEFAC service technician and any nonscheduled service call and parts replacement. “Te simplicity of knowing at the outset that your cost is fixed at $600 per month allows many shops to budget more accurately and to focus on their core business activity,” he added. Since introducing leasing programs last year, Rotary Lift has
rented several sets of mobile columns to customers who either need- ed them for a short-term project or wanted to try them out before buying them, said Kirk Dawson, vice president of heavy duty. Te operating lease is essentially a rental program with terms
between six and 30 months, while a finance lease arranged through a third-party financing company offers flexible lease terms, but they usually don’t exceed five years, said Dawson. As with school buses, customers almost always lease to purchase. “Tere are numerous benefits to renting. Te most immediate benefit is not having to make a large capital expenditure on the equipment until you are confident you are utilizing the equipment as expected and it is providing the productivity gains you anticipat- ed. Tere is no long-term commitment if the product doesn’t meet your expectations,” Dawson explained. l
Stretching every dollar to buy the best bus at the best payment.
As the fi nancial services provider for Thomas Built Buses, the bus experts at Daimler Truck Financial understand the unique budgetary challenges many school transportation professionals currently face. That’s why we have developed a full suite of fi nance programs specifi cally designed for the pupil transportation industry. Our experienced, hands-on credit team understands bus fi nancing and knows tax-exempt, municipal fi nancing inside and out. We are ready and willing to teach you how to stretch each dollar with customized fi nancial offerings that work for every budget.
Customers fi nancing a new Thomas Built bus with Daimler Truck Financial can: • Take advantage of municipal and retail fi nancing rates near all-time lows* • Reduce maintenance costs • Reduce annual expenses
• Utilize fl exible payment options
• Improve fl eet fuel effi ciency • Reduce average age of fl eet • Acquire most recent technology
Call Daimler Truck Financial today at 866-351-4672 or visit us at
www.thomasbus.com/fi nance-solutions.
*Actual rates, terms, down payment and program eligibility will be determined by the Daimler Truck Financial Credit Team based upon creditworthiness of customer.
©2014 Daimler Truck Financial is a business unit of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC. All rights reserved.
www.stnonline.com 45
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