For fleets evaluating vehicle lifecycles, many must compare the benefits between leasing and owning vehicles. Understanding the benefits and drawbacks associated with either option can be quite challenging, and all too familiar.
Wadena County, in Minnesota, recently proposed an overhaul to their county fleet purchasing strategy. County officials have been investigating the benefits of leasing versus owning the vehicles, and have noticed that the current process to rotate older vehicles from the fleet has led to operational inefficiencies and high maintenance costs in addition to lower trade-in values.
Wadena County has been purchasing the vehicles across their fleet; the new proposal is a switch to leasing. Some are concerned that leasing eliminates the possibility to replace vehicles more often and will result in a lower return on investment, while others are drawn to the lower up-front costs and overall savings in the long term.
With the county's fleet covering several vocations, some vehicles such as highway patrol require newer vehicles, while others such as waste management can suffice with older vehicles. County staff began meeting with a leasing company in July 2019, enforcing the notion that such a change is a major decision for any fleet. Read the full story here.
