PacLease recently held its semi-annual Service and Operations Summit in Nashville, which featured topics and presentations to strengthen the PacLease network.

PacLease has more than 460 full-service leasing and rental locations.  

“It felt good to be all together in person,” said Andrew Keane, Paccar Leasing’s director of franchise operations. “These past few years have been challenging, and we had to cancel our last Summit due to Covid-19. Everyone was excited to reunite -- the energy and passion we had in the main presentation room, and in breakout sessions, really set the stage for some exciting years ahead of us.”

The meeting, themed “Charging Forward,” included topics such as the coming of electric vehicles and the sales/support efforts needed by the PacLease network to make the transition to electric easier for customers. It also included presentations on the evolution and implementation of voice-guided technology for performing preventive maintenance. A presentation was also made on the Voice of the Customer, which examined results from a survey that was sent to PacLease customers. 

With Kenworth and Peterbilt both offering battery electric medium and heavy-duty trucks, presentations were made on implementing EV infrastructure at PacLease locations, tooling and equipment, plus ways to support customers in applying for grant money to offset the added cost for an electric truck.

“There is a lot of interest in leasing electric trucks as they represent the future,” said Keane. “Leasing through PacLease will be a great strategy for many as we can offer a complete turnkey program to make any transition seamless and smooth. We’re already beginning to plan and install charging stations at several of our larger PacLease locations, near our service bays, in anticipation of first customer deliveries.”

PacLease franchises are adopting the company’s voice-guided technology for preventive maintenance.

“It improves consistency and quality,” Keane said. “No steps can be missed or forgotten with our voice-guided system, plus it also speeds the process by not having to double check next steps in a PM, especially for new technicians. We feel this type of technology is the future in maintaining vehicles and our franchises are quickly coming onboard with installations.”