|  Leasing Offers Operators Ability to Equip Trucks With APUs
SPARKS, Nev., May 9, 2007 — Owner-operators don’t have to lay out thousands of dollars if they want to buy an auxiliary power unit to avoid idling their trucks during breaks and rest periods.
If they lease their APUs, in many cases they can save enough in fuel costs and wear and tear on their truck engines to more than offset their lease payments.
Take Jose Murillo, a San Antonio, Texas-based owner-operator who leases to KLLM Transport Services. Last year, Murillo began leasing the Willis APU, which is manufactured by Auxiliary Power Dynamics. Idling the 500-hp Detroit Diesel engine on his 2001 Freightliner Classic to keep his 84-inch sleeper comfortable burns about 1 1/4 gallons of fuel per hour, he said. The Willis APU uses a lot less to keep his cab comfortable, about 1/5 to ¼ of a gallon of fuel per hour.
Murillo said his savings at the pump, and the wear and tear he avoids from idling his truck engine, more than offsets his lease payment. Leasing also pays off at tax time since he can claim his monthly payments as a deduction on his taxes, he added.
“When I paid off my truck loan a couple of years ago, leasing allowed me to get an APU installed right away instead of waiting until I had enough money saved up to buy one,” Murillo said.
“Many owner-operators like Murillo want to install APUs on their trucks so they can stay comfortable in their sleepers,” said Will Watson vice-president of sales and marketing for Auxiliary Power Dynamics. “But being able to commit thousands of dollars to buy a quality APU can be a big challenge for owner-operators, particularly now with low freight volumes and tight profit margins.
“Owner-operators can follow the lead of fleet operators, who are considering leasing as a financing option for APUs, particularly when they’ve already spent a lot of money buying pre-2007 truck models,” Watson said.
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| |  With a good credit history, owner-operators can arrange low interest rates, low monthly payments, plus a small payoff at the end of the lease, he said. Plus, if they choose an APU that has the capacity they need, they can use the money they save in avoided fuel and maintenance costs to significantly offset their finance payments.
Bill Stevens, an owner-operator based in west central Indiana, found leasing to be a good option for the same reasons as Murillo. Stevens said in October of last year, he started leasing a fully-equipped Willis APU. Now, based on an average use of 50 hours per week, and paying an average of $2.60 per gallon for fuel, Stevens said his monthly fuel savings alone comes close to paying for the cost of the lease. Stevens said before he leased the Willis APU, he bought another APU from a leading APU manufacturer and found its capacity to be inadequate and its engine to be too noisy.
“When you also consider the capacity the Willis APU offers, the wear and tear I’m avoiding on my truck engine and the tax benefits of leasing, I know leasing it is actually making me money,” he said.
The Willis APU is a professional-grade device that offers cooling and heating capacity that’s among the highest in the industry. It also keeps truck drivers and their companies from being slapped with hefty fines for idling their truck engines since it provides auxiliary power as soon as the truck is parked. Its three-cylinder, 18-hp Kubota engine makes it quiet, powerful and inexpensive to maintain.
For more information about the Willis APU, including a complete list of authorized installation and warranty service locations in the United States and Canada, visit www.willisapu.com, or call 1-800-825-4631.
Watson said owner-operators should consult their own tax or accounting professional before deciding whether a lease makes sense for them since everyone’s finance situations are unique.
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