Full Service Truck Lease Trends 2025

Updated May 19, 2025

As the trucking industry navigates 2025, four key trends are shaping how equipment acquisition executives approach truck purchasing and fleet maintenance: replacing aging assets, access to new equipment, rising vehicle prices, and the challenge of retaining qualified technicians.

Let’s explore the scope of these challenges—and the benefits of leasing as a smart, future-ready solution.

Replacing Aging Equipment

Across the industry, fleets are aging. Many operators extended vehicle life during recent supply chain disruptions, resulting in more trucks with higher mileage and increased maintenance needs. Older trucks can be more prone to breakdowns, drive up repair costs, and create safety and compliance risks.

Now is the time for many fleet owners to assess whether it makes sense to refresh aging assets. But purchasing new trucks outright can be cost-prohibitive—especially as pricing continues to climb due to higher production and component costs.

Leasing offers a strategic solution. With a full-service lease, you can replace aging equipment with newer, more reliable vehicles on a predictable monthly budget. This reduces the risk of unscheduled downtime and keeps your fleet operating at peak efficiency.

Access to New Equipment & Market Availability

Truck availability continues to be a challenge in 2025, though manufacturers have begun to recover from recent supply chain delays. Still, high demand for certain vehicle types, such as last-mile delivery vans and refrigerated units, can make it difficult to procure the exact specs and models your operation requires—especially on short notice.

Leasing providers like Ryder can help fleets stay agile. They offer priority access to new trucks as they become available, with the flexibility to scale up or down as needed. Their industry partnerships give lessees an advantage in securing a wide range of vehicle types—including light-, medium-, and heavy-duty trucks, tractors, and trailers—faster than through the traditional purchase route.

With a lease, you also avoid long lead times and bidding wars that can inflate equipment costs. This level of flexibility and access is especially important as prices trend upward.

Preparing for Higher Costs

Fleet operators face a landscape of rising vehicle prices due to increasing input costs and manufacturing complexity. The direct impact is felt in the sticker price of new trucks—and the total cost of ownership.

As prices continue to rise, leasing becomes an increasingly attractive option. It spreads the cost of new equipment over time, helping companies preserve capital and avoid the large upfront expenditures associated with outright purchases.

Additionally, leasing provides fixed, predictable monthly payments that make it easier to manage budgets and cash flow in an uncertain economic environment.

Leveraging Technology to Maximize Uptime

Today’s trucks are more connected than ever—and fleet operators who embrace this connectivity are seeing real operational benefits. Onboard telematics and smart maintenance platforms help prevent breakdowns by tracking vehicle health in real time and prompting service before a failure occurs.

Ryder, for example, partners with Geotab to deliver a fully integrated electronic logging device (ELD) and fleet management solution. These systems not only support safety and driver tracking—they enable predictive maintenance by monitoring fault codes, engine performance, and wear indicators across your entire fleet.

More connectivity means more uptime. Leasing partners who invest in advanced diagnostics and proactive service can keep your trucks on the road longer—and out of the shop.

Hiring (and keeping) truck technicians

Drivers are key to a thriving supply chain, but without technicians, there are no functioning trucks. There is a significant truck technician shortage nationwide, and many experienced technicians currently working are nearing or have reached retirement age. This leaves a sizable gap that younger workers need to fill. Trucking firms are struggling to recruit, train, and retain new technicians.

There is clearly a need for accelerated diesel technician training. A key tool is tech-school programs. Industry leaders like Navistar and Peterbilt have established high-school mentorship programs, and leasing companies like Ryder have ramped up recruiting and training efforts to engage a diverse new generation of technicians. They have also established partnerships with tech schools to support ongoing local training.

Another key element in retaining technicians is shop culture. Many technicians cite this, rather than pay, as an important reasons to stay at or leave a company. Shops that show appreciation for hard work and offer tool allowances, flexible schedules, and career training are more likely to retain and recruit new talent. Also, shops that offer training on alternative powertrains will set their teams up for long-term success meeting the industry shift towards low or zero emissions.

Why consider a full-service truck lease?

Many companies have adopted full-service truck leases rather than maintaining fleets. Leasing is 10% to 15% more cost-efficient than traditional ownership. Also known as a comprehensive or all-inclusive truck lease, this arrangement includes commercial truck use and services such as maintenance and repairs. There are many benefits to this type of full service lease:

• Cost savings: Leasing provides substantial savings over purchasing. A monthly payment on a $150,000 truck, financed at 7% interest for seven years, comes to approximately $2,300, which brings the total purchase price to $190,000. A leasing arrangement can cut that expense by up to 50%, with no interest or long-term commitment
• Tax savings: You can deduct your monthly payment and also mileage from your taxes, with only depreciation being nondeductible
• Maintenance packages: Lessors also often provide several maintenance package options, which typically cover routine service, upkeep, and repairs. Ryder offers three levels: preventive, full-service, and on-demand, plus a network of over 5,000 certified technicians in more than 800 U.S. shops. Ryder offers 24/7 on-call support for breakdowns and other emergencies
• Additional benefits: Leasing agreements also often include insurance, access to rental vehicles, customization, and flexible terms and pricing. With the leasing company’s economy of scale, they can source replacement parts at the lowest prices.

These are several compelling reasons why thousands of customers annually choose Ryder for full-service truck leases instead of private fleet ownership. With Ryder, you get:

• Priority access to new vehicles from top truck manufacturers as they become available
• Your choice of vehicles: vans, refrigerated vehicles, light- and heavy-duty trucks, tractors, and trailers.
• Limited-time lease offers: Over 50,000 companies trust Ryder for commercial fleet management.