REPOWR, the startup firm that’s trying to inject short-term leasing functionality into the trailer market, is placing some numbers on what’s occurring in its enterprise.
In a report lately launched by the corporate, and in an interview with BigRig, statistics from that market are coming into focus.
The white paper issued by REPOWR stated its common day by day fee to lease a dry van rose to $19.42 in 2025, which was notably larger than $16.93 in 2024. The rise got here though most market observers would say the trucking trade in 2025 was worse than it was within the prior 12 months.
The 2025 quantity was greater than it was in 2023 as nicely, when it stood at $18.88, in accordance with REPOWR information.
The typical variety of days leased by a REPOWR dry van buyer in each 2024 and 2025 was 45 days, down from 51 days in 2023.
How dry van charges managed to rise this 12 months in such a weak market was the lead to a part of actions taken by REPOWR, in accordance with Chris Hines, the corporate’s CEO..
In 2023 and 2024, “there have been lots of new carriers out there,” Hines stated in an interview with BigRig. However they weren’t all solidly primarily based.
“So we did lots of pruning and getting our service base so much smaller to weed out the fraud,” he stated. “As soon as we had a extra concentrated service base, we noticed costs begin to enhance from suppliers, doing slightly little bit of safety themselves. They’re getting centered on utilizing us as a strategy to enhance income and so they’re making an attempt to get their costs up as a lot as potential.”
Numbers for reefers and flatbeds
As to be anticipated, there’s a important distinction between dry van charges and people for reefers and flatbeds.
Flatbed charges have stayed comparatively regular: a low of $37.10 in 2024 and a excessive of $39.81 this 12 months with 2023 at $38.31. What fluctuated is the size of the reservation, which was 132 days in 2023, 91 days final 12 months and 115 days this 12 months.
Reefer costs have come down. They had been $48.68 with a mean reservation size of 112 days in 2023. Final 12 months that dropped to $36.65 and 53 days, and this 12 months was $39.61 and 59 days.
Hines stated the large drop in reefer costs was extra a perform of them being elevated in 2023 somewhat than explicit weak point previously 12 months. At present ranges, he stated, “there’s nonetheless substantial profitability in reefer strikes.”
None of these trailers that had been leased out had been owned by REPOWR. At its most simple, REPOWR is a expertise firm that makes use of its programming to match carriers that want trailer capability on a short-term foundation, freed from a long-term lease, with house owners of trailers capable of provide out a portion of their capability particular durations far shorter than a full lease.
Hines instructed BigRig that trailers “spend about 40% of their life sitting empty someplace.”
“So this optimization of underutilized trailers and trailer strikes is the precise factor we try to unravel for right here,” he stated.
The REPOWR report additionally lists different information coming from its personal operations. It says its rental vary for a dry van is between $530-$610 per thirty days. Identical-day availability is 72%. The typical earnings per listed trailer are $900.38 per reserving for the corporate supplying the gear.
“With fleet capability contracted by 2.2% in 2024 and the drivers-per-truck ratio declined to
0.93, gear imbalance and underutilization danger are at important ranges,” the report stated in what quantities to a numerical declaration of REPOWR’s “worth prop.” “Trailer-sharing monetizes this idle capability exactly the place the market wants it most.”
Of its leases, REPOWR stated 83% of them are transported to a special market and returned there, with the stability originating and ending in the identical place. “This demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of trailer utilization is tied to freight that strikes directionally, not in closed loops,” the REPOWR report stated.
Lengthy checklist of concerns
The choice to lease out a trailer on a short-term foundation by way of a platform like REPOWR or to acquire a trailer by way of that methodology has an nearly limitless checklist of concerns. For a trailer provider, what’s the income to be derived from repositioning the trailers? What if a chance all of the sudden arises; will there be capability to fulfill them if the service has leased out too many trailers?
For the businesses that lease the trailers off the platform, wouldn’t it be higher to purchase a trailer to pursue the work? What a few long-term lease? Is the trailer going right into a headhaul market or a deadhead market?
Matt Harb, vp of product and operations at REPOWR who was additionally interviewed by BigRig, stated the corporate has a calculator that works with suppliers on lots of these questions.
“It asks, what number of trailers do you’ve?” Harb stated. “What’s your utilization?” Even with a trailer sitting empty, the prices of sustaining it “are at all times larger than what you assume it truly is,” he stated.
A lot of the knowledge wanted to determine on a hold/lease technique comes into the REPOWR system off telematics, Harb stated. “So we’re searching for excessive idle instances on their trailers, no matter whether or not they’re in a pool or they’re devoted,” he stated “After which we’re ready to make use of that to inform our suppliers right here’s the place we predict you’ve the alternatives to maneuver trailers.”
Harb stated there was a shift in what the platform is getting used for. Early on, he stated, the house owners of trailers used it primarily as a strategy to reposition trailers for their very own use. The necessity to transfer trailers, he stated, comes from two main developments. “I’ve to maneuver trailers as a result of I’ve a brand new contract or I’ve to maneuver trailers as a result of I misplaced the contract however doubtlessly I’ve sizzling markets,” he stated.
However now, Harb stated, “they’ve change into way more savvy about the place to checklist these trailers and drop these trailers, and that achieves larger income as a result of they share within the worth that the gear creates.”
Hines stated the concept of trailer swimming pools previously was that “it was a expertise dropped at you by low-cost trailers.” However it by no means led to excessive utilization charges, and the end result was the 40% determine he estimated because the capability sitting idle.
Numbers on the customers
Harb and Hines stated whereas about 10,000 carriers have signed up for the REPOWR platform, the variety of energetic customers is at present about 3,000. Nevertheless, they added that the variety of carriers which have used it at anybody time is about 8,000.
A mad sprint to extend these numbers just isn’t a main objective at REPOWR, Harb stated.
“Now we have purposely skinnied that quantity down, due to the market circumstances round chameleon carriers,” Harb stated, a time period used for perpetrators of various kinds of fraud. “We’ve actively constructed lots of security guardrails over the previous 12 months to make sure that we all know who has the trailers and to guard the service from mischievous acts which might be taking place on the market.”
The typical service on the platform has completed about 5 reservations, with a period of anyplace from three to 90 days, Harb stated. The “candy spot” of corporations supplying into the pool is a service with between 25 to 50 trailers.
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The submit REPOWR’s information exhibits it price extra in ‘25 for a short-term dry van rental appeared first on BigRig.