St. Louis-based XTRA Lease, a provider of over-the-road trailer equipment rental and leasing in North America, and Qualcomm last week announced that XTRA Lease is expanding its service offering to include a customized version of Qualcomm’s T2 Untethered TrailerTRACS asset management system for its trailers.

The two companies have collaborated to create a new Web-based user interface that will improve XTRA Lease customers’ ability to manage their fleets through trailer tracking. Qualcomm has incorporated the enhancements into the T2 Untethered TrailerTRACS system for wider use so that all customers using Qualcomm’s Web-based T2 asset management system are able to use the new features and functionalities.

XTRA Lease will add Qualcomm’s T2 asset management system to most of its dry van trailers by August 2007. By then, approximately 75 percent of the company’s dry van trailer fleet will be equipped with Qualcomm devices. XTRA Lease customers will receive expanded tracking coverage into Mexico, in addition to comprehensive coverage in the United States and Canada.

“This is truly a strategic relationship where the strengths of each party are leveraged to produce a better tool for the fleet manager,” said Bill Franz, president and CEO of XTRA Lease.

“Both companies are committed to helping the industry achieve greater visibility, security and productivity in their fleets,” said Norm Ellis, vice president and general manager for transportation and logistics for Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions. “The new user interface enhancements will generate greater opportunities for fleets to make timely decisions in managing their trailer assets.”

The Qualcomm -powered solution for XTRA Lease offers rapid-status visibility into trailer fleets for improved fleet utilization and security. Customers can identify idle trailers to optimize equipment, reduce costly down time and improve driver productivity in locating untethered trailers. The new trailer-tracking interface provides features that enable XTRA Lease customers to easily hone in on fleet dormancy, utilization, history and mapping results.

XTRA Lease pioneered the use of trailer tracking when it introduced trailer tracking service into its fleet in 2000. Since then, XTRA Lease has offered trailer tracking as a free service on dry van rentals as a way to help educate the industry on the service’s value as a productivity tool. XTRA Lease will continue to include free trailer tracking on dry van rentals with Qualcomm T2 asset management units.

XTRA Lease, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, is a provider of over-the-road trailers for rent or lease in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. With more than 80 North American locations, the company offers a fleet of more than 125,000 trailers, including dry vans, flatbeds, reefers, storage trailers and specialty equipment.