SINGAPORE - ComfortDelGro's car rental and leasing arm is expanding into the heavy vehicle segment, starting with five trucks.

The first two units, a Volvo FM and an UD Quon, have been delivered to ComfortDelGro Rent-A-Car while the remaining three - two Volvo FMs and one UD Quon - will be delivered by the end of the year.

It may buy more should there be demand, the company said Monday (aug5).

All five prime movers have been leased out to Haulio, a container trucking technology company incubated by PSA International's corporate venture capital arm, PSA unboXed.

ComfortDelGro has a stake in Haulio, made through its US$100 million corporate venture capital fund. Haulio aims to help haulage service providers operate more efficiently. Its platform has more than 80 per cent of Singapore's hauliers on board, with access to about 2,000 trucks.

With the leasing arrangement with ComfortDelGro, Haulio's customers no longer need to keep spare trucks, allowing them to maximise their own fleet and save costs.

ComfortDelGro chief executive Yang Ban Seng said: "We are excited to be further expanding into the heavy vehicle leasing business. Given the similarities in vehicle fleet operations between container and passenger transportation, we believe this tie-up with Haulio will enable us to expand beyond passenger transport and into adjacent disciplines such as smart logistics."

The truck rental service is expected to go 'live' next month.