Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, plant and equipment, net consisted of the following at December 31 (in thousands):



	Estimated Useful Lives (in Years)	2019			2018
Computer hardware and software	3 to 5	$	341,282		$	291,404
Card-reading equipment	4 to 6	24,077			20,117
Furniture, fixtures, and vehicles	2 to 10	19,319			18,308
Buildings and improvements	5 to 50	29,127			21,854
Property, plant and equipment, gross		413,805			351,683
Less: accumulated depreciation		(213,980		)	(165,482		)
Property, plant and equipment, net		$	199,825		$	186,201

Depreciation expense related to property and equipment for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017 was $62.8 million, $52.9 million and $46.6 million, respectively. Amortization expense includes $37.2 million, $24.2 million and $21.8 million for capitalized computer software costs for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. At December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company had unamortized computer software costs of $118.8 million and $86.5 million, respectively.

The Company recorded write-offs of property, plant and equipment of $1.8 million and $8.7 million, within other operating expense, net within its Consolidated Statements of Income for the years ended 2019 and 2018. The Company did not record any write-offs of property, plant and equipment in 2017.