SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549


                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT


                       Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
                       the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

                          Date of Event: July 16, 1996
                          Date of Report: July 17, 1996


                             PLM INTERNATIONAL, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


                                    Delaware
                         (State or other jurisdiction of
                         incorporation or organization)


                  1-9670                             94-3041257
         (Commission File Number)          (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)


One Market
Steuart Street Tower, Suite 900
San Francisco, California                                     94105-1301
(Address of principal executive offices)                      (Zip Code)


Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (415) 974-1399







ITEM 5.  Other Events.

PLM International, Inc. (the "Company") announced that, pursuant to the board of
directors' authorization, it has repurchased 1.6 million shares of the Company's
common  stock  for $6.1  million.  The  shares  were  acquired  through  private
transactions at a price of $3 13/16 per share.

A copy of the press  release  announcing  this  transaction  is  attached  as an
exhibit to this form.

Attachments:

Exhibit 1: Press release, dated July 16, 1996.







                                    EXHIBIT 1


                                             Contact: Janet M. Turner
                                             Vice President, Investor Relations
                                             (415) 905-7214



                          PLM INTERNATIONAL REPURCHASES
                          $6.1 MILLION OF COMMON STOCK


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

San Francisco,  California,  July 16, 1996 -- PLM International,  Inc. (ASE:PLM)
announced today that, pursuant to the board of directors' authorization,  it has
repurchased  1.6 million shares of the Company's  common stock for $6.1 million.
The shares were acquired through private transactions at a price of $3 13/16 per
share.

These  repurchases   reduce  the  number  of  common  shares   outstanding  from
approximately 10.8 million to approximately 9.2 million as of July 16, 1996. The
repurchases  complete the Company's previously announced $5 million common stock
repurchase  program as well as an additional  $3.7 million  repurchase  recently
authorized by the board of directors.

PLM International  President and Chief Executive Officer Robert N. Tidball said,
"The  purchase of this block of common  stock  further  reduces our  outstanding
shares by approximately  15%. In conjunction with previous stock  repurchases in
the last year,  our  outstanding  shares have been  reduced by more than 20%. We
believe these  repurchases  will benefit  shareholders  who maintain a long-term
interest in the Company."

PLM International is a diversified  equipment leasing company providing services
to transportation,  industrial,  and commercial companies. With a combined owned
and  managed  portfolio  of  approximately   $1.3  billion  in  equipment,   PLM
International operates one of the twenty-five largest asset leasing pools in the
United States  today.  The Company  specializes  in creating  equipment  leasing
solutions for domestic and international customers.













                                    SIGNATURE


Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.



                                  PLM INTERNATIONAL, INC.
                                  (Registrant)



DATE:  July 17, 1996              By:      /s/ Stephen Peary
                                           ----------------------
                                           Stephen Peary
                                           Senior Vice President