March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. companies borrowed 14.2% more to finance equipment purchases in February than a year earlier, fueled by a surge in activity among independent providers, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association said on Monday.

The Washington-based trade association, which tracks economic activity for more than the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, bases its report on a survey of 25 members, including Bank of America ( BAC ) and financing units of Caterpillar ( CAT ), Dell Technologies ( DELL ), Siemens AG, Canon and Volvo AB.

* New loans, leases and lines of credit signed up bycompanies in February were $11 billion on a seasonally adjustedbasis, a decline of 4.7% from the prior month. * Small-ticket volume growth, a key indicator of equipmentdemand and broader economic conditions, grew by $4.4 billion,down 14.7% from January, but was still above its 12-monthtrailing average of $3.5 billion. * ELFA President and CEO Leigh Lytle said the survey wasconducted before the conflict in Iran and the March FOMCmeeting, and those could cause more bumps in the first half. * ELFA's monthly confidence index stood at 61 in March, downfrom 67.6 in February.