All Rental Management Articles

In six years AMECO has transformed itself from a largely internal rental arm of Fluor Corp into one of the fastest-growing rental companies in the world. How has it done it? Murray Pollok asked AMECO president Gary Bernardez.

How does your financial performance compare to your competitors? Finance specialist Jeff Eisenberg analyses the performance of the largest 100 equipment rental companies in theworld –the IRN– 100 – and calculates a set of benchmark numbers for the equipment rental industry.

IRN-100 Financials

German rental firm Borchus and Speer has purchased 20 new JCB 8018 mini excavators, which have already been put to work on the redevelopment of an industrial area of Kiel on Germany's Baltic coast.

Thinking about starting out on your own? Brian Dennis, who established his own tool rental company in Portugal before selling it last year, summarises the lessons he learned when he established his business.

Starting a rental business as an individual has inherent problems, but also has advantages. Use the advantages to overcome the problems as much as possible.

The first Europlatform conference for access rental professionals took place in Basel, Switzerland, on 11 September, and was attended by over 100 rental company managers, equipment dealers and manufacturers. The event was jointly organised by IRN's sister magazine, Access International, and the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF). Murray Pollok reports.

Access rental companies should extend the life span of machines to maximize the value of their businesses, said Kevin Appleton, chief executive of Lavendon, the world's biggest access–only rental company, at Europlatform.

Steve Shaughnessy, managing director of UK rental company A-Plant's specialty businesses division, drew on his extensive experience of the US access rental sector to highlight some of the key differences in approach from Europe.

An ERA committee is trying to review and standardize General Rental Conditions for the European rental market. It's a difficult task, so what progress are they making?

Rich people hold very expensive parties. This gives event rental companies a lucrative market, but requires some international rental cooperation along the way. Steve Hayward, IRN's events correspondant, reports.

Spanish rental company Euroloc has negotiated a seven year, €240 million loan with Banesto and the Bank of Scotland that will refinance its existing debt and give it €120 million additional investment funds.

Cramo's Danish subsidiary has acquired the internal rental division of Skanska Denmark. Around 90% of the division's business is internal, and Cramo said the deal is likely to add around DKK100 million (€13,5 million) in annual revenues. The sale price was not disclosed.

A Chinese rental association has been established by the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA) and will hold its inaugural official meeting on 15 November.

Capital investment by US rental companies is showing signs of flattening or declining in 2008, according to two of the biggest suppliers to the rental market, Caterpillar and JLG Industries.

The ERA Awards Dinner will take place on Wednesday 4 June 2008 as part of ERA's annual convention in Amsterdam. The host hotel is the Okura Hotel Amsterdam, located on the southern edge of the city centre and within walking distance of the RAI exhibition venue where the International Rental Exhibition (IRE) show takes place. For details, see www.okura.nl

It's now a year since RSC Equipment Rental was divested by Atlas Copco Group, and just five months since the company's chief executive officer, Erik Olsson, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark the company's public flotation. In other words, the company has undergone some big changes.

It is easy to misinterpret, or ‘over-interpret', the results of our IRN Confidence Survey. There is lots of data on these pages - reflecting the opinions of almost 300 rental companies and suppliers around the world - and it would be easy to focus on some of the caution and perhaps nervousness that is evidently creeping in from some areas, particularly North America.

Ritchie Bros says an auction is the best way for both buyers and sellers – to move used equipment, under any market condition, reports Patrick Hill. Plus, Hewden's use of auctions and news on expansion plans at online auctioneer IronPlanet in the US.

Ramirent's Karlskrona depot in Sweden is trialing a new arrangement for selling power tool consumables. The company is working with a single supplier – Robert Bosch – to consolidate virtually all its power tool drill bits, saw blades and other tool consumables.