rate increase of 4.5 percent on total revenue of
approximately $5 billion.”
Another notable jump in the top 10 comes
from Sunstate Equipment, which increased its
aerial fleet size by 35.84 percent to 13,000 units
from last year’s 9,500. The company says the
significant increase was due to several major
factors.
“We have increased our focus on not just
the construction market but also a customer
base that would include industrial business,”
says Chris Watts, president of Sunstate. “The
economy has continued to improve during
2013 and we are seeing more construction
activity than originally expected. There are many
customers who are choosing to rent versus own
equipment especially following a recession.
Overall, the activity levels in all of our markets
have been incredible and we are growing with
the demand with the expectation that this trend
will continue into 2014 and beyond.”
For comparison, in 2008, Sunstate had 5,700
aerials in its fleet. It has more than doubled that
figure since.
Only one company experienced a decline in
the top five of the A
20
– NES Rentals. The 16
percent reduction in aerial fleet from last year’s
15,895 units to this year’s 13,300 makes it one
of the few companies on the entire A
20
to cut
fleet numbers. Other reductions include Trico
Lift which went from 3,465 units to 3,350 and
Simplex Equipment Rental which took its fleet
down a very slight 20 units to 2,140 from 2,160.
The biggest gainer on the A
20
, however, is
Volvo Construction Equipment Rents, which
increased its aerial fleet by 222 percent from
3,000 units in 2012 to 9,675 units this year.
Ed McHale, director of fleet management for
the company, says the increase came from
a number of acquisitions Volvo Construction
Equipment Rents has made over the last year.
“We have grown our footprint significantly
so we could better serve our customers,” says
Barry Natwick, chief operating officer of Volvo
Construction Equipment Rents. “With some of
the branches we acquired, we had the need
to update or replace the existing fleet. That
meant to us that we needed to take a good
long look at the equipment we were offering
in all our locations and ensure that it met
our performance, safety, environmental and
AERIALS
20
A 150-foot JLG HAX owned by Able
Equipment Rental does work on a water
district tower tank.
Chicago-based Metrolift, pictured
here, increased its fleet by more than
34 percent from 2012-2013.
reliability standards.”
Volvo Rents says the process of updating and
re-fleeting the company’s network is currently in
the final stages.
“We have had tremendous growth in our
fleet over the past two years,” Bobby Creason
VP fleet and purchasing, says. “But some of
that fleet needed to be updated, replaced or in
many cases additional fleet was needed to bring
inventories to a point that we could serve our
customers. So we have invested in a wide-range
of equipment with earth moving on top of our list
to meet customer demand.”
Continued growth
Also stoking the fire is the American Rental
Association’s (ARA) bullish forecasts for the U.S.
rental market. ARA is stating the U.S. market
will see 7 percent growth this year followed by
increases of 9.2 percent next year and 12.9
percent in 2015.
“The path ahead still looks promising with
employment growth continuing and housing data
coming in strong, which implies an improving
commercial construction market to follow,” says
Scott Hazelton, a senior partner with IHS Global
insight. The ARA figures come from its quarterly
Rental Market Monitor produced by consultant
IHS Global Insight. “Industrial markets, especially
those tied to energy exploration and production,
also should see growth.”
As the market surges forward, next year’s A
20
will most likely look even more different.
■
At the top of the list is United
Rentals, pictured here, with
107,341 aerials in its fleet.
AERIALS
20
survey details
Research for
ALH’s
AERIALS
20
list was carried out during the summer of 2013. Where companies
were unwilling to provide data, we made our own estimates based on company financial reports
and advice from industry contacts. We thank those who participated and made our list stronger than
ever.
If your company should be listed on next year’s A
20
, please contact Lindsey Anderson, Editor, at
(312) 929-4409 or by emailing
.
22
ACCESS, LIFT & HANDLERS
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013
