Rental Equipment Register Unveils 2012 “RER 100” Top Rental Firms

Rental Equipment Register magazine (RER) has announced its 2012 "RER 100," a listing of rental companies ranked highest in rental volume during 2011.

Leading this year's list: United Rentals, Greenwich, Conn.; RSC Equipment Rental, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Sunbelt Rentals, Fort Mill, S.C.; Hertz Equipment Rental Corp., Park Ridge, N.J.; and Home Depot Rentals, Atlanta, Ga.

Companies with an annual rental volume of $8.7 million or more, qualified for RER magazine's RER 100 designation. The prestigious acknowledgement originated in 1985, with only 50 firms. By 1990, the rankings had grown to include 100 top companies.

An article about the top 100 in RER magazine’s May 2012 issue showcased a recovering economy for rental companies, with profitability rising for most.

The sum total of rental volume for companies on this year’s list – which covers 2011 rental volume – is 17.6% higher than the previous year. The top 10 companies increased 18.8%, the highest year-to-year increase since 2000. The overall numbers were the best since 2008. At least 10 of the 100 posted rental volume increases of 30% or more.

RER editor Michael Roth noted, “[Although] 2011 was not exactly a boom year, compared to the trough the equipment rental industry had been in for a few years, it certainly felt like one."

Clearly, 2011 was a year of recovery, and in many cases expansion. National companies made acquisitions that in many cases enhanced their strategies and proximity to specialty markets, including energy.

The most significant event involved the industry’s largest company, United Rentals, acquiring the industry's second-largest company, RSC Holdings.

Roth reports that nearly all of the companies listed in the 2011 RER 100 were profitable, and that the majority are optimistic about 2012, indicating a positive outlook for the rental industry.

Here are the RER 100 companies for 2011:

• UNITED RENTALS Greenwich, Conn.
• RSC EQUIPMENT RENTAL Scottsdale, Ariz.
• SUNBELT RENTALS Fort Mill, S.C.
• HERTZ EQUIPMENT RENTAL CORP. Park Ridge, N.J.
• HOME DEPOT RENTALS Atlanta
• AGGREKO NORTH AMERICA Houston
• AHERN RENTALS Las Vegas
• MAXIM CRANE RENTAL CORP. Bridgeville, Pa.
• FINNING Edmonton, Alberta
• NES RENTALS Deerfield, Ill.
• H&E EQUIPMENT SERVICES Baton Rouge, La.
• NEFF RENTAL Deerfield, Ill.
• ALL ERECTION & CRANE RENTAL CORP. Cleveland
• SUNSTATE EQUIPMENT CO. Phoenix
• SAFWAY SERVICES Waukesha, Wis.
• AMECO Greenville, S.C.
• HOLT CAT San Antonio
• AMQUIP CRANE CORP. Trevose, Pa.
• CLEVELAND BROTHERS EQUIPMENT CO. Cranberry Township, Pa.
• RING POWER Jacksonville, Fla.
• VOLVO RENTS Shippensburg, Pa.
• BATTLEFIELD EQUIPMENT RENTALS Stoney Creek, Ontario
• EQUIPMENT DEPOT Houston
• RED-D-ARC WELDERENTALS Austell, Ga.; Grimsby, Ontario
• BRIGGS EQUIPMENT Dallas
• LOCATION D’OUTILS SIMPLEX Montreal
• WAGNER RENTS Denver
• ESSEX CRANE RENTAL Buffalo Grove, Ill.
• BLANCHARD RENTAL SERVICES West Columbia, S.C.
• EMECO NORTH AMERICA Edmonton, Alberta
• KIRBY-SMITH MACHINERY Oklahoma City
• FABICK RENTS Fenton, Mo.
• NORTH CENTRAL RENTAL & LEASING, a subsidiary of Butler Machinery Co. Fargo, N.D.
• STEPHENSON’S RENTAL SERVICES Mississauga, Ontario
• MacALLISTER MACHINERY Indianapolis
• OHIO CAT Broadview Heights, Ohio
• MUSTANG RENTAL SERVICES Houston
• PETERSON TRACTOR San Leandro, Calif.
• EMPIRE RENTAL Apache Junction, Ariz.
• TITAN MACHINERY West Fargo, N.D.
• PUCKETT RENTS Richland, Miss.
• LOUISIANA RENTS Reserve, La.
• WORLDWIDE RENTAL SERVICES Aurora, Colo.
• TRICO LIFT Millville, N.J.
• ART’S RENTAL EQUIPMENT Newport, Ky.
• ADMAR SUPPLY CO. Rochester, N.Y.
• WAJAX CORP.Mississauga, Ontario
• FOLEY EQUIPMENT CO. Wichita, Kan.
• WESTERNONE RENTALS & SALES Vancouver, B.C.
• SMS RENTS Mississauga, Ontario
• STAR RENTALS Seattle
• MILTON CATERPILLAR Milford, Mass.
• SIMS CRANE & EQUIPMENT CO. Tampa, Fla.
• IMPERIAL CRANE SERVICES Bridgeview, Ill.
• ACME LIFT CO. Mesa, Ariz.
• SMS EQUIPMENT Acheson, Alberta
• STOWERS MACHINERY Knoxville, Tenn.
• GREGORY POOLE EQUIPMENT CO. Raleigh, N.C.
• YANCEY BROTHERS Austell, Ga.
• STRONGCO EQUIPMENT Mississauga, Ontario
• SKYWORKS Buffalo, N.Y.
• ANDERSON EQUIPMENT CO. Bridgeville, Pa.
• HAWTHORNE RENT-IT SERVICE San Marcos, Calif.
• LIFTING GEAR HIRE CORP. Bridgeview, Ill.
• B&G EQUIPMENT & SUPPLY Birmingham, Ala.
• HUGG & HALL EQUIPMENT Little Rock, Ark.
• KELLY TRACTOR Miami
• COWIN EQUIPMENT CO. Birmingham, Ala.
• HOLT OF CALIFORNIA Pleasant Grove, Calif.
• ECCO EQUIPMENT CORP. Santa Ana, Calif.
• THOMPSON PUMP Port Orange, Fla.
• SPIDER, DIV. OF SAFEWORKS Tukwila, Wash.
• AERIAL ACCESS EQUIPMENT Baton Rouge, La.
• SOUTHEASTERN EQUIPMENT Cambridge, Ohio
• TEMP-AIR Burnsville, Minn.
• DELTA RIGGING & TOOLS Pearland, Texas
• PATTEN INDUSTRIES Elmhurst, Ill.
• CLAIREMONT EQUIPMENT San Diego
• DIAMOND RENTAL Salt Lake City
• BERRY COMPANIES Wichita, Kan.
• PIONEER EQUIPMENT RENTAL Ponca City, Okla.
• CISCO EQUIPMENT Odessa, Texas
• SNOOK EQUIPMENT RENTAL La Salle, Ill.
• RENTAL ONE Fort Worth, Texas
• ILLINOIS TRUCK & EQUIPMENT Morris, Ill.
• PUERTO RICO WIRE San Juan, P.R.
• BIRCH EQUIPMENT RENTALS & SALES Bellingham, Wash.
• COLORADO MACHINERY Colorado Springs, Colo.
• ROLAND MACHINERY Springfield, Ill.
• ABLE EQUIPMENT RENTAL Copiague, N.Y.
• PDQ RENTALS Santa Fe Springs, Calif.
• ILLINI HI-REACH Lemont, Ill.
• 4-WAY EQUIPMENT RENTALS Edmonton, Alberta
• THEROS EQUIPMENT Gainesville, Va.
• METROLIFT Sugar Grove, Ill.
• ALLY EQUIPMENT Denver
• HERC-U-LIFT Maple Plains, Minn.
• ENTECH SALES & SERVICE Dallas
• ALL STAR RENTS Fairfield, Calif.