It would be an understatement to say the world looked different 50 years ago. Who in 1976 could have possibly predicted the technological, political, societal and business landscapes of today?

Like everything else in the last five decades, the equipment rental industry has gone through numerous sea changes. Considering how much the machines themselves have changed just in the last 10 years, it’s hard to imagine someone having been through all of the shifts 50 has brought.

Time brings changes

So, what exactly has changed in the Canadian rental market in the last half-century?

“I think the biggest pivotal shift was that rental has become part of a successful contractor’s profit strategy,” says Ed Dwyer, owner of C&T Rentals in Manitoba. Ed Dwyer has been in the rental business since 1987, when he founded a company called Tempheat.

Dwyer specialized in renting portable heaters to construction companies, but eventually diversified his equipment portfolio with a second company, Compact Equipment Rental, in 1992. In 1996, Dwyer combined both brands to create C&T Rentals.

“Contractors are increasingly choosing to rent because they can put equipment cost directly against a job rather than carrying capital cost, deprecation, maintenance, storage and idle time associated with ownership,” says Dwyer. “This shift has changed everything for the Canadian rental industry: fleet investment, maintenance standards, technology, logistics, customer service and, ultimately, the professionalism of the rental industry.”

Camille Jagdeo of EDGE1 Equipment Rentals in Stoney Creek and Mississauga agrees with this sentiment. Jagdeo acquired EDGE1 in 2000, and has served as the company’s President and CEO since then.

“I think the real transformation is that rental has gone from being a convenience to being an essential part of how construction companies operate,” she says. “Rental went from filling a gap to becoming part of the contractor’s business model.”

As president of the Canadian Rental Association and sales manager at Cooper Equipment Rental in Alberta, Warren Carriere is particularly happy to see safety become a higher priority.

“Safety was barely a thought years back,” Carriere says. “The industry gave the equipment to the customer and let them be on their own with the expectation that the customer knew what they were doing. Rental houses now have more robust safety practices and procedures ensuring the safety of employees and of customers with training and certifications.”

Jagdeo agrees, saying the professionalization of safety and equipment management has been a positive change for the industry.

“Equipment is bigger and more sophisticated, jobsites are more complex, and there are more people working around these machines,” she says. “Safety can’t just depend on somebody’s experience or memory.”

Change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Moving the rental industry into the future has necessitated shifts, not just in how business is done but also in the attitudes of those doing business.

“I’m glad we’ve moved away from the attitude that experience alone was enough,” says Jagdeo. “Years ago, there could be a lot more of, ‘I’ve been running equipment for 20 years; I know what I’m doing.’ Today there is much greater emphasis on training, inspections, documentation and accountability.”

Training and accumulating knowledge, especially on modern pieces of equipment, are especially crucial as demand among the customer base changes. Dwyer says he’s glad to see the industry moving away from the philosophy of holding on to and renting out old equipment to keep costs down

“Today, customers expect newer equipment, well-maintained fleets, updated clean stores and a rental experience that gives them confidence before the machine ever reaches the job site,” he says. “That shift has been good for both the rental industry and the customer.”

Technology’s role in the industry

Yet when considering the changes that have taken place, Carriere believes nothing has been as transformative for the industry as the internet.

“Customers can now search the types of equipment they are needing for the project, search where they can get it and even order online in some cases,” he says. “The way customers and rental houses interact has shifted to online transactions.”

Doron Broadfoot, President of The Rent-It Store in Saskatoon and a former Canadian Rental Association president, thinks so too. As a 50-year veteran of the rental industry, Broadfoot has witnessed the massive transformation firsthand.

“Even the advent of mobile phones has been a tremendous boon and growth agent for an industry such as ours,” says Broadfoot. “Timely communication and problem solving has been advanced at warp speed by this important tool.”

Broadfoot’s evocation of speed being driven by technology is not far off from what the other industry veterans think of the changing rental space. Rapid technological growth has altered the face of numerous industries, including equipment rentals, whether it’s more advanced machinery or rental software. New technologies, such as artificial intelligence or improved telematics, are building on the online experience.

“Telematics is evolving quickly allowing the rental companies to receive operational updates, location updates and maintenance schedule information,” says Carriere. “Automation like this allows the customers to maintain equipment uptime and allows projects to stay on schedule.”

Steve Szaniszlo, vice president northeast region of United Rentals, says the importance of telematics is underhyped as it provides real-time information on how a fleet is performing.

“It doesn’t get the same buzz as some of the flashier innovations in our industry, but it’s quietly changing how decisions get made on site,” he says. “When you can see utilization, engine hours, fuel burn and maintenance status in real time, you’re not guessing anymore — you’re making informed calls on safety, productivity and cost. That’s the kind of impact that shows up in the outcome, not the headline.”

Contractors are choosing to rent more often to put the cost against a job rather than carrying a capital expense.
Photo: JulieAlexK/GETTY

Looking to the future

Yet as this technology advances, it will require skills to adapt as well. Looking into the future, Carriere expects the value of service technicians to only grow.

“The equipment’s technology is evolving quickly so those technicians will be responsible for staying up to date with training and skill development,” he says.

As store owners and managers navigate this evolving world, the best piece of advice Carriere can share is to embrace change.

“There are going to be economic changes, new technologies and changing customer expectations. The next generation of leaders needs to roll with them and adapt accordingly,” he says.

“Researching economic forecasts, speaking with your supply partners regarding new equipment options and staying up to date with safety policies and procedures will give that rental house the competitive advantage. The rental industry is filled with really dynamic, intelligent and caring people. That’s why it is difficult for most to leave the industry and why I’ve been in it for over 25 years.”

As Achille Ettorre, co-owner of GTA Equipment Rentals and author of the book The Digital Advantage, considers the future, the one skill he sees rising in importance is the ability to blend experience with data collection.

“Owners should be able to see which machines earn their place in the fleet, which customers generate a healthy return and where service breaks down,” he says. “That understanding also needs to reach the people making daily decisions. A business becomes difficult to scale when critical knowledge lives in one person’s head. The strongest operators will combine experience with accessible information, clear processes, and a team capable of acting on both.”

That’s why data integration is so important moving forward, he says.

“Linking rental contracts, maintenance records, equipment usage, delivery costs and customer payments can reveal opportunities that separate reports miss,” he says. “A machine with high utilization may look like a winner until you connect its repair...

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