In the construction and architectural world, equipment is necessary to perform tasks. Heavy items needed lifted high in the air, thousands of yards of dirt need moved and leveled and raw materials need delivered on location. There is a tremendous need for equipment on a job site – and lots of it. Most construction companies have a lot of their own equipment, but not necessarily everything they need. Other companies need quite a few pieces of equipment, especially for bigger projects. This is where the equipment rental industry comes in.

The rented equipment on job sites in the United States makes up about 30% of the equipment that you see. The rest is owned by the subcontractors or general contractor. This is actually a very low percentage based on what the Britain does. The British use rented construction equipment 70% of the time on their job sites. They find it more practical and efficient.

There are many reasons why companies rent construction equipment. The first and most cost saving reason is they don’t have to maintain the equipment. Maintenance on construction equipment is very, very expensive. Especially when you get into the bigger heavier equipment, the cost to maintain is staggering. Since routine maintenance is vital to keep construction equipment working properly, companies can avoid both the cost and downtime of having the equipment worked on. When something does eventually go mechanically wrong with a piece of big equipment, its usually out of commission for days at a time.

The second reason companies rent is to avoid the initial investment. Many of the large ticket construction equipment items can be $60,000 -$80,000 on up to well over $100,000. Taking in to consideration that a construction outfit will have to have many pieces of equipment, the decision to rent becomes easier. By avoiding the initial large payout to buy the equipment outright, companies stay away from tying up cash.

The third and final reason companies rent equipment is the convenience factor – customer service. The construction rental companies not only maintain the equipment, they replace it immediately if there is a problem. They deliver it directly to the needed site. They come to the site periodically to check it. They give discounted prices to large customers and customers who use frequently and they pick it up and get it out of the customer’s way.

Its amazing that the percentage of companies that rent construction equipment is not much higher.