North America’s largest access rental companies

Quite possibly the biggest shake-up on the list comes from Herc Rentals, who leapfrogged both Ahern Rentals and H&E Equipment Services to firmly position itself as the third-largest access equipment rental fleet with 38,100 units reported.

Photo: H&E Equipment Services.

The massive 32% increase from Herc aligns with the company’s overall expansion strategy and expected fleet investment of $900 million to $1.2 billion for the year. This momentum “demonstrates the acceleration in growth we are achieving with our investments and fleet and M&A,” Larry Silber, president and CEO of Herc Rentals said recently. “As you can see, we have truly shifted into high gear. We’ve come a long way in the six years since we went public and I’m proud of the tremendous strides that we’ve made.”

Looking at the top five, which represent a total of 392,095 aerials and nearly 86% of the total A20 fleet listing, United remains the top player, reporting a total aerial fleet size of 160,560 units this year. Sunbelt, which has meticulously executed its Sunbelt 3.0 strategy, also stays put as the second-largest access equipment fleet provider, increasing its aerial count from an estimated 120,000 units last year to 140,000 today. Meanwhile, Herc moved into third as both H&E Equipment Services and Ahern Rentals decreased their access fleet totals, with H&E reducing its fleet by -20% and Ahern -3%.

To read the full report, see the September/October issue of Access, Lift & Handlers, which will be available to view here on Sept. 23.