Unfiltered with Brian McBroom: What Access & Lifting Rental Businesses in North America Are Really Managing Right Now

What Access & Lifting Rental Businesses in North America Are Really Managing Right Now

Keeping equipment, people, and projects aligned in real time is becoming a bigger challenge for access and lifting rental companies.

That’s one of the clearest takeaways from the latest benchmark data across North American access and lifting rental businesses.

Top performing rental businesses are finding better ways to stay connected, improve utilization, and respond faster, without adding more work.

Scales Changes the Nature of the Challenge

As access and lifting businesses grow, complexity grows with them.

More locations, more equipment categories, more transportation requirements, more jobs running simultaneously.

And with that comes greater pressure on visibility and control.

The benchmark data highlights a common industry challenge across the sector: businesses often have the information they need, but not always in a way that is easy to access, trust or act on in real time.

That becomes critical when schedules change, equipment availability shifts, or customers need immediate answers.

Visibility Affects More Than Utilization

One of the strongest themes in the benchmark data is visibility.

It’s critical to understand:

• what is available right now,
• what is committed to upcoming work,
• what is delayed, in repair or awaiting return,
• and where operational risk is starting to build

When that visibility is unclear, teams slow down. Decisions require more checking, more calls and more manual coordination between departments.

And in a fast-moving rental environment, those small delays add up quickly.

Small Delays Add Up

Small issues can quickly turn into bigger operational problems:

• A delivery that needs rescheduling.
• Equipment returned later than expected.
• A job change that affects availability across multiple sites.

Individually, these are manageable.

But when they happen across the business every day, they affect utilization, customer response times, and margins.

A Shift in the Access & Lifting Industry Is Coming

Leading access and lifting rental companies are creating more connected operations, giving their teams faster access to reliable, real-time information.

The focus is simple, keeping equipment, people, and jobs connected with:

• clearer visibility across assets and jobs,
• fewer manual workarounds,
• and better access to real-time operational information.

This is also where technology, including AI, is starting to play a more practical role.

It helps teams identify issues earlier, improve visibility and reduce the time spent chasing information across systems.

Control Is Becoming the Real Differentiator

If there’s one thing the benchmark data reinforces, it’s this: The next phase for access and lifting rental businesses isn’t just about fleet growth. It’s about operational control.

Because as businesses scale, success increasingly depends on how quickly teams can see what’s happening, respond to changes and make confident decisions under pressure.

And in a sector where timing, availability and execution matter every day, that visibility becomes a competitive advantage.

A Useful Moment to Step Back

Benchmarking provides a valuable opportunity to assess common challenges across the industry.

Industry leaders are asking the same core question: How easy is it to see and act on what’s happening across the business in real time?

That’s what ultimately drives utilization, customer service and profitability in this business.

If you’re interested, the North America Access & Lifting Equipment Rental Benchmark Report explores these themes in more detail and provides a useful snapshot of where the industry is today – and where it’s heading next.