Unfiltered with Brian McBroom: The Reality of North American Equipment Rentals

Over the past few months, we’ve been looking closely at the latest benchmark data across construction, equipment and tool rental businesses in North America.

What stands out isn’t just the scale of these operations. It’s the level of coordination required to keep everything running, day in and day out.

These are businesses managing large, distributed fleets across multiple locations, supporting projects that are constantly moving, changing and evolving. On the surface, it can look straightforward. Equipment goes out, equipment comes back.

In reality, it’s far more complex than that. 

Scale brings a different kind of pressure 

As operations grow, so does the challenge of staying in control.

Assets are spread across yards, jobsites and branches. Demand shifts based on project timelines. Schedules change, often with very little notice. At the same time, customer expectations around availability and response times continue to rise.

The result is not one single pressure point, but a constant balancing act between utilization, availability and service. 

Visibility is where it starts to break down 

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

Not just having data, but having access to the right information at the right time.

Rental businesses need to know what is available right now, where equipment is located, what is committed to upcoming jobs, and what is at risk if plans change.

Most organizations have this information somewhere in the business. The challenge is how quickly teams can get to it, and how confident they can be in what they’re seeing.

When that visibility isn’t clear, decisions slow down. And in a fast-moving environment, even small delays can have a ripple effect across operations. 

Small inefficiencies don’t stay small 

The data reinforces something many operators already know.

Pressure doesn’t come from one major issue. It builds over time.

• A delay confirming availability.
• Equipment not where it was expected.
• A last-minute change that forces a reschedule.

Individually, these are manageable. But across a business, every day, they add up.

That’s where utilization drops, service levels are tested, and margins start to tighten.

The conversation is starting to shift 

What’s encouraging is that many businesses are starting to look at this differently.

Not purely as a systems problem, but as an operational one.

The focus is shifting toward questions like:

• Do we have a clear, real-time view of what’s happening?
• Can we respond quickly when plans change?
• Are our teams working with the system, or around it? 

This shift matters. Because improving performance in rental isn’t about adding more complexity. It’s about removing friction from day-to-day operations. 

Where the industry is heading 

If there’s one clear takeaway from the benchmark data, it’s this:

The next phase for many rental businesses isn’t just about growth. It’s about control. Better visibility.  More connected workflows.  Faster access to reliable information.

Not as abstract goals, but as practical ways to keep jobs moving and reduce operational risk.

Because in construction and equipment rental, success isn’t just about fleet size.

It’s about how effectively that fleet is managed, deployed and utilized. 

A useful moment to step back 

Benchmarking provides an opportunity to step back and take a broader view.

Most of the challenges highlighted in the data aren’t unique to one business. They’re shared across the industry. 
And they often come back to a simple 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 satisfaction and profitability in this space.

If you’re interested, the full North America Construction, Equipment & Tool Rental Benchmark Report explores these trends in more detail and provides a clear view of where the industry is today, and where it’s heading next.