Aerial work platform (AWP) related revenues reached $8.8 billion in 2007 and are predicted to have fallen by 3 percent to $8.5 billion in 2008, according to the IPAF US Powered Access Rental Report 2008, released at the ARA Rental Show in Atlanta, GA. The AWP rental business in the U.S. equates to about 35 percent of total revenue from the construction and industrial equipment rental market.

The decline will continue into 2009, with AWP rental revenue in the US forecast to fall to US$7.7 billion, a decline of nearly 10 percent from the 2008 level.

The IPAF US Powered Access Rental Report is the result of a project to gather specific data on the powered access industry and to provide the industry with concrete data that was not available before. It was made possible by a first-time cooperation between the American Rental Association (ARA) and the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), with research consultants IHS Global Insight.

The report predicts that the current U.S. recession should end by late 2009, with shifts in the industry as residential and non-residential construction spending switch roles.

A broad recovery of AWP rental revenues is not expected to take place before 2011. However, on a positive note, most of the major economic and construction spending indicators show markets stabilizing in 2010 and then growing strongly after that.