From Orlando To The Festival Lot

Commentary on the 2026 year for the construction and equipment rental industries often includes “cautiously optimistic.” These reports typically note a slow growth or use some sort of single digit percentage to present an anticipated outlook on profits in an attempt to calm everyone’s stresses. These economic stories are then overcast by news on innovative solutions and how artificial intelligence has been integrated into everything.

Those headlines spun in my mind as I packed for The American Rental Association (ARA) Show and CONEXPO/CON-AGG 2026. That and the nagging thought that I was overpacking for the week. The ARA Show was in Orlando, Florida March 2-4 (plus educational sessions prior) and CONEXPO/CON-AGG was in Las Vegas, March 3-7. Yes, I attended both.

The opening moments at The ARA Show 2026, from the keynote speech by Johnny Cupcakes.

In my role as keyboard operator, the position allows me to just touch the bleeding edge of technology for the construction and equipment rental industry. That’s the job. While it often takes time for new launch to compact itself a new foundation in the industry, these announcements often find themselves top of the inbox.

As I counted how many pens to pack, I considered my time at World of Concrete. I walked through my memory bank of past tradeshows, and what I can remember of CONEXPO/CON-AGG 2023 to anticipate what would be in store for us all after we step off the crowded Las Vegas monorail. My theory at the time was that we would see a lot of technology integrated into the operation of machines for and tech-based solutions.

Here are some of the highlights of my recent tradeshow journey.

This call for integrated technology on equipment comes from both sides: the contractors that need the capabilities in their machines (either purchased or rented) as well as the rental companies that want to be able to provide those solutions.

Kevin Garcia, general manager of civil specialty construction, Trimble“We are seeing a lot of rental houses that want to offer that tech,” says Kevin Garcia, general manager of civil specialty construction at Trimble. He likens it to visiting the rental car counter where it’s optional to enable services or not (for a price). It’s similar with tech. Garcia says that they have seen rental customers want to be able to be a turnkey shop.

“I think this will be a year driven by hardware,” says Garcia. “Software has been a leading driver for us for a number of years now, but we’re introducing new hardware. I think we’re going to see a big push out of the hardware space this year.”

In many ways, he hit the nail right on the head.

Hitachi Global Air Power donated a custom-designed Sullair 185 Tier 4 Final Portable Air Compressor to the American Rental Association Foundation Charity Auction held during the 2026 ARA Show. The company made a separate $10,000 charitable donation to Humane World for Animals in support of animal protection.Hitachi’s towable air compressor brand Sullair featured a range of machines including the 185 CFM, a remanufactured 375H, and the newest model, the 425H. Looking at the industry, electric is the big trend — especially for rental. In fact, they should soon be coming out with an electric 1600 CFM compressor designed for CAT dealers and more reused/refurbished equipment.

Sullair finds older units through auction or trade-in and refurbishes them with a new engine, air end and reuse as much of the sheet metal as possible. They even receive a new paint job and warranty coverage.

Genie’s footstep in the refurbishment market debuted at The ARA Show with it’s Recon business, featuring a reconditioned S-65 boom lift (the S-65 and S85 models are available). Using Genie Genuine Parts and quality assurance processes, each machine undergoes detailed inspection, functional testing, and targeted upgrades to ensure like-new consistent performance, safety, and reliability. Every reconditioned unit is backed by a three-year warranty.

But returning damaged equipment into the industry isn’t the only thing adapting to this modern age. Safety will always be important.

Lee Tice, product manager at JCB.Known for telehandlers and forklifts, JCB brought something to The ARA Show to represent a large portion of their construction products. We’re told the company is currently building a million square foot factory in San Antonio to manufacture large telehandlers and their access products. “Obviously we’ve got a lot of equipment that is not here, with large wheel loaders, large excavators…but then the other side of that is we have the compact stuff as well,” says Lee Tice, product manager for JCB.

Their newest skid steer compact track loader, the 250T fits in the popular 2,300 to 2,600 segment with a 2,500-lb. rated operating capacity. The company considers it “the world’s safest skid steer” by utilizing the JCB single arm design. Tice explains, “Studies show that 80 percent of accidents on this [type of] machine have been going in and out of that front windscreen. Every other skid steer on the market has two booms. [Operators] climb through the front window to get in and out. [JCB] put one arm on the machine, which allows us to put a door on the side and keep the operator safe entering and exiting.”

They also focus on maintenance and serviceability. Once a machine requires repair, the contractor’s productivity takes a hit, the equipment rental shop stops making money on the asset. JCB says that they put maintenance and serviceability top of mind when designing their machines. Using examples as seen in their booth, Tice points out that many of their machines have the same engine – allowing the same serviceable components usable between multiple machines from telehandlers, skid steers, backhoes, excavators, and more.

Josh Gross, Ryan Crow and Nicole George from Genie.“If you look at the speed of change in aerials, it's slow because safety is incredibly important,” says Josh Gross, president of Genie. Larger projects like data center construction are driving a lot of change. “One of the trends we are seeing is more and more options requests from the users and then through to the rental fleet owners,” he says. Many of those options are for safety.

For example, Genie showcased several new boom and scissor lift accessories in the Lift Guard line. These include the Lanyard Alert to increase compliance with boom lift fall-arrest requirements; Zone Lighting that projects a red laser boundary line around the chassis; and an Integrated Access Deck which adds 19.7 in. of height on micro-scissors.

To support owners, rental companies and operators, "The Safe Use And Maintenance of Batteries Fitted To MEWPS" guidance document has been developed to outline best
practice for the safe use, charging, storage, inspection, maintenance and disposal of the various types of batteries fitted to MEWPs.International Powered Access FederationMeanwhile, the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) turned their focus toward the safe use and maintenance of batteries fitted to mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs). Their launch includes a technical guidance document, three Toolbox Talks, and two “Andy Access” safety posters. Together, these were designed to support owners, rental companies, operators, and maintenance providers alike in managing batteries safely and effectively throughout their service lift.

Visit the IPAF Resource Library to download these toolbox talks and posters. 

Tony Groat, IPAF North America Regional Manager shared his thoughts to the CONEXPO/CON-AGG crowd in a seminar anchored around pairing the MEWP platform to the appropriate accessories to improve safety and productivity on-site. His presentation also highlighted how accessories such as outriggers, secondary guarding systems, fall protection solutions and visual warning systems can enhance both safety and efficiency when working at height. 

“I want [people] to be aware of what all these things that are out in the marketplace that are available…this equipment out there to mitigate some of the potential hazard or improve productivity by having the right tools on jobs,” says Groat.

Brian MacFarland, MEC Aerial Work PlatformsStaying with aerials and MEWP equipment, MEC Aerial Work Platforms has historically been primarily scissors and vertical lifts but they’ve been complementing that core with a line of booms and more recently with “full featured” series of booms in the Max line. Instead of options, the Max series places “deluxe” features to a mainstream offering explains Dave Baxter, vice president – marketing and product management.

“From what we’ve heard from our users, they like the fact that a boom has three or four steering modes. They like the fact that it has dual capacity and high-capacity reach. They like the fact that it has a strong, durable platform and a rotating jib,” he says. “That combination of feature sets is really what makes a Max, a Max.” They say the series lands in the upper middle tier of price points of their class of aerials, but Baxter says the combination of reliability and a robust build with the standard features allows a good return on investment commanding a better rental rate.

MEC also tells us that they looking to reach new heights in their electric scissor platform and increase the capacity into their machines. “We felt that there are still some pain points out there that nobody’s addressing,” says Baxter. “It was time to refresh the line, bring in some new technology, and raise the specification.” One of these features include a technology that adds 22 percent more to its duty cycles (pushing it closer to a full-three shift machine) by recapturing the potential energy from lowering.

Gary Crook, vice president of engineering at MEC, explains, “When the machine lowers back down to the ground, the hydraulic oil returns to the tank without doing any work…we make that oil do work for us. Effectively, 40 percent of the energy taken to elevate the machine is recovered by lowering back down. That’s how we got 22 percent.”

Bobcat’s concept cab-less compact track loader Rogue X3 (pictured above) made heads turn during CONEXPO/CON-AGG featuring the company’s MaxControl remote control technology. It’s an experiment of where the market might go and use as a platform to pull innovative ideas from for their advanced packages elsewhere.

Scott Johnson, senior director of construction products at Bobcat“The biggest trend that's impacting our industry right now is that about 40 percent of the operators in the next five years, most probably, are expected to retire,” says Scott Johnson, senior director of construction products at Bobcat. “With a new generation of need for operators, what we're trying doing with our Pro model lineup is moving it to start having the machine adapt to the operator, rather than an operator have to know the machine. If we can make that transition easier, newer operators can get up to speed faster, get more done, and literally, help get companies make that transition in a more profitable way.”

Similarly, Johnson tells us that there’s a huge opportunity in the equipment rental market. Considering that many rental customers have such a varying degree of experience, technology can “lock” the machine to help train – allowing the user to actually move the controls safely without affecting the machine or hydraulics.

Troy Dahlin, vice president of machine control and heavy construction at HexagonTraditionally, the construction industry has been conservative at integrating technology; solutions need to be reliable, (cost) effective, safe, etc. Troy Dahlin, vice president of machine control and heavy construction at Hexagon, says that people have a type of mental chasm where the technology goes from a cost to the project to cost savings.

“That’s the mind shift. Once they get there, they become more open to the next technology,” he says. “It’s going faster each year…but that adoption curve from ‘it’s a cost’ to ‘it’s mandatory’.” For Dahlin, there’ s a line from the expected and calculable human error to the adoption of grade control, ground penetrating radar, LIDAR scanning, etc.

Hexagon released its new safety solution Xsight360, a human recognition camera system utilizing AI technology to detect the human form around a machine. Up to six cameras are fed into a CRS where footage is analyzed combined with a configurable zone to trigger an alert for the operator.

Scheduling Plans

While it’s safe to guess that we’ll see a lot of new equipment announcements and upgrades for CONEXPO/CONAGG 2029, with the amount of technology affecting construction in nearly every aspect, my prediction is that we’ll likely start seeing some very different equipment designs in 2032. I think it’s safe to assume that A.I. will make it’s way to next to every nut and bolt of our lives eventually, and that would include the design of tomorrow’s construction equipment.

The ARA have announced dates for the next two years: February 13-17, 2027, in New Orleans, February 12-16, 2028, in Anaheim, California, and returning to Orlando in 2029 (dates have yet to be determined). CONEXPO/CON-AGG 2029 is scheduled for March 13-17, 2029. See you there!