Demand for construction equipment rentals has grown significantly since 2010, and rental companies have increased their share of the overall equipment sales market. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services believes this may suggest that a structural shift could be occurring, since this share has increased consistently since 1990 through each successive phase of the construction market cycle. This shift could bring the market penetration of rental companies in the U.S. closer to what we see in other industrialized countries, according to a recently published report by Standard & Poor's.
"Generally, we measure rental market penetration by the amount of new equipment that rental companies buy compared with the total sales of new equipment," said credit analyst John Sico. "That figure has moved from about 35% in 2005, when the industry was in a similar phase in the cycle as it is now, to 50% currently," he said.
For more about Standard & Poor's study on the increase in rental penetration...
