Report: Equipment rental activity declines in the US and Canada

The American Rental Association (ARA) indicates in its latest quarterly forecast that growth in the U.S. equipment rental industry is slowing for 2024.

The ARA’s new forecast calls for revenue to grow 8.9 percent in 2024, bringing construction and general tool rental revenues to a total of $78.7 billion. The latest forecasts also call for growth of 5.3 percent in 2025.

The association’s economic forecast for the third quarter is below the second quarter forecast, which predicted an increase of 9.7 percent to a total of 79.2 billion dollars.

Broken down by segment, ARA forecasts revenue from construction and industrial rentals of $62.3 billion this year, while general tool rental revenue is expected to be $16.4 billion.

“While the rental industry and its opportunities continue to grow, we are seeing slower growth,” said Tom Doyle, ARA’s vice president of program development. “The results of the quarterly ARA survey confirm this slowdown.”

The updated forecast for equipment rental revenue in Canada shows growth of 6.6 percent to a total of $5.75 billion in 2024. In comparison, last quarter’s ARA forecast was 7.2 percent growth and a total of $5.79 billion.

By segment, ARA expects growth to be seen in both general tools and construction and industrial equipment (CIE).

Canadian CIE revenue is expected to reach $4.67 billion in 2024, while Canadian general tools revenue is expected to reach $1.08 billion that year.

“I wouldn’t call Canada’s economy robust, but CIE is one of the strongest investments out there,” says Scott Hazelton, managing director at S&P Global. “We expect the economy as a whole to get stronger through 2027.”

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