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November 16, 2009 A Penton Media Publication
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Headline News
Watts, Bourque to be Inducted in Rental Hall of Fame
November 16, 2009   
Mike Watts, chairman of Sunstate Equipment, one of the rental industry’s largest independent rental companies, and the late Bill Bourque, a major executive of Taylor Rental Corp. and Grand Rental Station, will be inducted into the American Rental Association Hall of Fame at The Rental Show in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 8.

Finning Posts 27 Percent Q3 Decline
November 16, 2009   
Finning International, the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer, last week posted revenues of CA$1.1 billion for the third quarter of 2009, as well as EBITDA of CA$41 million.

Komatsu Introduces Hybrid Excavator to North America
November 16, 2009   
Komatsu America Corp. last week introduced its Hybrid PC200LC-8 excavator to the North American market at an event held at Montemayor Construction headquarters in Elgin, Ill. The new Hybrid PC200LC-8 is designed using hybrid technology to deliver fuel savings, power and efficiency, while reducing the environmental impact as compared to Komatsu’s standard excavator model.

NES Rentals Improves Customer Loyalty Ratings
November 16, 2009   
NES Rentals said last week that it has beaten its own Net Promoter Score average three quarters in a row and is at an all-time high of 80 for the third quarter of 2009. The Net Promoter Score metric has allowed NES Rentals to measure the progress of its customer service programs and integrate customer feedback into the company’s continuous improvement processes.

Foley Finalizes Acquisition of Martin Tractor
November 16, 2009   
Foley Equipment Co. last week closed a deal to acquire Martin Tractor Co., making Foley the Caterpillar dealer for all but six Kansas counties.

Western Canada's WesternOne Posts Moderate Q3 Decline
November 16, 2009   
WesternOne Equity Income Fund last week posted CA$7.7 million (about U.S. $7.4 million) for the third quarter, a 13.8-percent decrease compared with CA$8.8 million for the same period in 2008. The decline was considerably smaller than most decreases posted by publicly traded rental companies in Canada, the United States and Europe for the same period.

Doosan Infracore Portable Power Names Air Systems as New Dealer
November 16, 2009   
Doosan Infracore Portable Power has appointed Air Systems LLC of Louisville, Ky., as an authorized dealer of its Ingersoll Rand-branded line of portable air compressors, mobile generators, light compaction equipment and lighting systems.

United Rentals Named a "Top 100 Military-Friendly Employer"
November 16, 2009   
United Rentals last week announced that the company has been selected by GI Jobs magazine as one of the nation’s Top 100 Military-Friendly Employers for 2010. More than 5,000 U.S. companies with revenues of at least $500 million were considered for the honor, which was awarded based on the strength of a company’s military recruiting efforts, percentage of new hires with prior military service, and workforce policies regarding National Guard / Reserve service.

Birch Equipment Joins Annual Toys for Tots Drive
November 16, 2009   
Bellingham, Wash.-based Birch Equipment Rental & Sales last week announced it will support the U.S. Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots program for the 12th year. From now through Dec. 18, Bellingham area residents are encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys for children ages 2 to 12 to any Birch location. Customers running short on time can easily donate by purchasing from Birch’s wide selection of construction-themed toys, children’s art supplies and more.

International News
Tat Hong Net Earnings Dive 70 Percent in Fiscal Q2
November 16, 2009   
Singapore-based crane rental company Tat Hong last week said its fiscal second quarter net earnings dropped 70 percent from the same period a year ago to SGD$6.7 million (about U.S. $4.8 million). Revenue for the three-month period ended Sept. 30 dropped 34 percent year over year as the result of lower equipment sales and rentals.

RER & the Environment
Central Virginia Rentals Goes Green as Global Electric Motorcars Dealer
November 16, 2009   
Waynesboro, Va.-based Central Virginia Rentals recently announced it is now an authorized Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) dealership, service center and rental agency.

Wall Street Beat
United Rentals Sets Pricing of Aggregate $650 Million of Senior Notes
November 16, 2009   
United Rentals Inc. is planning an offering of $150 million of 4 percent convertible senior unsecured notes due 2015 and its United Rentals North America subsidiary will sell $500 million of 9.25 percent senior unsecured notes due 2019. The convertible senior notes will be convertible under certain circumstances and during certain periods at an initial conversion rate of 89.98 shares of United Rentals common stock per $1,000 principal amount of convertible senior notes, representing an initial conversion price of about $11.11 per share of URI common stock.

Kubota's First-Half Sales Drop 22 Percent
November 16, 2009   
Kubota Corp. last week reported that first-half net income dropped 46 percent to 19.3 billion yen (about U.S. $214.5 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30. Sales fell 22 percent in the first-half of the year to 444.6 billion yen (U.S. $4.9 billion).

The Stock Block
November 16, 2009   
Check in on some of the latest stock prices for publicly traded rental companies and popular construction equipment and general tool manufacturers related to the rental equipment industry.

Supply Side
Cummins Power Generation Announces Price Increases for 2010
November 16, 2009   
Cummins Power Generation, a division of Cummins Inc., last week announced price increases for its commercial generator sets between 6 kW and 2500 kW. Prices of generator sets will rise between 1.5 and 2 percent and are effective Jan. 1, 2010.

EDCO Celebrates 50th Anniversary
November 16, 2009   
EDCO recently celebrated its 50th anniversary on Oct. 17 with a dinner for its 60 employees at the Red Horse Restaurant in Frederick, Md. The company designs, engineers and builds several lines of concrete, asphalt and masonry equipment, which is produced at its 85,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Frederick.

Thompson Pump VP Celebrates 25 Years of Service
November 16, 2009   
Dale Conway, vice president of engineering for Port Orange, Fla.-based Thompson Pump & Manufacturing Co., recently celebrated his 25th year of employment with the company.

VIBCO Vibrators President to Host "The Lean Nation" Daily Radio Show
November 16, 2009   
Vibco Vibrators president Karl Wadensten recently began hosting “The Lean Nation” radio show on 790AM Talk and Business in Providence, R.I. Wadensten leads VIBCO using lean principles.

Interviews
Training and Integration
November 16, 2009   
RER conducted a series of interviews for our October issue on software technology and has been publishing a number of them in RER Reports. The fifth installment is with Michael Saint, president of Baton Rouge, La.-based Corporate Services. Saint discusses new developments in Corporate Services’ offerings, the importance of training customers to understand the capabilities of the software systems they have, using software to streamline service, the future of software and more. Saint was interviewed by RER’s Michael Roth.

RER: What have been some of the new developments in software over the past year or so from your company?

Saint: One of the questions I was looking at is “Is buying software or upgrading software a good decision?” And I start with the premise that if I’m a poor driver, going out and buying a new, more technologically advanced car is probably not by itself going to make me a better driver. We’ve seen some fantastic successes with the software, but we’ve also seen some pretty miserable failures.

Classifieds
November 16, 2009   

  • NES Rentals -- Outside Sales Position in South Plainfield, N.J., & Wappingers Falls and Vestal, N.Y.

  • NES Rentals -- Branch Manager Position in Wappingers Falls and Vestal, N.Y.



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