What do you do when you’ve already founded 15 local and national businesses throughout your career — many of them rental-related — and generated hundreds of millions in sales?

Chris Clark has been an entrepreneur for as long as he can remember. He started his own lawn care company in 2000, calling it Peaks and Valleys Landscaping.

He hasn’t been in the rental industry as long as some “old-timers,” but Mike Maltby has had his hands in the Canadian Rental Association for more than a decade. Starting in early 2018, the 35-year-old will take on a one-year term to become the next president of the association.

According to Warren Carriere, once you get rentals in your blood, it’s really tough to change industries. Despite starting out on a career path in social work, Carriere found himself bitten by the rental bug more than 14 years ago.

When Troy Gray was a young teenager, his family owned a grocery store. Growing up, he always knew he could eventually take over the family business if he wanted to. But that type of career simply never appealed to him. He was looking for something different — something that spoke to and excited him.

They come from all walks of life and all levels of education – young men and women who found themselves in the rental industry one way or another. Many were raised in it, but many others discovered something special when they joined a store, often not knowing anything about the business they were getting into.

Getting ‘em up and down, that’s what we do here,” says Victor Moffat, general manager of AGF Access’ central division. It’s a simple proposition, but the challenge of providing engineered access solutions is complex enough that AGF Access Group has grown across the country with its wide variety of solutions and deep well of expertise.

It’s been less than a year since Matt Brun left a career in the insulation business to open Shediac Rentals and Sales, but he already knows it was a good choice. “I just love my job,” he says. “I’ve been in attics doing insulation, and it can be the worst.

The growth of United Rentals’ specialty rental network in North America has been a prominent industry topic for more than a decade.

J im McCann Jr. proudly states his company’s motto: “Now You’re Torquing!” As he likes to tell it, torque has proven itself to be almost unmatched in one big nuts-and-bolts respect – as a practical means of achieving clamp load in a fastener.

I want to start this column by thanking those of you reading this that have made the choice to become members of the Canadian Rental Association. Our association is strong because of members like you who make the choice to join us. 

March 12, 2018 - The sun shone brightly as the Canadian Rental Association (CRA) hosted its annual Prairie Regional Trade Show in Edmonton, AB on March 9th & 10th.

March 1, 2018 - This year’s Canadian Rental Association (CRA) Atlantic regional trade show was held in Moncton, NB on February 9th & 10th.

Most of us have an idea where we want to get to. Some even have a generic mission statement that reads something like “XYZ Rentals strives to become the best rental company in our market.” But how many of us have taken the time to think through appropriate measures that will allow us to measure where we are, and how far we have come? Vision statements were all the rage in every business a while back.

Change.  If you’re not familiar with that word, I’m sure a quick Google search should give you plenty of funny memes (or inspirational quotes, if that’s your thing), so I won’t bother adding one here.

Jill Holtsman of Hub City Displays and Event Rentals in Saskatoon, Sask., has been elected Region 10 director on the 2018 American Rental Association board. She replaces James Morden of Rentshop in Allliston, Ont., who steps down after serving in the position for three years. 

Nov. 16, 2017 - The final CRA Ontario meeting of 2017 was graced with some new faces among the old at the Wacker Neuson facility in Mississauga, Ont., yesterday. Representatives from Hertz, Home Depot and an online rental provider rounded out the group of about 50 attendees.

This is my last article for Canadian Rental Service magazine and I am proud to say I kept the tradition of keeping Patrick up all night wondering if I would make the deadline. I would like to thank Patrick for his patience. [Never lost a wink. - ed.] I would like to thank all the members both regular and associate for making this a wonderful ride.

Oct. 19, 2017 - The Ontario Canadian Rental Association made a rare stop in Windsor, Ont., last night to enjoy the hospitality of the Windsor Yacht Club on beautiful Riverside Drive overlooking a spectacular sunset on the Detroit River. About 30 members enjoyed a delicious buffet of salmon and roast beef with mushroom sauce, then listened to Matt Mitchell, an enforcement officer from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation explain regulations for CVOR-licensed and other commercial vehicles.

I had no idea what I was going to write about this month and Patrick was putting the pressure on me.  As I thought about it, I realized this message will be much like the rental business – you will not know what is next until you read it and some things you will have heard before.

Spring has finally sprung and it is time to do some clean up and organizing.  Snow plows have a tendency  to do some damage and leave behind a mess. Check your fences where the snow has been piled and sweep your lots and re-paint lines if needed.

Apr. 17, 2018 - At the company’s 2018 Rental Summit Allied Vendor Fair and Reception, Cat Rental Stores have named Genie, a Terex brand, as the Cat Rental Store 2017 Vendor of the Year. The criteria for the award are quality, product support and policy, ease of doing business and overall vendor satisfaction. This is the first year the Cat Rental Store Vendor of the Year award has been given.

Apr. 12, 2018 - ASV Holdings, Inc. has announced the appointment of Thomas Foster to the position of Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain.

April 5, 2018 - Epiroc has announced that Chicago Pneumatic hydraulic excavator attachments have joined its product lineup as part of the planned Epiroc split with Atlas Copco.

April 4, 2018 - Camso strengthens its compact construction tire lineup with five industry-leading new multi-purpose construction tires (MPT), and two new radial solutions for grading and earth moving applications.

Apr. 4, 2018 - Linamar Corporation’s Skyjack division has started delivering off-the-line machines equipped with ELEVATE, their telematics solution for off-highway fleets, and BlueLine Rental is their North American launch customer. This new telematics solution has already started to see its way into construction rental yards on a variety of Skyjack equipment.

April 2, 2018 - YANMAR America’s Construction Equipment Division has announced a new industry standard for Compact Excavator factory warranties.

March 29, 2018 - Epiroc introduces another first in hydraulic breaker technology.

March 29, 2018 - –Western Global has introduced the ABBI Mobile Refueler to the rental industry.

This year’s Challenge consisted of mid-size, full-size and HD entries – ten trucks in all – vying for a win in what is now its 11th year. We tested 10 2018 pickup trucks covering the 2500 HD segment. Two midsize and five full-size pickups completed the rest of the 2018 entries. A complete list of scores by model follow, revealing our choice for the winner of the 2018 Canadian Truck King Challenge.

March 20, 2018 - Genie invites customers to ask questions and get answers about rental return on invested capital (rROIC), during its upcoming “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) event, March 26-30, 2018.

March 15, 2018 - Atlas Copco has extended its light tower range with the launch of the HiLight V4W, a new model that has been designed to offer superior performance at high altitudes and in extreme weather conditions.

On Dec. 24, 2009, there was a catastrophic event that ultimately led to changes to the health and safety framework in Ontario. Six workers, including the supervisor, were on the 14th floor of a high-rise apartment building. At approximately 4:30 p.m., the site supervisor climbed onto the swing stage to descend to ground level.

It was the beginning of the season in 1959 when Vince Lombardi took over as head coach of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers football team. They had won only two games the year before and were considered the laughingstock of the league. What Vince did in the next nine years would become known as one of the greatest feats in football, ever.

I’m writing this in the car on the way down to Florida for a March Break trip with my family. Well, my family minus one, as my teenage daughter is on a school trip to Europe, where she’s touring palaces and cathedrals unlike anything we have over here.

Health and safety implementation has its challenges and keeping workers and contractors focused and committed to safety can be one of the most challenging tasks to effective safety implementation. When it comes down to it, safety is about people and about individual behaviour and not everyone is properly motivated to make the right decision or the safe decision. Unfortunately, more often than not, injuries and fatalities are a result of poorly motivated individuals and at-risk behaviour.

Maybe you have heard of the book and movie, Money Ball, that tells the story of the 2002 Oakland Athletics baseball team. They were managed by Billy Beane. Three key players had departed after the 2001 season and they were definitely lacking any star power or the budget to bring any in.

If your rental store is like most, renting scissor lifts, boom lifts, telehandlers and other powered access equipment is a big part of your business.

I heard an interesting statistic the other day on Fareed Zakaria’s excellent international affairs show on CNN. Between 2013 and 2016, income for the lowest 20 per cent of Canada’s wage earners increased 20 per cent. In the U.S., incomes for their lowest 20 per cent fell 16 per cent over the same period. 

Feb. 15, 2018 - British Columbia will gradually hike its minimum hourly wage to get to $15.20 by June 2021.

Feb. 6, 2018 -  Just in time for the fifth anniversary of the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) have collaborated to create StressAssess, a free online survey tool to assist workplaces in identifying and addressing psychosocial hazards that can lead to stress and mental injury.

Feb. 2, 2018 - Consider this fact: About 30 percent of the construction and farm machinery manufactured in the United States is eventually shipped and sold into another foreign country.

Sometimes we have to face certain truths in life, and I’m sure you’ve heard a few of them: life isn’t fair, the book is always better and the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won a cup since 1967 (but this is the year).

March 8, 2018 - Point of Rental introduces eSign Counter, which makes it easy and affordable to collect electronic signatures on rental contracts, agreements, and other documents at any rental counter.

February 28, 2018 - RentMaster rental software is available in 4 different editions, each one offering extra set of features for particular type of rental/event planning businesses or rental operations.

January 25, 2018 - Point of Rental Expert and Elite are now integrated with Moneris, Canada’s leading payment processing service.

January 11, 2018 - Customers using Point of Rental will be in position to play an even bigger role in the software’s future.

November 21, 2017 - : Charter Software Inc. announced this week that CNH Case New Holland has certified the new CSPS (Common Spare Parts System) integration in their ASPEN Business Management System.

Get more out of your most precious commodity – data – with these tools.

October 10, 2017 - Lisa Wessinger, fresh from NES and United Rentals, has taken her 30 years of rental industry experience to Point of Rental’s support team, where she uses her programming knowledge to provide custom reports for rental stores.

September 7, 2017 - WesternOne Infrastructure Services is pleased to announce the launch of WEDGE, an app-enabled remote monitoring service for construction and industrial worksites.

Sept. 5, 2017 - Cooper Equipment Rentals is tipping its hat  to a large group of our employees, who they have named “Team Smush”. An internal project was started to create a management system for our inventory groups and structures so we could better serve you, our customers.

July 27, 2017 - Rental Manager is an integrated Windows-based software designed for small- to mid-size rental businesses. 

June 6, 2017 - Orion Software has introduced an all original innovative product for both the rental and the construction industries.

April 12, 2018 - Classen gives landscapers a versatile and easy-to-use turf rake with its PRO Hydro-Drive.

Auto mechanics deal with it all the time — the phone call requesting an over-the-phone diagnosis. Inevitably the conversation includes the vehicle owner providing a not-so-spot-on impression of the sound their car or truck is making, whether a screeching, whining, clunking or grinding noise.

February 28, 2018 - Featuring a revolutionary new compact design, Toro introduces the all-new 24-inch stand-on aerator.

February 23, 2018 - —Little Beaver's Kwik-Trench mini-trencher is offered in two models, the KT 200B and KT 2400B, both able to trench up to 30 feet per minute.

February 15, 2018 - MQ Whiteman has introduced the TuffTruk, an innovative and powerful compact buggy.

February 15, 2018 - The Classen HSC18 Pro Sod Cutter is designed for top-of-the-line transport and cutting speeds, easy operations and maximum versatility.

January 16, 2018 - MQ Whiteman, the leader in compact motorized buggies, introduces a new track-drive power buggy. MQ Whiteman introduces the WTB-16 track-drive power buggy.

January 12, 2018 - LawnShark USA announced today the introduction of a new leaf and litter vacuum system, the LawnShark ESeries .

Underneath the snow, the green shoots of spring await. Be ready with these great lawncare products.

Jan. 8, 2017 - Briggs & Stratton Corporation has announced that it has acquired the assets of Ground Logic, Inc. of Lincoln, NE, a designer and manufacturer of premium stand-on commercial spreaders and spreader/sprayers for fertilizer and pesticide-herbicide lawn applications on mid- to large-sized residential and commercial properties.

January 8, 2018 - Gehl comes back to the market with the world’s largest skid loader – the V420.

March 1, 2018 - An updated Tool Selection Guide for drain cleaning equipment is available FREE from General Pipe Cleaners.

Feb. 20, 2018 - ProBarrow is a professional grade electric powered wheelbarrow that is designed, built and tested here in Canada.

January 25, 2018 - General Pipe Cleaners is offering the popular Gen-Eye POD® video inspection system with the Wi-Fi option at no extra charge during the Rental Show in February and the Canadian Rental Mart in March.

Oct. 30, 2017 - Briggs & Stratton Corporation has announced that it will move production of its V-Twin Vanguard engines from a joint venture partnership in Japan to its existing manufacturing facilities in Statesboro, Georgia and Auburn, Alabama. The increased production in North America will create approximately 50 new jobs at each of the facilities.

October 30, 2017 - General Pipe Cleaners’ new, mobile-friendly website offers quick, easy, intuitive access to General’s full line of drain cleaning, inspection and repair tools – including how to use them and where to buy them!

October 5, 2017 - Fein adds the JMC USA 90 compact magnetic base drill to its Slugger line of metal working tools and accessories.

August 31, 2017 - General Pipe Cleaners Power-Vee® drain cleaner with automatic feed makes clearing small drain lines faster and easier.

Aug. 2, 2017 - Kaivac has announced that its lithium-ion battery-powered OmniFlex cleaning systems have been certified and found to meet all applicable United Laboratories (UL) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) safety requirements.

Aug. 3, 2017 - After 40 years of company service, Andy Zelazny – National Sales Manager for General Pipe Cleaners, a division of General Wire Spring – announced his retirement at the end of September.

July 27, 2017 - Generac Power Systems has expanded its line of professional- grade pressure washers to include the 3600 PSI Professional Series unit.

July 27, 2017 - The Metro™ power drain cleaner from General Pipe Cleaners features an automatic feed and stair climbers for optimal operation.

February 23, 2018 - Signature Systems Group, a supplier of performance composite matting and specialty flooring systems, has introduced UltimaTurf™, a new line of artificial turf floor covering.

February 15, 2018 - Bring ethereal beauty, form, and functionality to your space by adding a Rainier Cloud, new architectural fabric sculptures from Rainier Tent.

Jan. 23, 2018 - Filmmakers in Waterloo region will now be able to rent out industry-standard film equipment like lighting and grip gear because of a partnership btween The Working Centre's Commons Studio and Lighthouse Equipment Inc. in Kitchener. CBC News reports. | READ MORE

January 12, 2018 - National Event Supply has introduced a new industrial metal dining chair.

September 13, 2017 - The Cow Milking Contest from Twister Display has been a huge hit ever since it introduced.

July 27, 2017 - LENZIP Manufacturing Corporation, a manufacturer of industrial and commercial grade zippers has released the LENZIP No. 12 Marine Grade UV Zipper.

June 12, 2017 - Zap Zip Table-Top Game is based on the unique combination of light, sound and games.

May 30, 2017 - Battle the Blaze is a knockdown game were kids toss bean bag (or water balloons) to knock over the flames on the burning building.

March 15, 2017 - Wertz Werkz has introduced a number of new games for the party rental industry.

Table skirts, tower heaters, security fence, stake covers and more...

February 6, 2016 - Signature Systems Group, announced the release of their new steel barricade system.

The 2018 Canadian Rental Mart featured a new twist - a door prize for a trip for two to anywhere valued at $2,500. The lucky winner was Joel McFadyen of Elmvale Rental Supply in Elmvale, Ont.

The Canadian Rental Mart saw its move to the International Centre in Mississauga attract about 200 attendees from 79 different rental stores. While not as large as some past crowds, exhibitors noted the quality of attendees was excellent, with visitors typically being owners or senior managers with buying authority. These influential industry leaders toured a 40,000-square-foot show floor featuring a full selection of rental-ready equipment from Canada's top suppliers. 

March 8, 2018 - The record-breaking 2018 World of Asphalt Show & Conference and AGG1 Academy & Expo concluded a successful run, March 6-8, with a very positive atmosphere, as attendees and exhibitors conducted business and discussed issues affecting future growth such as infrastructure funding, and industry experts shared best practices during well-attended education sessions.

February 23, 2018 - New Orleans was home to the 62nd edition of The Rental Show which ran from February 19 to 21.

Rental Mart 2018 sneak peek - an advance look at some of the great technology coming to the Rental Mart this year.

The Canadian Rental Mart returns March 6 and 7 to the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont. Like other shows, it’s a place to see major international equipment brands. But unlike general equipment shows, the Rental Mart features equipment aimed squarely at the rental industry.

The Canadian Rental Association Ontario will hold its Awards Banquet at the end of the Rental Mart show day at 6 p.m. on March 6 at the Delta by Marriot (the official show hotel).

There’s a chance to get more of your staff involved in the Canadian Rental Mart with the exclusive free training opportunities on the show floor. Bring your supervisors, counter staff, drivers and shop workers to get them up to speed on critical knowledge.

February 9, 2018  - The inaugural edition of the Canadian Concrete Expo took place at the International Centre in Mississauga on February 7 & 8.

The Canadian Rental Association's B.C. trade show took place on the past weekend, featuring some good energy and an uptick in attendance from local rental stores. The CRA reports a 12 per cent increase in attendees over the year before, with 45 per cent of local member houses coming to the event. Absolute numbers were not available, but there were 16 tables at the banquet, which translates to around 130 guests including vendors. 

It’s show season again – your chance to spend a day meeting the suppliers in your area and swapping tall tales with your friends in the rental industry over a beverage or three. If you are looking for a big selection of the latest equipment and a chance to score some free training for your staff, you are in luck because it is a Rental Mart year.