Rental Rumbles: August 2010

Haulotte Group announces new service dealer
Haulotte Group has announced the addition of All Canada Crane and Aerials as the newest Haulotte Group service dealer in the Canadian market.

From left: Jason Hanna and Bob Hanna, respectively operations manager and general manager for All Canada Crane and Aerials; Mike Kuharik and Tom Bell, respectively executive VP and regional sales manager Canada for Haulotte Group North America.

All Canada Crane and Aerials is an AWP and material handling provider with branches located in Toronto, Hamilton, and Sudbury, Ontario and another in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

They will be servicing all Haulotte equipment, including trailer mounted boom lifts, scissor lifts, telehandlers, articulating and telescopic boom lifts. In addition, they will support the Haulotte scaffold initiative with the BilJax brand of scaffold products.

All Canada Crane and Aerials will provide sales and service to a major portion of Ontario, Newfoundland, and Labrador.

Haulotte Group’s service dealer program provides a local point of contact within a designated area that supports service, maintenance, warranty, sales and parts on all equipment.

With the acquisition of BilJax, the Haulotte product line has expanded to include scaffolds, trailer mounted boom lifts and event staging and seating.

CRA Alberta golf day benefits cancer research
The Alberta chapter of the Canadian Rental Association (CRA) has announced the completion of another successful golf tournament, with proceeds of just under $1,000 going to the Canadian Cancer Society.

The 17th Annual Golf Tournament was held at the Riverbend Golf Course in Red Deer, Alberta. Over 40 members of the rental industry came out and took part.

In addition to the tournament and dinner, a charity auction was held to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society. The auction items were donated by various member companies, including; a set of golf clubs donated by Cavalier Industries, a tool kit donated by Acklands Granger and a concrete saw donated by AES Industries. The auction for these items netted just shy of $1,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. CRA Alberta has donated $15,000 to this cause over the last ten years.

Two companies, Cummins Diesel and Doosan, showed their support by donating Hole-in-One prizes. Oncourse food and beverages were provided through sponsorship by A.E. Sales.

CRA Alberta would like to thank its members and sponsors for helping to make this year’s tournament a success.

For more information on the Canadian Rental Association, please visit www.crarental.org .

SMS Rents in Guelph expands
The SMS Rents equipment and tools rental store in Guelph, Ontario, has relocated to new, larger facilities with space for an expanded fleet and more efficient maintenance.

The staff at the Guelph location of SMS Rents. From left: Kevin Roberts, Jeff Minten, Brian Roche, Jason Harding, Dave Peach, Matt Yake and Anthony Rowe.

Formerly located on York Street in Guelph, the new store is now at 45 Lewis Road, near the Hanlon Parkway off of Speedvale.

Store manager Kevin Roberts reports that the company had been looking for new premises since early last year. “We serve quite a large business area here, anywhere west from Georgetown into the Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge “tri-cities” region. With our access to large equipment and our growing number of customers, it was important for us to acquire a facility that can support the scope of our operation.”

The Guelph fleet already includes an extensive range of aerial and construction equipment, along with power tools, hand tools and jobsite supplies. In keeping with the SMS Rents approach, the Guelph store is encouraged to develop its fleet to meet the specific needs of local or regional businesses and contractors. This location also takes advantage of having ready access to a pool of heavy equipment, such as larger excavators and other earthmoving machines, that is shared by other SMS Rents stores in southern Ontario. “This really makes us different from a lot of the other rental houses in the area. Regional customers can turn to us for this type of equipment without having to travel a long way to get it,” says Roberts.

With his expanded facility, Roberts plans to add more high-demand units to the fleet to ensure the highest availability for customers. The added space will also accommodate more specialty equipment, such as the new trailer-mounted Hydra Platform bridge inspection system that was recently delivered to Roberts’ new store.

“This is a pretty unique piece of gear,” Roberts admits. “But with all the infrastructure projects currently underway, there’s quite a demand for this kind of platform to help bridge inspectors and maintenance crews do their work as quickly as possible.”

Since the move to Lewis Road, the SMS Rents technicians in Guelph are also getting more out of their work day. According to Roberts, the 9,000 sq. ft. (850 m² missing superscript?) facility offers “better” space as well as “more” space for servicing equipment.

“There’s a better flow from rental returns, to washing, to preventive maintenance to restocking, with a centralized parts area, too. Our technicians have what they need within arm’s reach, so they don’t spend so much time walking to get the material and tools.”

The staff at the store is growing along with the space, too. Roberts has added to his sales and returns team, and hopes to continue growing through the next year. The President of SMS Rents, Marcel Langlois, agrees with Roberts’ optimism. “More new customers are finding us in Guelph. The increased visibility of the store, plus easier access to main roads and highways, along with our expanded fleet give us more opportunity to reach more customers and deliver our Job Ready style of service.”

For more information, please visit www.smsrents.com .

Diversco Supply holds successful open house
Over 200 people converged on Diversco Supply’s Cambridge, Ontario head office recently to attend Diversco’s 2010 Open House and Trade Show.

A near capacity crowd attended the Diversco Supply open house and trade show.

There were over 30 vendor booths representing key suppliers to the Canadian rental industry, propane and natural gas marketers and installers. Diversco issued a special one day Passport to its visitors, allowing them to take advantage of numerous vendor product discounts and draw prizes. There were more than eight draws including everything from flat screen televisions to iPods to GPS units.

Attendees had the opportunity to visit major displays presented by manufacturers such as Trinity Containers and Worthington Cylinders. Many participated in the five Diversco Fast Track Training Sessions led by Corken Pumps, Empire Comfort Systems, Rego Products, Algas SDI International and Smart-Hose Technologies. Everyone enjoyed the Smart-Hose Technologies live demonstrations showcasing the advantages of their new hose safety products.

As usual there was bargain basement one day special pricing at Tim’s (by now) famous Garage Sale. Many participants had fun racing in the Renaldo Sales and Service Rally. And of course, attendees enjoyed the pig roast and afternoon barbecue. Next year promises to bring an even bigger and better Open House and Trade Show to Cambridge since it will be Diversco’s 25th anniversary.

Saugeen Sales & Rentals under new ownership
Saugeen Sales & Rentals has announced that its rental store is now under new management. In addition, the company has moved to a new location in Durham, Ontario.

The previous owners, Raymond and Donna Clark, were in the rental business for over 34 years. Raymond’s father founded Saugeen Sales & Rentals in 1973.

The new owners are Ruth and Sam Los. Monday, June 21 saw the opening of the newly relocated Saugeen Sales & Rentals. It is currently located at 597 Garafraxa Street South in Durham. Sam Los already has plans to expand the store’s offering.

“We’re going to look at a number of options to expand our offering, and we plan to start stocking heavier equipment meant for contractors,” said Los.

United Rentals expands safety training
United Rentals has announced the implementation of three key initiatives that expand customer access to safety training in the United States and Canada.

Lee Braden, manager of safety training for United Rentals, said, “We are advocating safety by putting our resources into educating as many workers as possible on proper equipment operation and accident prevention. Already this year, more than 6,000 contractors have completed the Confined Space Entry/Competent Person Training provided by our Trench Safety team – that’s a new six-month milestone in this one area alone.”

United Rentals offers operator instruction and certification taught by IVES-certified instructors on aerial equipment, loaders and backhoes, skid-steer loaders, vertical reach forklifts, rough terrain forklifts, and excavators; OSHA 10-hour Construction Training; Confined Space Entry Training; and Competent Person Training, and a familiarization course on boom lifts and scissor lifts to meet ANSI requirements.

The Rental Hub moves to expanded facility
The Rental Hub, an equipment and tool rental company located in Bowmanville, Ontario, has announced that it has moved to a larger facility.

The new home of The Rental Hub (above) will provide more room for equipment.

The company is now located at 1987 Baseline Road West. Dale Hubble, co-owner of The Rental Hub says the move to a larger building will provide more room for equipment and will help provide better customer service.

“After six years in business, it was time to move,” says Hubble. “Whereas before we had a store front and rented separate yard space, we’re now able to store everything in one location.”

For more information on The Rental Hub, please visit www.therentalhub.com .

New Kioti dealerships in Ontario and Quebec
Kioti Tractor has announced the continued expansion of their dealer network with the appointment of three new dealerships across Eastern Canada. These dealers are Country Corners Rent All in Exeter, Ont., Machinerie Benoit & Frere in Notre Dame du Bon Conseil, Que., and Quebec Tracteurs in Saint Romuald, Que. For more information, call 1-877-GO-KIOTI or visit www.kioti.com .