Report reveals scale of equipment sales to North American rental market

Excavators lined up in a rental yard. (Image: Adobe Stock)

A new report has revealed that rental companies purchased almost one-third of construction equipment sold in North America in 2023.

The study by Off-Highway Research - the body that specialises in the research and analysis of the international construction equipment market - found that rental companies accounted for 33% of the 333,000 units sold in the earthmoving, material handling and compact equipment range in 2023. (The report excludes aerial platform sales.)

Material handling equipment—comprising telescopic handlers, mobile cranes and masted rough terrain forklifts—was the most popular category, with 79% of the units sold in 2023 going to rental companies.

Rental buyers also accounted for 28% of the 95,000 units sold in the earthmoving equipment range, which includes dump trucks, loaders, dozers, graders, and excavators.

Compact equipment, which saw the highest volume of units sold in 2023 at 200,130, had a smaller share going to rental companies at 27%.

Chris Sleight, managing director, Off-Highway Research, said, “Rental is the single most important sales channel for equipment suppliers in North America, particularly in materials handling equipment for the construction industry, where they are hugely dominant.

“The report also reveals the large share of the market held by the major chains such as United and Sunbelt, although the strides EquipmentShare has made in its short history also demonstrates how new technology is having a disruptive effect for the traditional incumbents.”

Among earthmoving products, articulated dump trucks was the most popular product with rental businesses, accounting for 55% of sales, followed by backhoe loaders at 35% and crawler excavators at 33%.

In terms of electric units, each of the 100 electric compact tracked loaders sold in 2023 were purchased by rental companies, which also accounted for 90% of electric mini excavator sales.

The material handling sector showed a similar trend, with all electric telehandlers sold going to rental companies, albeit at a smaller sample at 10 units.

Electric adoption in the earthmoving sector remains slow, with only 47 electric units sold last year—11 of which went to rental companies.

In terms of the original equipment cost of the fleet, earthmoving equipment represents the largest for rental companies, generating nearly US$63 billion, followed by compact equipment at US$25 million and material handling at US$16 million.

The full report is available for purchase on the Off-Highway Research website.