West Coast Equipment Rental Market Review

For this edition of the article, we will focus on Region I (The West Coast). These four states make up the third largest amount of construction activity of any of the 14 regions, and is a sharp contrast as compared to region C, which was discussed in the first edition of this article.

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Since the fourth quarter of 2016, EquipmentWatch has collected over 390,000 advertised rental rates for the states in Region I (listed at the bottom of this article). There are over 175 different equipment types that are included in the total amount of rates collected, but we will be focusing on 20 of the most popular types in this article. Over the last four quarters, the most popular equipment types in this region have been lift/access equipment, with Telescoping Boom Rough Terrain Lift Trucks (Telehandlers), Electric Self Propelled Scissor Lifts, and I.C. Self Propelled Telescopic Boom Aerial Lifts rounding out the top three spots. Telehandlers make up the largest amount of rates with almost 12% of the overall rental market, while Tractor-Loader-Backhoes have the least number of rates among the 20 equipment types displayed.

This graph displays ten of the most popular equipment types and the percent change in weekly rate over the last four quarters. The changes in weekly rental rates in the last quarter were a lot less variable than the previous quarter, with no type having more than a 1.6% increase or decrease. The largest percent change among these ten equipment types appeared in I.C. Pneumatic Tire Lifts Trucks (-1.4%), which continued its downward trend. The largest increase in weekly rental rates occurred in Electric Self Propelled Scissor Lifts, with a growth of about 1.6%. This period is generally known to have the least change in average rental rates due to seasonality.

This second graph displays the other ten equipment types and their percent changes in average weekly rates over the past four quarters. Standard Crawler Dozers had a significant drop again (-5.23%) in weekly rates from Q2-2017 to Q3-2017, following the same trend over the previous three quarters. This is most likely because that not many customers are renting these pieces of equipment due to the increasing usefulness of compact track loaders and wheel loaders. Most rental houses also are not carrying dozers with more than 120 horsepower. After two straight quarters of increasing rental rates, Tractor-Loader-Backhoes decreased 1.66% in average weekly rates from Q2-2017 to Q3-2017. We should see a decrease in the majority of rates in the next quarter as winter comes.

The following three tables display the percent change in average rates for the top 20 equipment types for each quarter. The first table shows the change in each type of rental rate from Q4-2016 to Q4-2017. The second table shows the change in each type of rental rate from Q1-2017 to Q2-2017, and the last table shows the change from Q2-2017 to Q3-2017. There are some interesting trends in each table and when comparing all three, you can see some seasonal trends as well as the differences between daily and monthly rates

Rental Rate Trend: Change from Q4-2016 to Q4-2017

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Equipment Type Daily Δ Q4 to Q1 Weekly Δ Q4 to Q1 Monthly Δ Q4 to Q1
4-Wd Articulated Wheel Loaders 8.08% 2.38% 5.16%
Compact Track Loaders 0.96% 1.92% 2.94%
Crawler Mounted Compact Excavators 0.07% 3.63% 4.95%
Crawler Mounted Hydraulic Excavators 2.50% 1.17% 2.48%
Electric Self Propelled Scissor Lifts 0.67% 2.88% 5.73%
Hand Held Vibratory Plate Compactors -3.35% 7.26% 6.10%
I.C. Pneumatic Tire Lift Trucks 3.83% -1.89% 5.39%
I.C. Self Propelled Scissor Lifts -5.92% -0.76% 5.44%
I.C. Self Propelled Telescopic Boom Aerial Lifts 0.66% -2.17% 0.71%
I.C. Self-Propelled Articulating Boom Aerial Lifts 1.41% 1.36% 0.66%
Large Generator Sets 0.34% 3.59% 6.68%
Portable Light Towers -0.17% 4.26% 12.17%
Portable Rotary Screw Air Compressors 1.69% 3.75% 4.07%
Single Drum Vibratory Compactors 0.53% 1.65% 3.74%
Skid Steer Loaders 3.13% 1.90% 3.52%
Small Generator Sets -7.21% -3.93% -7.87%
Standard Crawler Dozers -8.65% -8.86% -6.38%
Tandem Vibratory Compactors 2.71% 3.46% 9.87%
Telescoping Boom Rough Terrain Lift Trucks -2.03% 2.37% 5.60%
Tractor-Loader-Backhoes 11.45% 8.63% 13.01%

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Rental Rate Trend: Change from Q1-2017 to Q2-2017

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Equipment Type Daily Δ Q2 to Q3 Weekly Δ Q2 to Q3 Monthly Δ Q2 to Q3
4-Wd Articulated Wheel Loaders -2.01% -0.85% -0.40%
Compact Track Loaders 0.72% 0.70% -0.16%
Crawler Mounted Compact Excavators 0.54% 0.98% 0.71%
Crawler Mounted Hydraulic Excavators -1.61% -0.58% 0.56%
Electric Self Propelled Scissor Lifts -0.16% 1.59% 1.80%
Hand Held Vibratory Plate Compactors -5.04% -1.86% -2.66%
I.C. Pneumatic Tire Lift Trucks -2.47% -2.00% -1.40%
I.C. Self Propelled Scissor Lifts 0.22% 1.29% 1.52%
I.C. Self Propelled Telescopic Boom Aerial Lifts -0.94% -1.04% 0.45%
I.C. Self-Propelled Articulating Boom Aerial Lifts -1.57% -1.59% -0.82%
Large Generator Sets -2.68% -2.16% -2.74%
Portable Light Towers -0.94% -0.79% -1.93%
Portable Rotary Screw Air Compressors -1.11% 0.06% -0.38%
Single Drum Vibratory Compactors -1.19% -0.66% -0.42%
Skid Steer Loaders -0.12% 0.73% 0.22%
Small Generator Sets 0.17% 0.12% -1.53%
Standard Crawler Dozers -5.32% -5.23% 0.04%
Tandem Vibratory Compactors -0.65% -0.37% 0.47%
Telescoping Boom Rough Terrain Lift Trucks -0.31% 0.78% 0.52%
Tractor-Loader-Backhoes -1.82% -1.66% -1.82%

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Rental Rate Trend: Change from Q2-2017 to Q3-2017

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Equipment Type Daily Δ Q2 to Q3 Weekly Δ Q2 to Q3 Monthly Δ Q2 to Q3
4-Wd Articulated Wheel Loaders -2.01% -0.85% -0.40%
Compact Track Loaders 0.72% 0.70% -0.16%
Crawler Mounted Compact Excavators 0.54% 0.98% 0.71%
Crawler Mounted Hydraulic Excavators -1.61% -0.58% 0.56%
Electric Self Propelled Scissor Lifts -0.16% 1.59% 1.80%
Hand Held Vibratory Plate Compactors -5.04% -1.86% -2.66%
I.C. Pneumatic Tire Lift Trucks -2.47% -2.00% -1.40%
I.C. Self Propelled Scissor Lifts 0.22% 1.29% 1.52%
I.C. Self Propelled Telescopic Boom Aerial Lifts -0.94% -1.04% 0.45%
I.C. Self-Propelled Articulating Boom Aerial Lifts -1.57% -1.59% -0.82%
Large Generator Sets -2.68% -2.16% -2.74%
Portable Light Towers -0.94% -0.79% -1.93%
Portable Rotary Screw Air Compressors -1.11% 0.06% -0.38%
Single Drum Vibratory Compactors -1.19% -0.66% -0.42%
Skid Steer Loaders -0.12% 0.73% 0.22%
Small Generator Sets 0.17% 0.12% -1.53%
Standard Crawler Dozers -5.32% -5.23% 0.04%
Tandem Vibratory Compactors -0.65% -0.37% 0.47%
Telescoping Boom Rough Terrain Lift Trucks -0.31% 0.78% 0.52%
Tractor-Loader-Backhoes -1.82% -1.66% -1.82%

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Region I: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington