Survey: Rental Companies Report Rate Gains for Large Construction Equipment

Rental rates on some large construction equipment categories rose in the previous quarter, while compact rental rates declined almost uniformly, according to a new report from EquipmentWatch.

The Q3 Rental Rates Report found rental companies are facing a market centered more on equipment-specific demand instead of wider rate movements. The survey was conducted with 404 North American rental companies covering 268 types of equipment and collecting over 10 million total rental rates.

Bulldozers and crawler excavators led the way for daily, weekly and monthly rate increases for Q3 when compared to Q2. Daily dozer rental rates in the third quarter were up 14.5% to $1,243; weekly rates rose 13.4% to $3,443, and monthly rates came in at $9,444, up 12.6%.

Crawler excavators saw increases across the board as well, with daily rates up 10.6% to $1,240; weekly rates up 9.4% to $3,238, and monthly rates up 10.9% to $8,426.

Articulated wheel loader rental rate were mostly unchanged compared to the second quarter. For this category, daily rental rates were down 0.02% to $1,031; weekly rates rose 0.3% to $2,865, and monthly rates fell 0.5% to $7,673.

Looking at compact equipment, rental companies reported declining daily, weekly and monthly rates for compact track loaders, compact excavators, skid steers and single-drum vibratory compactors.

New from Equipment World

Get fast, free estimate values for your used construction equipment

Access one of the industry's largest resale and auction databases with the new Construction Equipment Valuation Calculator

Get an estimate

Powered by

Skid steers saw the largest daily rate decrease among those four categories, falling 7.5% to $414. Single-drum vibratory compactors saw the largest decline for weekly rates among compact construction equipment, falling 9.4% to $1,882, as well as the largest monthly rate decline, dropping 9.4% to $5,058.

To read more on third-quarter rental rates, including a closer look at regional differences and other equipment categories, click here to download the full report.

EquipmentWatch is owned by Fusable (formerly Randall Reilly), parent of Equipment World. For more than 60 years, it has served contractors, equipment manufacturers, dealers, rental companies, lenders, insurers and government agencies in heavy civil construction. EquipmentWatch owns The Rental Rate Blue Book.