United Rentals Acquires Specialist Coble Trench Safety

Feb. 15, 2012
United Rentals has acquired the assets of Coble Trench Safety, a market leader in the rental and sales of trench safety and traffic safety equipment with 11 locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast region.

United Rentals has acquired the assets of Coble Trench Safety, a market leader in the rental and sales of trench safety and traffic safety equipment with 11 locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast region.

Coble Trench Safety was founded by Tom Coble in 2002, and has branches in Atlanta; Baltimore; Charleston and Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.; Norfolk and Richmond, Va.; and Washington, D.C. Coble, an experienced pilot, was killed Jan. 20 when his plane crashed shortly after takeoff outside a regional airport in Rainbow City, Ala.

“We are delighted to expand our trench safety rentals business through the acquisition of Coble Trench Safety,” said Paul McDonnell, senior vice president – operation, trench, power & HVAC for United Rentals. “We’re attracted to Coble’s mix of government and industrial customers with very little branch overlap in strong markets. We were looking forward to working with Tom Coble, and were deeply saddened by his sudden and tragic passing. He was instrumental in developing innovative new technologies and customer safety training programs in support of the underground construction industry. Tom was a pioneer in the industry and we intend to build on his legacy.”

With the acquisition, United Rentals’ trench business grows to 93 locations in 28 states and Canada.

Based in Greenwich, Conn., United Rentals is No. 1 on the RER 100.