Milton Rents, part of the Milton Cat dealership, has opened its eighth and ninth locations in Plymouth and Randolph, Mass. The strategically located facilities allow Milton Rents to support the demanding and competitive South Shore region of Massachusetts.
All Milton Rents locations offer a wide selection of high-quality Caterpillar machines, forklifts, aerial equipment, temperature control, power generation equipment, hand tools, and safety equipment. All nine Milton Cat locations work closely together giving customers access to any of the equipment in Milton Rent’s entire inventory.
In 2021, Milton Rents acquired Shaughnessy Rentals in Plymouth and Abington, Mass. On January 1, 2022, the Plymouth location was converted to a Milton Rents facility. The Abington team was relocated to a facility in Randolph that was better suited to be a Milton Rents location. Although the locations have a new name, customers can expect the same level of service and responsiveness that they have always received from Shaughnessy Rentals.
Dan Shaughnessy, former owner of Shaughnessy Rentals and current Milton Rents eastern Massachusetts manager, has been involved with Caterpillar equipment rentals for more than 22 years. Shaughnessy was a managing partner at Taylor Rental, a Milton Cat Rental Alliance company, until he began Shaughnessy Rentals in 2010. Shaughnessy Rentals primarily served homeowners and smaller businesses, and had 18 employees, all of whom stayed on through the transition to Milton Rents.
Before the locations were opened, the Plymouth and Randolph teams were trained and set up on Texada, Milton Rents’ rental management software. The former Shaughnessy Rentals team was in constant communication with the existing Milton Rents team throughout the transition process.
“Although transitioning was challenging, I am happy to be a part of the Milton Rents team and to be able to grow with them. Everyone has been welcoming to us,” Shaughnessy said. “I am excited about all the opportunities that are ahead of us. We are continuing to support our existing customers while being able to connect with a whole new type of customer.”
Updated Plymouth branch
Prior to opening the Plymouth location as a Milton Rents facility, it received new exterior and interior signage and a fresh coat of paint, updates were made to its electrical and plumbing, and a wash bay was added. The centrally located and carefully maintained two-acre site is in a busy commercial area off MA-3. Plymouth is home to 13 employees. Chris Fey is the branch manager and Mark Rieder is the assistant branch manager.
The former Shaughnessy Rentals Abington location was relocated 20 minutes north to a larger site in an industrial area of Randolph. The three-acre site allows Milton Rents to stock more equipment that caters to Boston area contractors. Its proximity to Boston makes renting equipment convenient for more customers, the company said. The existing facility was redone to meet Milton Rents’ needs and style and a wash bay was added. The facility is home to nine employees and is managed by branch manager Ben Fey and assistant branch manager Chris King.
Milton Rents has been warmly welcomed by its new communities and it has been a successful first few months. “We have been busy at both locations, and we are already in line with the company’s growth goals,” Ben Fey, Randolph branch manager, said.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.