United Rentals last week opened a general rentals branch in Fort St. John, B.C., two aerial rentals branches in West Virginia and a contractor supplies distribution center in Chino, Calif.
The West Virginia branches, in Fairmont and Huntington, will focus on aerial equipment, forklifts and scaffolding, and will also offer contractor supplies. The branches will target customers in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. Jerry Adkins, district manager, high reach, for United, called the market in the region “thriving.” The branches are United’s first in West Virginia.
The British Columbia branch is a 7,800-square-foot facility, and will offer a full range of equipment, along with new and used equipment sales, repair and maintenance, and contractor supplies.
“Fort St. John is a thriving city in British Columbia’s northeast region, and home to many of the industries that drive our economy, including oil and gas, agriculture, forestry and manufacturing,” said branch manager Larry Cranston. “We took the requirements of these industries into consideration when building our rental fleet and line of contractor supplies.”
The inventory includes specialized equipment for the natural resources business sector, as well as commercial and industrial construction, renovation and maintenance.
The Chino contractor supplies distribution center is the fourth of the nine regional warehouses United is planning in North America. The 44,300-square-foot distribution center stocks 8,000 retail contractor supply lines, including saw blades, power tools and safety gear. “Most customers who place orders before 5 p.m. can expect overnight delivery of their supplies,” said Peter Hofbrauer, director of logistics and distribution for United Rentals.
United has established similar contractor supplies distribution centers in Atlanta, Middletown, Pa., and Aurora, Ill. It expects to stock 10,000 contractor supply items at each facility by the end of the year.
No. 1 on the RER 100, Greenwich, Conn.-based United Rentals has more than 730 rental locations in 48 states, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.
