MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Former United Rentals manager Dave Cooley recently opened his own rental company in Mountain View, Calif., a small city south of San Francisco.
Cooley, a veteran of almost 20 years in the rental business, is essentially operating Mountain View Rentals as a one-man show, with only a mechanic to assist him. “It's a real back-to-basics operation, just good customer service and good instruction,” Cooley told RER. “We store all our equipment inside because we find equipment usually runs better that way.”
Cooley's new company is concentrating on small tool and industrial rental, with no earth-moving equipment. “We offer a lot of landscaping equipment, light compaction equipment, tillers, stump grinders, jackhammers, saws and concrete equipment. We're catering to homeowners and small contractors, and we also do repairs and sales.”
Cooley started his rental career with A-1 Rentals in Sunnyvale, Calif., almost 20 years ago. He later went to work for U.S. Rentals in sales, remaining with United Rentals after the merger of those companies. He managed branches in San Jose and Mountain View.
“I worked in the whole gamut of the industry, from a small independent to large publicly held companies,” said Cooley. “I learned from all those experiences and I have nothing bad to say about any of those companies. I enjoy the operations end, and I enjoy dealing directly with customers. We have a real comfortable location and I don't mind working long hours.”