Sunstate Equipment Acquires Trench Shore Rentals and Trebor Shoring Rentals
Phoenix-based Sunstate Equipment Co. LLC has signed an agreement to purchase the assets and ongoing operations of all Trench Shore Rentals and Trebor Shoring Rentals locations in Arizona, California and Texas, with an anticipated close date in early 2024.
Each company brings decades of expertise within the construction rental industry, sharing similar values, a commitment to excellent customer service, and people-first relationships that have earned both Sunstate and TSR a widely respected reputation of excellence.
“The combination of two family-founded, Phoenix-based rental industry pioneers is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for both teams,” said Chris Watts, president and CEO of Sunstate Equipment. “Our companies share a long history of mutual respect, friendship, and shared values. By blending Sunstate’s deep knowledge of the general rental business with TSR’s expertise in underground shoring, we create new growth opportunities while developing more robust ways to serve our customers that work above and below ground.”
Sunstate has a proven record in the general rental space — dating back to 1977 when the company was founded by Mike Watts — and it is no stranger to helping customers with excavation, shoring, and confined space safety. After entering the trench business in 2018, Sunstate now has 13 dedicated trench locations in the Gulf, Southeast and Northwest as part of its overall rental network that spans 16 states from coast to coast.
“Today, there is no overlap in Sunstate Trench Division and TSR branch footprints,” Watts said. “This expansion is a perfect fit, both to accelerate our national growth plan for our Trench Division, as well as our existing general equipment rental operations in these areas.”
TSR has grown over 20 years to become a trench shoring powerhouse in the Southwest and has helped drive and shape meaningful industry standards for shoring and excavation safety.
“We are excited for the opportunities that will be available to our employees,” said Dana Woudenberg, CEO of Trench Shore Rentals / Trebor Shoring Rentals and founding member of North American Excavation Shoring Association (NAXSA).
TSR teams and locations will continue with its normal operations.
“Our team is looking forward to joining and contributing to Sunstate Equipment,” Woudenberg added. “Sunstate and TSR share values that will make the combined company a force in the trench shoring industry.”
For more information, contact Carole Weamer at (833) 394-2455.
Sunstate has 95 branches in 16 states. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp.
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.