Tom Bennett, former president and CEO of Prime Equipment Co., died March 9 in Brenham, Texas, of cancer. Bennett was born in 1943.
Bennett, who retired from what was then Rental Service Corp. at the end of 2001, had a 37-year career in the equipment rental industry. Bennett began his rental career with A Tool Crib in Pasadena, Calif., as a yard worker and mechanic. He was hired by Houston-based Grace Equipment Co., which later changed its name to Prime Equipment Co. and later Rental Service Co., as equipment manager, helping to develop preventive maintenance and equipment procurement systems. He held positions such as facility manager for Prime's largest distribution location, regional manager, regional vice president and was promoted to president, CEO and director in 1990. Bennett guided the company throughout the 1990s. After a couple of ownership changes, Prime was acquired by Atlas Copco and Bennett was promoted to CEO of Atlas Copco's rental service business area in 1999.
Bennett was widely viewed as a unique executive in the rental industry, having worked in just about every area of the business, from yard worker and mechanic to CEO of the industry's second-largest company. Bennett has been a keynote speaker at a variety of industry forums and conventions, participated in a variety of industry steering committees and sat on the board of directors of several organizations.
Bennett retired at the end of 2001, devoting himself to the operation of his ranch and time with his family.
Bennett is survived by his wife Janie, two daughters, a son and stepson and two granddaughters.
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.