Herc Rentals has named Aaron Birnbaum chief operating officer, succeeding Bruce Dressel effective Jan. 1, 2020. Dressel will leave his position as senior vice president and COO Dec. 31, 2019. Birnbaum is currently the company’s senior vice president and his appointment is in keeping with the company’s succession plan, Herc said.
Birnbaum has more than 30 years of experience in the equipment rental industry, all with Herc Rentals and its predecessor business, Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. Birnbaum has had multiple responsibilities with Herc, including oversight of the company’s Western, North Central and Canada regions as well as the company’s Herc Entertainment Services and Cinelease units. He has also held leadership responsibilities related to the company’s strategic planning, operational execution and merger and acquisition activities.
As COO, Birnbaum will assume responsibility for the company’s sales and operations teams, overseeing more than 4,500 employees and approximately 270 Herc Rentals locations. He will also oversee the company’s ProSolutions and Herc Rentals ProContractor categories, its Herc Plus strategic accounts unit and the direct and indirect procurement, marketing and customer care functions.
Birnbaum graduated from Arizona St. University and received an MBA from California State University, Channel Islands.
“I am pleased to know that our business will continue to be in exceptionally skilled hands as Aaron assumes his expanded role,” said Larry Silber, president and CEO. “I am confident that his extensive experience as a leader in our company and our industry, his expertise as a foremost equipment rental operator, and his deep knowledge of our markets and customers’ needs will add significant momentum to our company’s progress. We value the contributions Bruce made at Herc Rentals over the past four-plus years and wish him well in his future endeavors. We appreciate that Bruce will assist in ensuring a smooth transition for the business.”
Birnbaum is based at the company’s Bonita Springs, Fla., field support center.
Herc Rentals is No. 3 on the RER 100.
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.