Sunbelt Rentals Ramps Up Safety Guidelines; Curbside Pickup
Sunbelt Rentals continues to adjust and adapt its operations to protect customers and team members during COVID-19. Some new solutions, such as curbside pickup, will become a permanent offering.
“Throughout this pandemic, it is critical that we keep our doors open and our employees and customers safe,” said Katy Lovering, senior director of strategic initiatives at Sunbelt Rentals. “We want our customers to know that we are a partner — we are in this with them.”
Sunbelt Rentals has implemented several new guidelines, solutions and best practices, including:
· Curbside pickup: Implemented at the onset of the pandemic, this service will now be a permanent offering. Ideal for small tools and equipment and towables, customers can take advantage of this contactless option upon placing a reservation online or by phone.
· Sanitization and equipment cleaning: Sunbelt Rentals has put in place stringent guidelines — as directed by the CDC — for sanitizing, cleaning and handling rental equipment in order to keep customers safe.
· Social distancing: For customers who do enter branches, Sunbelt Rentals asks that they adhere to social distancing guidelines, including wearing a face covering. In addition, the company has added signage requesting customers do not enter if they have had prolonged, direct exposure to the novel virus.
· Internal operations: Sunbelt Rentals has undertaken several efforts to keep employees safe and apprised of the constantly evolving situation. This includes the creation of an internal task force that serves as a central hub for communications, procedure and process changes, and overall COVID-19 response; regular company calls with leadership teams; and the creation of an online resource center.
“While renting equipment online may not be the normal course of business for some, especially prior to COVID-19, we’ve seen record numbers of online orders over the last several months,” added Lovering. “This means that we need to continue to evolve and provide an omni-channel experience to our customers, for today and for the future.”
Customers are encouraged to reserve equipment online at sunbeltrentals.com.
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.