Chief Commercial Officer Paul McDonnell to Step Down from United Rentals
United Rentals this week announced that Paul McDonnell, chief commercial officer, will leave the company on September 30. McDonnell (pictured) will continue to provide advisory services to United Rentals in an independent capacity for 24 months. His leadership responsibilities with respect to sales and specialty operations will be absorbed under Dale Asplund, chief operating officer.
Matthew Flannery, CEO of United Rentals, said, “We thank Paul for his significant contributions to the success of our company, both as a talented leader and a strong advocate for our customers. He led the growth of our specialty rental segment to the largest network of its kind in the world. I’m pleased that Paul will remain available to us, and I join our executive team in wishing him continued success.”
McDonnell’s tenure in the rental industry includes 21 years with United Rentals. He joined the company in 1999 upon the acquisition by United Rentals of D&E Steelplate Rental, and subsequently held roles of increasing responsibility, leading to his appointment as executive vice president and chief commercial officer in 2019.
“It has been an honor to help grow United Rentals from its early days in equipment rental to a $9 billion industry leader and innovator,” said McDonnell. “I share my pride in those accomplishments with the many extraordinary people I’ve had the privilege to work with along the way. I wish the company continued success.”
United Rentals is the largest equipment rental company in the world. The company has an integrated network of 1,169 rental locations in North America and 11 in Europe. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. Based in Stamford, Conn., United Rentals is No. 1 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.