ARA Begins Certified Programs for the Equipment Rental Industry
The American Rental Association has launched its first ARA Certified programs: ARA Certified - Sales, ARA Certified - Service, and the ARA Certified Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) program. ARA Certified - Sales and ARA Certified - Service are online professional development programs designed to teach employees fundamental knowledge about the equipment rental industry they will need on the job. The ARA Certified MEWP training program satisfies the new ANSI A92 standards approved in June 2020.
“The ARA Certified programs we launched in March are a direct reflection of our association’s strategic initiatives that are focused on safety and preparing the industry for the future,” said Tony Conant, ARA CEO. “These programs establish rental industry standards, professional development and training that you can’t find anywhere else.”
The ARA Certified MEWP Train the Trainer program is a hybrid program. The classroom portion of the training is all online in RentalU (ARA's learning management system) and then a four to five hour live, hands-on training session is conducted by a certified master trainer. Graduates are qualified to train others using the ARA Certified MEWP program. The hands-on training portion is presented by ARA state associations or other local settings for members without an active ARA state chapter.
The initial member reaction to the ARA Certified programs is excitement for the long-awaited arrival of professional certifications for equipment rental staff. “For the past three years, I have been pushing for a certification for equipment like the event segment has with ARA’s CERP [Certified Event Rental Professional] program, and it thrills me to know that it is finally happening,” said Beth Hoff Blackmer, president, Aspen Rent-All, Basalt, Colo. “We, as individuals and businesses, are always seeking ways to grow personally and professionally. The ARA Certified programs will be a fantastic offering for owners to offer to their staff. It also promotes rental as a safe industry, which is critical in the construction field. I look forward to becoming certified and urge all in the industry to join me.”
Work on ARA Certified programs for forklift operations and MEWP operator certifications for rental customers is underway and are expected to be released in 2023. Members can get started with ARA Certified MEWP Train the Trainer at ARArental.org/MEWP, and with ARA Certified Sales and ARA Certified Service programs at ARArental.org/Certified
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.