Rental Center: Reshaping the rental market
RP Rents aims to bring a new regional rental player to the Great Lakes area.
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The RP Rents leadership team: Rob, hiswife Amanda, then Lisa (Paul’s wife) and Paul Snook. |
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RP Rents carries major aerial equipment brands including JLG, MEC, Skyjack, Magni, Niftylift and Polaris. This brand mix reflects both customer demand and RP Rents’ strategy of carrying the right equipment for specific trades and applications. |
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With a fleet of roughly 35 delivery trucks, RP Rents moves between 150 and 180 machines per day during peak periods, and sometimes up to 200, just in deliveries, not counting pickups. |
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RP Rents has invested heavily in safety and compliance features, including perimeter lighting, leak containment and other special configurations required for these projects. |
When you pull into RP Rents’ Naperville, Illinois, headquarters for the first time, it is hard not to pause. The scale of the operation—162,000 square feet under one roof—signals that this is not a typical “new” rental company story. Yet RP Rents, led by brothers Rob Snook, CEO, and Paul Snook, president, is exactly that: a rapidly growing enterprise that officially launched in April 2024 and has already reshaped parts of the Midwest aerial rental market.
For Rob and Paul Snook, however, this venture is anything but a first act. Both brothers have spent decades in the rental industry. Prior to RP Rents, they built Midwest High Reach, a Chicago-area aerial lift company that they sold to Sunbelt Rentals in 2018. After the sale, the brothers stayed on with Sunbelt for a period of time, gaining perspective from inside one of the industry’s largest organizations. Eventually, the pull of entrepreneurship—and of doing things their own way—drew them back.
“We decided to get back into the business,” Rob Snook says. “And when we did, we wanted to do it right.”
Building RP Rents from the ground up—quickly
RP Rents began with the acquisition of two companies—Time Savers and Illini High Reach—both owned by the same ownership group. Though they had operated as separate entities, they were merged into one organization the day RP Rents closed the deal and were immediately rebranded.
At the time of acquisition, the combined fleet totaled roughly 1,700 to 1,800 machines, primarily aerial equipment—booms, scissor lifts, and telehandlers—serving the greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana markets. Operations were spread across three locations: Carol Stream, Bolingbrook, and Griffith, Indiana.
From the outset, consolidation was part of the vision. “Our goal was always to get everything under one roof,” Paul says. That vision became reality in Naperville, a western Chicago suburb. After acquiring the facility, RP Rents invested in upgrades and brought the property into compliance with local requirements. As leases expired at the legacy locations, the company merged all Illinois operations into this single, expansive hub.
The result is a centralized operation capable of supporting scale, which is something RP Rents has pursued aggressively.
Aerial focus leads to explosive fleet growth
Today, RP Rents’ fleet has grown to more than 6,000 assets, with an original equipment cost north of $160 million, Rob says. “Approximately 40 percent of the fleet consists of scissor lifts, another 40 percent of boom lifts, and the remaining 20 percent is made up of telehandlers, UTVs, industrial forklifts, carts and specialty equipment.
The company carries major aerial equipment brands including JLG, MEC, Skyjack, Magni, Niftylift, and Polaris. This brand mix reflects both customer demand and RP Rents’ strategy of carrying the right equipment for specific trades and applications.
“We carry the product our customers want,” Paul says, “And if we don’t have it and the demand is there, we’ll look at adding it.”
That responsiveness has paid off, particularly with customers working on complex and demanding job sites like data centers. RP Rents has invested heavily in safety and compliance features—perimeter lighting, leak containment, and other specialized configurations—required for these projects.
Expansion into Wisconsin
Illinois is not the company’s only focus. RP Rents recently expanded into Wisconsin with the acquisition of Lift Pro, an independently owned aerial lift company with approximately 850 machines. That deal added two locations — Kenosha and Waukesha — and significantly expanded RP Rents’ footprint.
Following a familiar playbook, the company plans to consolidate those operations into a single, purpose-built facility in Genesee, Wisconsin. The planned site will span 75,000 square feet on 15 acres, strategically located just west of Milwaukee along I-94, enabling RP Rents to serve much of the state efficiently. “Our goal is to hit the majority of the state out of that one location,” Rob says.
People, shifts, and sheer throughput
Across Illinois and Wisconsin, RP Rents employs roughly 145 people, including drivers, mechanics, inside staff, management and sales professionals. In Illinois alone, the company runs three shifts, five days a week, with additional Saturday operations as needed. Drivers and technicians work around the clock, a strategy designed to maximize uptime and ensure on-time delivery.
That operational intensity supports a staggering level of activity. With a fleet of roughly 35 delivery trucks, RP Rents moves between 150 and 180 machines per day during peak periods, and sometimes up to 200, just in deliveries, not counting pickups.
“We could never get them out on time if we didn’t start that third shift,” Rob says. “Running overnight helps us avoid traffic and get machines on job sites before 7 a.m.”
Field support is equally robust, with 11 field mechanics in Illinois and four in Wisconsin, backed by shop teams working multiple shifts.
Broad customer base rooted in the trades
RP Rents serves a wide spectrum of customers. Paul says some rent only a handful of machines per year, while others may have 300 or 400 units on rent at any given time. Our customer base is heavily trade-focused: steel and precast erectors, electrical contractors, plumbers, sprinkler fitters, painters and industrial contractors.”
Average rental duration varies, but two-week rentals are common, alongside daily, weekly, and long-term agreements. Increasingly, RP Rents is participating in mega projects, particularly data centers, where existing customers have brought the company along as a trusted partner. In Wisconsin alone, RP Rents is active on several high-profile data center projects, including Microsoft facilities and other large-scale developments. These projects have accelerated growth and increased exposure in both markets.
Why customers keep coming back
Ask the Snooks why customers choose RP Rents, and the answer is consistent: people and simplicity. “We have a good team with a lot of knowledgeable folks who’ve been in the industry a long time,” Rob says. “They know how to build relationships.” That philosophy extends beyond sales. RP Rents emphasizes ease of doing business with streamlined ordering, reliable delivery and clear communication. Orders move quickly from customer call to dispatch board to delivery truck without unnecessary complexity.
The company also connects customers, sales reps, and inside staff through shared communication channels, fostering relationships across the organization and freeing salespeople to spend more time in the field.
On the marketing side, RP Rents adds personal touches, such as “care packages” sent to new or valued customers. Beyond that, the team invests heavily in relationships, hosting dinners, attending ball games, going on fishing and hunting trips and other shared experiences.
Technology, data, and the next phase
Operationally, RP Rents currently uses Point of Rental software but is transitioning to Texada software, seeking greater scalability and more robust tools for shop processes, dispatch, and delivery. Wisconsin operations are already live on Texada, with Illinois in conversion. The company is also integrating third-party, AI-driven tools such as WISE, a routing and logistics platform widely used in distribution and trucking. Integrated through Texada, WISE will help optimize routes, coordinate deliveries and pickups, and improve efficiency across the fleet. “We’re really focused on getting everything we can out of technology,” Rob says. “This business is changing fast.”
Training, talent, and culture
With growth comes hiring and training. RP Rents takes a balanced approach. In the shop, the company hires apprentice-level greenhands who train under senior technicians, learning RP Rents’ way of doing things. At the same time, seasoned mechanics bring experience and immediate value.
“Sales hiring leans more heavily toward experienced professionals, people who understand job sites, speak the industry’s language, and know how to build relationships,” says Rob. Today, RP Rents employs about 15 outside salespeople across both markets, supported by roughly 10 inside sales staff.
Ambitious financial growth
The company’s financial growth mirrors its fleet expansion. When RP Rents acquired the initial companies, it generated roughly $25 million in revenue. In 2025, RP Rents’ Illinois operations alone reached nearly $70 million. Projections for 2026, based solely on existing fleet, point to $100 million in revenue across Illinois and Wisconsin, Paul says.
“EBITDA growth has been equally striking, climbing from roughly $6 million at acquisition to an estimated $30 million in 2025, with projections approaching $50 million in 2026. This growth is supported by strong banking relationships and a sizable asset-based lending facility, enabling RP Rents to fund capital-intensive expansion while maintaining disciplined leverage,” says Rob.
Managing fleet life cycles
With such rapid growth, fleet disposition presents its own challenges. RP Rents evaluates disposals annually, balancing the need to refresh equipment with the realities of expansion. Recently, the company hired a dedicated professional to sell used fleet units individually rather than through bulk auctions, aiming to capture higher resale value.
Trade-in programs with OEMs also play a role, allowing RP Rents to leverage favorable terms when purchasing new equipment.
Looking ahead
Asked where RP Rents will be in three years, Rob is candid. “I didn’t think we’d be this far in two years,” he says.
What is clear is that RP Rents intends to keep growing the top and bottom lines together, while remaining focused on service, relationships and operational excellence.
The brothers are keenly aware of the challenges ahead: capital demands, labor, logistics, technology, and competition from industry giants, yet they remain confident.
“We love this business,” Rob says. “It’s all I’ve ever done. At the end of the day, it’s about good people and good service. If you get that right, the rest follows.”
For a company barely out of its infancy, RP Rents already looks and operates like a mature force in the Midwest rental market. And if the past two years are any indication, its story is only just beginning.
This article originally appeared in the March-April 2026 issue of Pro Contractor Rentals magazine. © 2026 Urbain Communicatons LLC. All rights reserved.
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