Welcome: Keep your ear to the ground
by Clair Urbain
Rental demand ebbs and flows. Not too many years ago, power tools were popular rental items; today, while many rental centers still carry them, they are no longer in huge demand. Often, it’s less expensive to but a power tool than it is to rent one. The same is true for concrete breakers.
Roger Vajret, owner of Home Rental Sales and Service in Marshalltown, Iowa, has experienced – and capitalized – on the ebb and flow of the demand for rentals. From day one, he’s learned to keep his ears and options open as customers inquire about renting. Greater awareness of customers’ needs can lead to solid rental opportunities.
Starting out renting portable marquee signs in high school, his rental business has morphed into a broad-based service. Today, in addition to running a successful equipment and party/entertainment rental operation, he’s identified a need for storage space rentals as well as leasing space to various businesses.
Each venue in which he operates is a result of Roger and his two sons, Adam and Noah, keeping their ears and eyes open to what customers need – and want.
That’s why we’re also featuring utility vehicles in this issue; several rental centers have recently observed that larger construction sites such as data centers are increasingly using them to move workers efficiently around large, multi-acre job sites presently under construction. Rental centers are seeing them as a newfound rental revenue resource.
Similarly, indoor MEWPs are being featured this issue because there’s been a renewed interest among equipment renters to get workers off ladders and up and in-between tight workspaces. Mast MEWPs can quickly and efficiently raise worker to ceiling heights.
Finally, software and software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies are incorporating artificial intelligence into their systems, taking some of the rote work out of equipment scheduling and billing, while making it even easier to keep an eye on the bottom line.
This article originally appears in the September - October 2026 issue of Pro Contractor Rentals magazine. © 2026 Urbain Communications LLC. All rights reserved.
PRO CONTRACTOR RENTALS MAGAZINE
Pro Contractor Rentals provides information of value to rental centers who focus time, resources and attention on meeting the demands of construction contractors and other equipment rental customers.
