Compact equipment is popular among smaller contractors, landscapers, ranch and farm owners and heavier equipment is rented out to the larger contractors.
Rentals are a principal driver of the business, accounting for more than a quarter of the company’s overall annual revenue stream.
Equipment Rentals Twenty-five years ago, Bryce Puckett was a yard technician in a rental company office in Oklahoma City, prepping tools for customers and helping deliver machinery. He moved over to Kirby-Smith Equipment 20 years ago and worked in the rental and industrial equipment division. But he returned permanently to equipment rentals in 2009 when Kirby-Smith acquired Continental Equipment in Bryce Puckett, Dallas and Puckett was General Manager, named rental manager for Rentals the company’s Texas locations. Now, he manages all of Kirby-Smith’s rentals and just completed a three-year term as a regional director of the American Rental Association. In short, Puckett knows the equipment rental industry. Management of the company’s 3,000-piece rental fleet is in good hands. How important is rentals to the company? It is recognized as a principal driver of the business, accounting for more than a quarter of the company’s overall annual revenue stream. The types of equipment rented vary across the company’s five-state footprint, Puckett said. Compact equipment is popular among smaller contractors, landscapers, ranch and
farm owners and heavier equipment is rented out to the larger contractors. “We have a big focus on the larger end of equipment as well — heavy earthmoving machinery and aggregate and paving equipment,” Puckett said. “They are a prime focus for us. This includes the wide range of cranes offered by Kirby-Smith, some of which are in the rental fleet. They’re a special breed of machinery. It’s pretty important that we get it right when we rent one of those.” Approximately 50 employees officially work in rentals at KirbySmith, most as support staff from rental offices in the main dealership building at each location. Rental employees rely upon and support the company’s outside sales team to land rental contracts as an alternative to buying. The end in either case is the same: though a piece of equipment on average is rented for less than 90 days, most longer-term rental contracts are converted to sales. Thus, the huge rental fleet serves two purposes as a pool of equipment for renters and as way to move used equipment. “Every machine in our fleet that we purchase, we purchase with an exit in mind,” Puckett said. “The rent-to-own option is one of those tools we utilize to allow customers to get familiar with a piece of equipment, to see if a specific unit will work for them. A majority of them convert over.” Puckett notes that in Europe, 80 percent of heavy equipment is rented and he sees rental activity continuing to grow across the U.S. market as companies opt for more flexibility in their rolling stock. Kirby-Smith is prepared to supply that demand. “The amount of attention and work that Kirby-Smith puts into making sure our rental fleet is in as good a shape as possible is because it is a core part of our business. It’s a blessing to be a part of that,” Puckett said. (All photos courtesy of Kirby-Smith Machinery.) 23
