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RENTING , from page 5

verification, background checks, payment processing, and an easy interface for lending and renting equipment. It benefits renters by providing a platform that facilitates inexpen- sive renting of contracting equipment, and gives contractors the ability to make money off of the equipment they aren’t using. ❚ ❚ Yard Club. Backed by Caterpillar, this online marketplace lets customers safely earn in- come on idle equipment by renting to other club members, and allows them to maximize their financial returns on fleet investments. For example, Yard Club reports that a recent one-month rental of a Caterpiller D9 Dozer saved the renter $8,500, versus a traditional rental. ❚ ❚ BlueLine Rental. BlueLine Rental has more than 130 rental stores across North America. Each rental center offers a comprehensive line of essential equipment for the construc- tion, commercial, and industrial markets, and an extensive line of compact excavators, compactors, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, and compaction equipment. ❚ ❚ TrakQuip. An equipment rental software that also benefits non-rental companies and allows them to manage the utilization and maintenance of equipment. The TrakQuip app allows users to rent, sell, and request repairs; exchange in-app data with Microsoft Office applications in Windows 2000 or new- er; and includes various modules, such as the Basic Rental Package, Fleet Maintenance, Repair, Batch Invoice, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Purchasing.

RISE IN RENTALS LEADS TO FEWER FEATURES Strategic “de-featuring” was a common theme at the American Rental Association’s 2015 Rental Show: Equipment makers have responded to continued growth in the rental market with more machines targeted to rental fleets. Terex launched its TLB840R backhoe loader, a modified version of the TB840, at this year’s Rental Show. Boasting a 20 percent drop in price, compared with the full-featured backhoe, the TLB840R features several changes targeted to the rental market, including a new, 74-hp engine to meet emissions standards and redesigned hydraulics to compensate for the resulting loss in power. “Mostly we took away the fancy features that a rental operation just doesn’t place value in,” said John Beckley, Terex global product manager. Source: enr.construction.com, March 4, 2015.

own personal garden, renting equipment re- mains a cost efficient option,” Fliege says. “They don’t have to put the capital out to purchase the piece of equipment. And they don’t have the maintenance issues; we han- dle all that for them. We do delivery and pick-up for them, so pretty much they can make a phone call, they hang up, they know that piece is going to be taken care of.” THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT. Where can busy con- tractors turn when they want to rent? Here are a few resources to check out: ❚ ❚ Getable. This app lets contractors rent across vendors and manage owned and rented ma- chines. Though the app is nearly five years old, $5 million in funding has made it avail- able on the iPhone and iPad. There are two versions of the free app: one for contractors and another for suppliers. Contractors can also order equipment based on negotiated pricing and volume-based incentives. And, if you’re not looking for a specific person to rent from, the app finds equipment from vendors in the Getable network. The app also gives contractors the ability to control equip- ment costs, sending weekly reports on a ma- chine while it is on-rent, notifications when it’s time to return a machine, and detailed invoicing for each machine ❚ ❚ EquipmentShare. This peer-to-peer rental startup allows contractors in the Midwest to list equipment, get price quotes, and arrange rentals. This platform combines insurance

PROJECT TYPE , from page 6

users of joint ventures. Many projects are simply too large for any one firm to bid on and deliver by itself. Here are a few ways in which the partnership-savvy industry capitalizes on the practice. ❚ ❚ One size does not fit all. Partnerships can take several forms, including: JOINT VENTURES , from page 7 ❚ ❚ Joint ventures: This is when two companies invest funds into creat- ing a third, jointly owned company. The new company is an ongoing entity that will be in business for itself, but profits are owned by the parents. ❚ ❚ Strategic alliances: These are agree- ments between two companies that often have a limited scope and func-

tion, such as a partnership through- out a specific project. ❚ ❚ Referral programs: This is where non-competing companies steer cli- ents to one another. ❚ ❚ Align different disciplines. You can also profit by thinking creatively and forming relationships with people in complemen- tary fields. For example, construction companies could work with home supply stores or real estate agents. Heiskanen shares one example of a joint- venture developed by an HVAC engineer- ing company and a maintenance firm that reduced costs by packaging their comple- mentary services. He says this shows how companies in different disciplines can “partner up to create something new.”

of your firm will be associated with the least desirable trait of your weakest partner. ❚ ❚ It is important to under- stand risk/reward, but the emphasis is on risk. Particu- larly for design-build projects, but often for large public design-bid-build design pur- suits, consultants often have significant front end costs and understanding those risks to the firm and to cash flow need to be projected to the client and the firm’s decision makers. “Overall, there are pros and cons to every pursuit, not nec- essarily associated with the type of construction procure- ment, but if the consulting community follows these sim- ple rules, the project will be a success for the owner, contrac- tor and consultant,” Moore says.

FLUOR, SACYR FORM JOINT-VENTURE IN SPAIN Fluor Corporation announced in July that it agreed to divest 50 percent of shares of its Spanish operations – Fluor S.A. – to Sacyr Industrial SLU , a multinational Spanish construction company. The new entity, SacyrFluor , will be headquartered in Fluor’s Madrid operations center and will provide project management, engineering, procurement, construction management, and self- perform construction services.

THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 24, 2015, ISSUE 1117

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