RENTAL MAXIMIZING COMPACT EQU
DIFFERENT APPROACHES HELP TWO BUSINESSES MAKE SURE THEIR COMPACT EQUIPMENT IS BEING USED AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE
A Pittsburgh company offers to do excavation jobs for customers who look like they could use a hand, while a Boston-area fi rm rents loaders and excavators to qualifi ed operators when not using machines for its own projects. Both concepts are working, in part, because the machines doing double duty are Bobcat®
compact equipment. Dino Aquiline, Midway Rental Rental center does work for customers
Dino Aquiline has been a fi xture in the equipment rental business in the Homewood neighborhood on the east side of Pittsburgh for 33 years, the last 17 as owner of Midway Rental. He has seen the area change substantially and has endured the ups and downs of the economy. Aquiline’s business has been affected and through it all he has survived.
“I decided to add excavating services after being exclusively a rental center,” he says, “and that’s when the business really exploded. It turned out to be a very good decision.”
Aquiline began offering to do excavating jobs when he noticed that many rental customers were having trouble doing the work themselves.
“People were renting equipment that they had diffi culty operating,” he says. “They were damaging the machines. So about 15 years ago my brother John started telling renters that he could do the job for them. When customers came in to rent equipment and it appeared they were not comfortable operating the machines, we offered to rent them the machine and, for an
Dino Aquiline, owner of Midway Rentals, Pittsburgh, Pa.
extra fee, send an operator along. We get paid for the rental and the operator, and it makes a nice profi t for the company. It has worked out quite well.”
An important factor to making the rental-excavation system work is Aquiline’s reliance on dependable, versatile Bobcat equipment. His inventory, purchased from Bobcat of Pittsburgh, currently includes a new M-Series E32, a 331E and 335 compact excavators; a 763 and four S150 skid-steer loaders; and a T190 compact track loader.
“Bobcat equipment allows us not only to have the rental products our customers want, but enables us to take on almost any excavation job — sidewalks, driveways, utility lines and land clearing are just some of the jobs people hire us to do. The average project we do ourselves typically brings in about $900 a day. At times we work on bigger projects that last a week or more and generate income of $8,000 to $15,000.”
To handle this work, Aquiline has been able to hire highly qualifi ed operators who have retired and are looking for something to do. When they’re not out on a job they work at the rental center. Midway Rental had Bobcat equipment when Aquiline purchased the business and he has no intention of switching to another brand.
“As long as I am here, there will only be Bobcat loaders and excavators,” he says. “Parts availability is an important factor for me. I know owners of competitive loaders and excavators have had problems getting parts. The service from Bobcat of Pittsburgh is unreal.
“With a utilization rate better than other products, Bobcat equipment has defi nitely been very good for my business.”
If you’re considering renting Bobcat®
Rent It Safely brochures and videos
22 WorkSaver | FALL 2011
compact equipment
to supplement your company’s revenue, be sure to provide your customers with safety training materials. Bobcat Company offers “Rent It Safely” brochures for skid-steer loaders, compact excavators, mini loaders, Toolcat™ utility work machines, telehandlers and loader backhoes. The brochures provide operating and
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