“The forecast shows us how hard the coronavirus pandemic hit the equipment and event rental industry,” said John McClelland, ARA vice president for government affairs and chief economist.
“Hopefully 2021 will see us getting back some of the revenue losses we experienced in the equipment and general tool segments," McClelland said.
Investment in equipment is significantly down in 2020, with a 43% decrease to $8.166 billion. Equipment spending is forecast to rebound by 17.4% in 2021 and by 46.3% in 2022 to surpass annual investment of $14 billion.
Based in Moline, Ill., the ARA members include more than 11,000 rental businesses and more than 1,000 manufacturers and suppliers located in every U.S. state, all Canadian provinces, and more than 30 countries worldwide.