Equipment rental in the United States runs from about $40 a day for a plate compactor to $1,400 a day for a 20 ton excavator, with most jobs hiring somewhere in the $150 to $500 band. Two decisions set the bill: which machine the job actually needs, and how many days you keep it, because the per day cost falls sharply once a week is booked.
One yard, several counters
A full service branch is really four businesses under one roof. A tool counter with saws, breakers, sanders and pumps. An earthmoving row of excavators, skid steers and loaders. Access, meaning boom and scissor lifts. Power and site kit: generators, light towers, heaters, fencing, road plates. Different desks, different rates, sometimes different trucks.
What the national count comes to
No license is needed to rent machinery in this country, so no register of companies exists. The Census Bureau's County Business Patterns instead counts establishments: 5,830 across 544 counties in all fifty states, of which 4,123 are construction and mining machinery yards and 1,707 are general rental centers. It measures the market, and it names nobody.
Why the week is the cheap unit
Yards commonly price a week at near three day rates and a month at near three weeks, because the cost to them is the truck movement and the yard time, not the days the machine sits with you. A job that might run four days is usually cheaper booked as a week than extended twice.
Everything on the ticket that is not the machine
Haulage in and out, fuel or a refuelling charge, a damage waiver as its own line, an environmental or consumables fee, a cleaning charge where it comes back filthy, and a minimum hire even on a half day job. Ask for the delivered total on both a day and a week before you compare two yards.
Questions people ask about equiment rental
Is it equipment or equiment?
Equipment, with a p. It is one of the more common ways it gets typed and no counter will make anything of it. The machines, the rates and the paperwork are the same whichever way the enquiry came in.
Do I need to be a contractor to rent?
No. General rental centers hire to homeowners every day, with a license, a card and a deposit. Larger earthmoving machines sometimes come with more questions about the job, which is the yard sizing the machine rather than turning you away.
Is delivery included in the day rate?
Almost never. Haulage is quoted separately, each way, and scales with machine size and distance from the yard. That is the single line that most often makes the cheaper day rate the more expensive hire, so always compare the delivered figure.
What happens if it rains and I cannot work?
The clock keeps running. Hire is charged on time out, not time used, and weather is the hirer's risk on almost every agreement. Where a forecast is bad, some yards will move a booking if you call before the machine has left the gate.