United rentals and sunbelt rentals

Now that would suck. But ot helps.

 

I've worked for Sunbelt for over a decade, a few of those years being a driver. Knowing how slow their hiring process is, I'm willing to bet you're probably not driving for them yet. I've done every job that there is to do at the store level and am pretty well versed in how things work in the rental world.

It's not a bad place to work but it has its times like any other place. Overall, it's just basic machinery hauling. Some days you're pulling 135' manlifts and other days you're in a pickup with dehumidifiers. You're not likely to be in a semi 100% of the time. If things get really slow, you'll be expected to help in the shop in some capacity. If you're in the Fort Worth area, that may be a little different as that's a pretty busy area. They're pretty good about keeping the trucks newer and being up on the maintenance. All of that is done third party but you're still expected to do a daily walk around inspection. It's pretty run of the mill stuff.

However, I haven't seen any reason to believe that the pay is better there than anywhere else. They have profit share but it usually isn't much and is usually taxed to next to nothing. Our last profit share was $600...but the CEO got a $14million bonus. My gross income has gone up over the years but my net pay has been stagnant, if not going backwards. The insurance has been really good over the years but just this year they made the switch to United Healthcare and took away a few of the benefits. They overhauled the vacation time off policies which to a newbie wouldn't matter. To someone like me with all this time invested, I got screwed out of a few days worth of vacation. The drivers are among the last people to have their hours cut when things are slow but that doesn't really happen often.

In the rental world, things change rapidly and constantly. It's not uncommon to have your truck loaded and ready just to see dispatch in your mirror to have you unload all of it and haul something else. This happens more than occasionally but it's just as aggravating every time it happens. It's not uncommon that these unexpected changes to plans will interrupt your personal life.

Sometimes it's an Easter egg hunt to find machines on jobsites. Machines will sometimes be dead when you go to get them and you have to get them off site. Sometimes they're excessively dirty and you need to try and clean them off on site before you can haul them. The weather will either work with you or against you every day. If you're not a problem solver, you're going to struggle. Not every single day is like that but it's easy to remember the bad ones.

Literally everything is done on a computer or a phone. If you're not tech savvy, you're not going to enjoy it. You'll be in direct contact with customers daily. If you're not a people person or willing to stand there with a smile on your face while a complete stranger is freaking out on you, you're not going to enjoy it.

There are cameras inside the truck, outside of the truck, and GPS tracking your speed and efficiency. That includes your idle time and how quickly you're getting off the yard in the mornings. People are always watching what you do, both within the company and outside of it. I've been kicked off of site because they didn't like my color of my hard hat. If you don't like being monitored, you're not going to like it.

Sunbelt is very serious about safety and they're not afraid to discipline over it. I'm not dogging on this part because they've had people get killed while loading equipment or driving the trucks. Nobody wants anyone hurt or worse. But that comes at a cost and it's usually over the top. This means you're wearing mountain climbing helmets with chin straps, safety glasses, high-vis, gloves, and all the other non-negotiable PPE. You have to do morning stretches to make sure you're good and limber.

They're also very strict about the hours of service and sticking to it. They very explicitly insist on the 30 minute lunch break, not one second early. Even so, you're still considered "on-call" 24 hours a day. Even if you can't drive, they'll expect you to help if it's an "all hands on deck" situation. I've been there before and have had many calls in the middle of the night. Just two weeks ago I had one at 2:30am.

Now, they do give you uniforms, outerwear, boots once a year, free gloves, an Iphone, and other perks, so that part is nice. It is all very, very corporate, though. If you don't like dealing with the red tape, this may not be your gig. There's a mile long list of training you'll have to sit through before you're in a truck.

The past few years I have been looking to get out but I'm at a point in my life that I'm ready to start doing my own thing and make my own money. I grew up on a farm so that lifestyle is kind of bred into me. I'm often told that I have too much "farm kid" in me yet as I will sometimes push back on the corporate way of doing things. It obviously hasn't been bad enough to walk out over the last 12 or 13 years but the little things wear on a guy by some point. This little review is just my perspective so take it for what it's worth...just some guy on the internet.

 

United Rentals just bought H&E rentals here a few weeks ago .

 

Yeah, I'd heard that, too. I get emails daily about the big companies like Sunbelt buying up more Mom & Pop stores and bigger ones like H&E. I originally worked for a M&P store back in the day until Sunbelt bought us out. There were good things and bad things with that. I have had opportunities to jump ship and go back to M&P stores but have always decided against it because the money and insurance wasn't as good and they'll be bought up anyway. I'll find myself back at square one either way.

 

anyone have any knowledge/experience with the company Equipment Share? Did a phone interview recently and will most likely have in person soon. Relatively new company(compared to the sunbelts and united)
I see their job postings somewhat frequently which to me is a bit of a red flag.
Thnx