Editor Allan Leibowitz comments on the news of the week

This week, we report that equipment rental is tipped to fall by 10% in Europe this year, based on market analysis just released. The slump comes after a 4% rise last year, and is attributed largely to the impact of COVID-19. While falling rental rates are hurting the businesses directly involved, the implications are far broader. As we regularly report, hire companies represent a significant market for equipment, with billions of dollars/Euros of stock and a healthy flow of orders for the major manufacturers. Falling demand will not only mean idle fleets, but also a reluctance to continue to invest in inventory - and this will hurt the forklift makers already impacted by falling sales. But end-users are winners in the short term, with rental costs likely to fall as rental businesses seek to keep equipment turning over.