Graph showing US AWP rental revenue.

The worldwide rental fleet of aerial work platforms (AWPs), also known as mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), has reached 1,120,000 – up 8% from last year.

The US AWP rental market recorded strong growth of 10% in 2014 to reach approximately USD7.9 billion, according to the IPAF US Powered Access Rental Market Report 2015 commissioned by the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF).

The US AWP rental fleet grew by 7% in 2014 to exceed 500,000 units. Strong demand from the construction sector allowed for fleet expansion and rental rates improvement, while balancing the negative impact of decreasing oil prices, the report said.

The Chinese MEWP rental fleet grew by 25-30% in the past two years to reach about 9,000 units.

In Europe, the rental market rose about 1% in 2014, to reach a value of approximately EUR2.6 billion (USD2.9 billion), according to the IPAF European Powered Access Rental Market Report 2015. Fleet expansion continued at a slow pace to reach 285,000 units. The 10 European countries surveyed were Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

Most European markets improved in 2014. France and Finland were the only MEWP rental markets where deterioration continued. Spain and Italy showed signs of recovery after several years of shrinking, while the UK, Germany, Norway and Sweden grew at similar rates, driven mainly by fleet expansion.

The IPAF rental market reports highlight key facts and figures for senior management, such as fleet size, utilisation rate and retention period. They include an estimate of the size of the AWP/MEWP rental fleet worldwide, with a breakdown by region and machine type.

New to the 2015 IPAF rental market reports is the average payback period by machine type (booms vs scissors), most commonly requested machine features/options, and the impact and consequences of new AWP/ MEWP regulations and safety standards.

The US report includes Canada. The European report includes seven individual country/regional sections: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Nordic/Scandinavian countries (covering Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), Spain and UK.

The federation started publishing the reports in 2010. Senior management from manufacturing and rental companies in the powered access/equipment rental industry are expected to benefit from them, an IPAF spokesperson tells Forkliftaction.com News.

Other beneficiaries, he says, are "those interested in or doing research on the powered access industry (such as) other associations, trade press, other market research companies (and) investment companies".