We are excited to produce CRA’s Virtual Rental Rally Tradeshow where equipment and party rental vendors can showcase their products and services to Equipment and Party Rental Centers – For FREE!

 

• Video Chat Rooms! 

• Schedule Appointments!

• View Demos!

• Enter Contests!

 

CRA Virtual Events!
• Virtual Cocktail Party!
• Virtual Round Table Discussions!
• End of Show Raffle!

Hire-Elegance, LLC
8333 Arjons Dr. Ste. E
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 227-4963
info@hire-elegance.com

CRA received the following news from CRA member Dennis Turner with PDQ Rental:
Eliseo Zamora was a fixture in Southern California; he ran delivery and sales routes in Southern California for Dolly Manufacturing and Ezee Manufacturing before he passed away from a heart attack on January 6th. Always friendly and responsive to requests, Eliseo was a really good guy.  He will be missed. Services are pending but expected to be scheduled for January 25th.

After criticism from labor unions and lawmakers that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has not been adequately responding to COVID-19 pandemic concerns, the agency was busy in September and October citing businesses for various health and safety violations. Between Oct. 23 and Oct. 29, OSHA issued nearly $500,000 in COVID-19 citations bringing the total amount of proposed penalties against employers for failing to protect workers from coronavirus to nearly $2.5 million. Among the most recent firms cited are several grocery stores in California and health care employers in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, all cited for “serious” violations. The businesses were specifically cited for failure to implement written respiratory protection programs and properly train workers in the use of respiratory devices; for failure to report or record injuries, illnesses or fatalities; and failure to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s general duty clause.

We are excited about CRA’s Virtual Rental Rally Tradeshow where Equipment and Party Vendors can showcase their products and services to Equipment and Party Rental Center Attendees!

 

Exhibitors –
Exhibitor List ... Thank you to the exhibitors that have already signed up for CRA’s Virtual Rental Rally Tradeshow! See the list of exhibitors signed up for the show to date. And check back often — new exhibitors are being added daily!

 

There's still time to sign up as an Exhibitor! Virtual booths sell for $485 each. Attendees will be FREE. It will be live for 30 days beginning on January 25, 2021. Make your statement to the world about your company and products with a promo video or slideshow! Engage with Attendees: Video Chat Room, Appointment Scheduler, Contest w/Lead Capture, Demo, Website, Brochure and more. Visit our Website for additional information, a Demo, and Order Form today!

 

Sponsors & Lobby Advertising –
Thank you to those sponsors that have already signed up for CRA’s Virtual Rental Rally Tradeshow! See the list of sponsors signed up for the show to date. And check back often — new sponsors are being added daily!

 

Sign up as a Sponsor Today!
• Virtual Rental Rally Tradeshow Contest Gift Cards. To be awarded at the End of Show Attendee Raffle.
• CRA Diamond Jubilee Sponsor. Help celebrate CRA’s 75th anniversary all year long through a Diamond Jubilee Sponsorship

 

Sign up to Advertise Today
Advertise in the Virtual Rental Rally Tradeshow Lobby on the Rotating Banner!

 

California Portable Dance Floor, LLC
Walter R. Clyne
PO Box 201, Lehi, UT 84043
(800) CA-Dance
www.cpdfc.com

Mecalac, a leading global designer, manufacturer and distributor of compact construction equipment for urban environments, welcomes Trekker Group to its growing dealer network. The Trekker Group is one of five dealers Mecalac added in 2020 to expand coverage across North America. Trekker Group will offer Mecalac’s innovative line of crawler skid-excavators — the MCR Series — as well as the company’s MWR Series of wheeled excavators and AS Series swing loaders at six locations throughout Florida. The partnership crates a solid foundation for sales and service in the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions as Mecalac works to bring its game-changing productivity to jobsites across America.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced a final rule clarifying the standard for employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Sharpening the test to determine who is an independent contractor under the FLSA makes it easier to identify employees covered by the Act, while recognizing and respecting the entrepreneurial spirit of workers who choose to pursue the freedoms associated with being an independent contractor. The rule will take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, on March 8, 2021.

The Regulation for In-Use Off-Road Diesel-Fueled Fleets (Off-Road Regulation) requires fleet owners to complete annual reporting requirements and submit a Responsible Official Affirmation of Reporting (ROAR) form or e-ROAR by March 1, 2021. Join CARB for an informative webinar on the annual reporting process. They have added new reporting tools to DOORS, the online reporting tool for the Off-Road Regulation, that this webinar will be covering.

 

The webinar will cover the following topics:
• Annual reporting requirements
• Reporting changes to your fleet information
• Reporting annual hour logs
• Submitting the e-ROAR
• Submitting the hard copy ROAR 

 

January 27, 2021, 1:00 p.m.

February 9, 2021, 1:00 p.m.

For questions regarding the Off-Road Regulation and reporting, please contact the DOORS Hotline at (877) 59DOORS (877-593-6677) or More Information

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on January 14 that state and local Democratic leaders are pushing for an increase in California’s corporate tax rate to tackle the state’s homelessness crisis, a proposal that could generate billions of dollars in new funding but faces long odds to becoming law. A coalition of state legislators, big-city mayors and housing advocates introduced a bill Wednesday, AB71, that would raise the tax rate by nearly 0.8% for companies that earn more than $5 million in annual revenue in the state. It would also tax California-based corporations for the revenue they earn from intellectual property, such as patents and trademarks, held by their foreign subsidiaries. Supporters estimate the bill could generate $2.4 billion a year to build supportive housing and emergency shelters, offer rental assistance and provide other services to the more than 150,000 homeless Californians.

A coalition of essential industries, including the agricultural industry and broader business community, has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court detailing the detrimental impact the Newsom Administration’s new Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) will have on food security and vaccine distribution. The ETS, which were hastily written and promulgated by CalOSHA with little input from the affected industries, imposes such a significant burden on businesses that it will likely shut down production and processing of food products and close pharmacies located in grocery stores, which have been tasked by the federal government with distributing COVID-19 vaccines to the communities they serve.

To support the development of mobile source strategies for the 2022 AQMP, South Coast AQMD, in conjunction with California Air Resources Board, has established Mobile Source Working Groups which are open to all interested parties. The next series of Mobile Source Working Group meetings will be held at the following dates and times:

 

• 2022 AQMP Mobile Source Working Group – Heavy-Duty Trucks (Meeting #1)
  Tuesday, January 26, 2021, 10:00 a.m.

 

• 2022 AQMP Mobile Source Working Group – Construction and Industrial Equipment (Meeting #1)
  Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 10:00 a.m.
 

• 2022 AQMP Mobile Source Working Group – Ocean Going Vessels (Meeting #1)
   Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 1:30 p.m. 

 

• 2022 AQMP Mobile Source Working Group – Aircraft (Meeting #1)
  Thursday, February 4, 2021, 10:30 a.m.

 
The working group meetings will only be conducted via video conferencing and by telephone. Zoom meeting information will be provided in subsequent notices. Audience will be allowed to provide public comments through telephone or Zoom connection. The meeting agenda and presentations will be available on the South Coast AQMD website at least 72 hours prior to the meeting and subsequent notification of availability will be provided. 

In the week ending January 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 787,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 787,000 to 790,000. The 4-week moving average was 818,750, a decrease of 18,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 836,750 to 837,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending December 26, unchanged from the previous week's revised rate. The previous week's rate was revised down by 0.1 from 3.6 to 3.5 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 26 was 5,072,000, a decrease of 126,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 21,000 from 5,219,000 to 5,198,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,274,750, a decrease of 177,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 5,250 from 5,457,250 to 5,452,000.

Last month, the NonProfit Times News reported that postal rates are set to rise by an average of almost 2 percent this month as part of annual increases by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Rates might jump even more – maybe 7.6% — as early as next summer after a once-in-a-decade review of postal operations. The Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers (ANM) estimates that the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) could raise postal rates beyond inflation by as much as 5.6 percent to 7.6 percent. Executive Director Stephen Kearney said USPS will do its own calculations that might be a little different but not by much. Total authority above the Consumer Price Index (CPI) would be 5.6 percent for compensatory products, which includes First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail Letters, and 7.6 percent for non-compensatory, such as periodicals and Marketing Mail Flats.

CARB Executive Officer Richard W. Corey recently announced the appointment of Chanell Fletcher as the Deputy Executive Officer of Environmental Justice. Fletcher will oversee CARB’s Environmental Justice and Community Air Protection Program and be responsible for developing CARB-wide environmental justice policies. She will play a key role in CARB’s programs designed to address disproportionate impacts from air pollution and climate change and associated chronic health conditions affecting Black, Latinx and other communities of color across the state.  

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects global oil inventories to generally draw in 2021 and 2022 as a result of increasing forecast global oil demand that outpaces world production growth. EIA forecasts global oil supply will rise, but voluntary production restraint from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and partner countries (OPEC+), along with the lingering effects of low crude oil prices on U.S. tight oil production, will limit global supply increases. As a result, EIA expects global oil inventories to decline by 0.6 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2021 and 0.5 million b/d in 2022. EIA expects the largest draw of 2.3 million b/d will be in the first quarter of 2021, which is expected to drive Brent crude oil prices up to a forecast $56 per barrel (b). EIA expects inventory draws will moderate after the first quarter of 2021 and crude oil prices will fall, averaging $53/b from the second quarter of 2021 through 2022.

The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded grant funding of $431,513 to the D.C. Department of Employment Services to improve and promote its Short-Time Compensation (STC) program. The STC program gives employers the opportunity to avoid layoffs by reducing work hours for an entire group of workers rather than laying off some of them. Those workers then become eligible to supplement their reduced wages with a partial unemployment benefit payment.

 

Thank you to all who take time to participate in our surveys. CRA uses the information we gather to better serve you. If you have an idea for a survey for CRA members, please send your request to CRA at Info@CalRental.org. This month, we asked how members store their rental contracts, paper or paperless. 

Kevin Diede from San Mateo Rentals in San Mateo, CA is the winner of the January Survey Raffle. Congratulations Kevin!