The CRA board and staff would like to wish members and friends a wonderful holiday season and a bright, prosperous New Year! The association looks forward to another year of providing services that contribute to your success in the rental industry.

 

 

Holiday parties were held in five territories. Southern California territories hosted holiday parties in Ventura, La Mirada and Rancho Cucamonga. Northern California Territories held a joint party in Berkeley. Participants enjoyed seeing old friends, raffles, a gift exchange, a Toys for Tots drive, a trivia contest, and lots of fun and laughs. Thank you to all our vendors and rental centers who attended and participated. Announcements were short but included the excitement of a live Rental Rally Tradeshow Jan. 24-26, 2022, at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The CRA board and staff wish all members a joyous holiday with family and a prosperous New Year.

 

 

CRA’s 4th Wednesday Rental Workshop will be taking a break until February 2022.

 

 

The CRA Model Rental Agreement committee has reviewed and updated CRA’s Model Rental Agreement.

 

California Rental Association members are advised to utilize the most recent version of CRA’s Copyrighted Model Rental Agreement (Note: the Model Rental Agreement has been copyrighted and may only be utilized by CRA’s members!) as it is their best protection and defense in a legal dispute. The agreement is the best protection and defense as CRA’s Model Rental Agreement has been prepared by taking into consideration the vast experiences of CRA members, specifically CRA’s Model Rental Agreement Committee. CRA’s Agreement is a contract that is enforceable between the rental center and customer. It sets forth the “Agreed Terms,” which include the indemnity/hold harmless and the assumption of risk/release discharge of liability that are “critical” provisions for Rental Centers. To receive the newest version, CRA members should contact the CRA office at (800) 272-7478 or by email info@CalRental.org

The Rental Services Industry Foundation (RSIF) was founded as a separate 501(c)(3) Non Profit Corporation to assist students in the rental industry, members in need of disaster relief and rental-related educational projects. RSIF provides scholarships for adult students of all ages and at many levels. Full- or part-time students in trade schools, community colleges or universities are eligible for these scholarships. Applicants must be CRA members, their children, their employees or the children of employees. Scholarships are awarded twice each year, for the fall and spring terms. All contributions to RSIF are made by members, vendors, memorials and remembrances. Funds are managed by Morgan Stanley and overseen by the RSIF Board of Directors.

 

Perhaps you are considering continuing your education or would like to attend a trade or certificate program that will enhance your job skills. Complete the application and return to CRA by Dec. 31, 2021.

 

Consider RSIF in your charitable giving and estate planning. Donations can be made online or sent to RSIF at the CRA office. The future and current generation of rental industry employees and leaders will be grateful!

Joe Novak, former CRA Board Member and Assistant Executive Director, has written an historical novel of the Old West, titled "Good For Justice" and available on the Barnes & Noble website. This is the story of Joseph Downs growing up in mid-1880’s Abilene, Kansas, during the great railroad industrial revolution and the westward expansion of the U.S. At a young age, Downs witnessed a gun fight that would change his life forever, leaving him trying to define justice and its relationship to revenge — not the dictionary version but the justice of life’s trials and tribulations. Spending his adult life working for the railroad, Joseph dealt with Indians, desperados, internal corruption, deceit, mysteries and murder. What kept him going? Family, the ability to judge character and establishing lifelong friendships.

Please be advised that the following portable diesel-fueled engines may not operate at full-use after Dec. 31, 2021, unless equipped with a properly functioning level-3 verified technology.
• Tier 1 engines rated greater than 750 brake horsepower (bhp).
• Tier 2 engines built prior to Jan. 1, 2009 and rated at 50bhp to 750bhp that are owned by large fleets.

 

This deadline does not apply to portable diesel-fueled engines owned by large fleets that are also following the fleet average compliance option since 2019 nor to engines owned by fleets that received emission credits for early compliance. This deadline also does not apply to Tier 1 and Tier 2 diesel-fueled engines designated to operate as low-use or emergency-use only, as noted on PERP registrations. 
Additionally, the sale of portable diesel-fueled Tier 1 engines rated at greater than 750bhp in California is prohibited after January 1, 2022. The sale of engines outside of California is not prohibited.

A look at efforts to reduce opioid dependency, make marijuana prescriptions reimbursable and legalize psychedelics for medical use.

 

Tapering Opioid Use. Opioids have often been a mixed blessing in workers' compensation treatments since they were introduced over 20 years ago. The main problem with these pain relievers is their addictive nature, often leading to overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly half a million people died from opioid overdoses for the 10-year period ending 2019.

 

With greater awareness of the problem, the workers' compensation medical community has enacted policies that have reduced the number of legal opioid prescriptions — but only slightly since opioids are still an important pain management tool. The aim now is to control the severity and magnitude of the opioid crises through better drug management.

 

 

CRA’s 2022 Equipment and Party Rental Rally Tradeshow will be held Jan. 20-22, 2022, at the South Point Casino Hotel & Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada! Visit www.RentalRally.com for more information.

 

Thank you to our 2022 Rental Rally Tradeshow Sponsors! Sponsorships are still available for the Tradeshow — 10 levels are available, ranging from $400–$5,000: Floor Decals • Friends of CRA • Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Gifts • Gala Sponsors • Major Sponsors. CLICK HERE for a Rental Rally Tradeshow Sponsorship Form.

 

Exhibitor booth space is still available too — Reserve your booth today! Thank you to the exhibitors that have already signed up. Click on “Learn more” to see the exhibitors signed up to date.

Manufacturer of stakes and accessories for tents. Hogan Stakes is a manufacturer of tent stakes and anchors for all tents and structures. Their tent stake products work in all soils and surfaces. They have been manufacturing quality steel products since 1948 — over 50 years! They specialize in Steel Stakes and Anchors for tents, temporary structures and inflatables used for special events, and anchoring systems for permanent and semi­permanent covers and shelters for private and government projects.

Vermeer Equipment is easy to use and maintain.Throughout the past 50 years, RDO Equipment Co. has grown and expanded to more than 75 stores across the United States, as well as internationally in Africa, Australia, Mexico, Russia, and Ukraine as RDO International. While our foundation may be built on John Deere agriculture equipment, our expertise extends into construction, environmental, forestry, irrigation, roadbuilding, underground, and several types of machine technology from partners including Vermeer, WIRTGEN GROUP, Topcon, and Carlson. Both new and used equipment are offered, along with rental options and the latest in machine technology.  All equipment and technology are backed with parts, service, and full support.

Paladin Sharkbite Grapple & other Paladin Products. Eleven brands, one solution. Paladin is the one-stop shop for quality, productive and powerful attachment tools. Compact tool carriers to heavy-duty excavators, Paladin is the trusted name for heavy equipment attachments that work as hard as the people that use them.

Giant Loaders, Articulating wheeled loaders, Ventrac Tractors – articulating wheeled tractors. Turf Star Western (TSW) serving as the west coast Toro distributor since 1922, covers Washington, Oregon, California, Baja Mexico, Northern Idaho, Northern Nevada and Alaska. In addition to Toro products, TSW carries other major lines of turf maintenance equipment, construction equipment and vehicles, including Club Car, Ventrac, Harper, Salsco and Foley Grinders.

Congratulations to Eric Short on his retirement! Eric, with his get-it-done attitude, has been the Bil-Jax representative for Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada and Southern California for many years, and he will be missed. We would also like to take the opportunity to welcome Chris Ledford as the new representative for this region. Chris has 25-plus years' experience with Bil-Jax.

 

In April, this column reported on the great SALT controversy and how it impacts California taxpayers. SALT stands for “state and local taxes,” and for many years prior to President Trump’s term in office, taxpayers could deduct those taxes from their federal tax returns without limitation. But in 2017, Congress enacted Trump’s tax reform, which limited the amount of state and local taxes that taxpayers could deduct up to $10,000. Whether limiting the SALT deduction is good or bad tax policy is not nearly as interesting as the politics behind it. The adoption of the limitation by the Republican-led Congress was broadly perceived as a big middle finger to high-tax states such as California. Whether a pretext or not, states with modest income tax rates, or no income tax at all, complained that their residents were essentially subsidizing residents of profligate, big-spending states.

 

If ever voters needed a reason to vote no on every single bond measure that appears on the ballot, here it is: The Court of Appeal for Third Appellate District just ruled that, despite all the lies voters were told about California’s infamous High-Speed Rail project, taxpayers have no remedy, even though the project as it exists today bears no relation to what voters were told when they approved the $9.9 billion bond in 2008. Californians were promised a super-fast train that would travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco in about two and a half hours; the ticket price would be about $50; the total cost of the high-speed rail would be about $40 billion; and there would be significant private-sector support –money from investors — to build the project. Even before the 2008 vote, transportation experts were warning that the project would become a massive black hole into which California taxpayers would be committed to pouring hundreds of billions of dollars. In fact, a 2008 study sponsored by the Reason Foundation and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation predicted that the promised total cost of $45 billion would quickly turn into $100 billion or more, stating that “There are no genuine financial projections that indicate there will be sufficient funds.” The only error in the study now appears that the dollar amount was too low.

Jan. 23, 2022 – Las Vegas, NV
CRA Board of Directors Meeting

 

Jan. 24-26, 2022 – Las Vegas, NV
CRA Rental Rally Tradeshow... more

This month we asked members to report on what tradeshows they attended in 2021 and if they were planning to attend the upcoming CRA Rental Rally Tradeshow in January. If you have an idea for a survey for CRA members, please send your request to CRA at Info@CalRental.org. 

Doug Hanson, from A-1 Rentals in Billings, Montana, is the winner of the December Survey Raffle. Congratulations Doug!