To our RV Rally Camping Friends:

 

Regrettably, we will not be holding an official RV Rally Campout this summer. We were not able to secure group registrations with Pacific Dunes RV Resort as we have done in the past. Those of you who still wish to camp out during the week of the July Board meeting are encouraged to make your own reservations directly with Pacific Dunes RV Resort in Oceano, CA, at (805) 489-7787.

 

The Board meeting will take place July 18-19 at The Cliffs Hotel & Spa in Pismo Beach. There will also be a Tri-County Territory Meeting on July 18, hosted by Dennis & Diann Wells in nearby Arroyo Grande.

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of Gene Blackwell, one of the founding fathers of CRA and Aba Daba Rents. Gene Dale Blackwell entered into Eternal Rest on March 25, 2023. He was 94 years old. He was preceded in death by his wife Betty Joe (Trimble), and son, Dale Wayne Blackwell. He is survived by his children Robert (Lisa); Dianne Aspen (Sven); Christine Baxley; daughter-in-law Victoria Blackwell; 13 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

John J. "Jack" Shea, Jr., long-time resident of Wilbraham, MA, died March 30 at the age of 84. Jack was known throughout the rental industry for pioneering the use of computerization in managing rental stores. With a career in the rental industry spanning more than 45 years, Jack helped transform the industry through computerization. Jack was widely known as an innovator in the field of rental software. As a CPA, he started in the rental industry as an executive at Taylor Rental in 1973, pioneering the use of computerization in managing rental stores. After leaving Taylor, he founded Solutions by Computer in 1982. Over the next three and a half decades, Jack carried out his vision of bringing technology to rental businesses of all sizes. After retiring from the business in 2018, Jack was recognized for his accomplishments by being inducted into the American Rental Association's Hall of Fame in 2021. 

CRA is sad to share the news of the passing of Denise Gartland Novoselski. Denise was the daughter of James Gartland, founder of Rental Equipment Register and the namesake of CRA’s Gartland/Blackwell Memorial Award. Denise and her husband Tim founded Special Events Magazine as well as The Special Event Tradeshow, the first party and catering industry tradeshow.

 

Greg Webster, of Greg Rents Inc. in Oak View, CA, was recently honored as the recipient of the Carla Bard Community Service Award by Heritage Financial and the Ojai Valley Board of Realtors. Carla Bard devoted over five decades of her life to social and environmental activism and is best remembered as the first woman to chair the California Water Resource Control Board. She brought a unique blend of friendly and eloquent tenacity as she championed the environment. Four environmental organizations Carla was closely involved with established memorial awards in her name in recognition of her advocacy and leadership. Congratulations, Greg!

This series of six short videos demonstrates the proper techniques to load and tie-down equipment for transport. These member-only videos are available at www.calrental.org/training. You will need to log in to your account on www.calrental.org. If you don’t know your login information, click the “Forgot your Password?" link located under the login tab. The videos can also be reached by using the Training Link located under the members-only tab on the upper menu bar. Contact the CRA office if you experience any problems logging in or viewing the videos.

Angel Coker, CCJ senior editor of Commercial Carrier Journal, recently reported on Walmart's strategy to recruit truck drivers. To offset the impacts of the driver shortage across the trucking industry, Walmart recently launched a new approach: recruiting from an existing pool of workers by enticing them with a greater salary than an hourly wage of $17.50. Walmart recently completed a pilot of its 12-week truck-driver training program, which trained 56 new truck drivers recruited from a group of associates in California and Delaware. It has now expanded that associate-to-driver program to more than 400 stores, distribution centers and other locations, with a goal to recruit 400 to 800 drivers for its private fleet from within its existing employee base.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) began monitoring COVID-related cases with potential implications for workers' compensation insurance. Many of the cases to date have dealt with determinations of whether contraction of COVID-19 is work-related and therefore compensable or the application of exclusive remedy where employees contract COVID-19 and sue their employers in tort. In 2022, NCCI also saw courts consider the issue of whether an employer is liable in tort for injuries sustained by the spouse of an employee who allegedly contracted COVID-19 at work and spread it to the spouse at home.

 

CRA's 2024 Rental Rally Tradeshow will again be held at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Show dates are January 14-17, 2024. Thank you to those exhibitors that have already signed up!

 

 

Rental Management Software. At Alert, we understand that not all rental businesses are the same, so not every business needs the same solution. We bring creativity, honesty and respect into each one of our projects. We honor your time-tested processes, make suggestions born out of decades of experience and help you become more profitable through innovative technology.

Floor-care machines and floor-care chemicals. Pioneer Eclipse was founded in 1978 with the introduction of propane-burnisher technology and compatible floor finishes to the Jan-San industry. With products designed to reduce labor cost in the floor-care industry, the company enjoyed immediate success. Pioneer Eclipse became a subsidiary of Amano in 1990. Amano has a strong history of growth and is the global-market leader in parking systems and time management. Amano Pioneer Eclipse is located in Sparta, NC, where its 100,000-square-foot facility manufactures floor-care and sanitation chemicals and equipment for the Jan-San industry.

Hand Held Pneumatic Tools and Accessories. APT is a leading provider of outstanding tools for the construction and industrial markets. The APT brand has been synonymous with quality since 1938. APT’s product line now offers a complete range of pneumatic tools, hydraulic tools and portable power. Superior performance, excellent product reliability, competitive pricing, ergonomic designs and a great warranty make APT an industry leader. APT distributors offer reliable service and support. Genuine spare parts for your tools are available worldwide, with short delivery times.

In addition to the exclusive Energy Boss Hybrid-Energy Systems, ANA offers AIRMAN Generators, with a range of 13 kVA to 400 kVA; air compressors, with a range of 100 to 400 CFM; MAC3 Air Tools; and other specialty tools. With a large-parts inventory and more than 90% of all orders shipping within 24 hours, you never have to worry about spare parts. We help keep your fleet in top condition with our friendly support department, who are always ready to help and be a resource by providing training on our equipment.

Heavy-Duty Tillers, Trenchers, Mini-Skid Steers, and Tree-Care Products. Backed by the philosophy that in order for a company to be successful, its customers must be successful, Barreto leads the industry in innovation, quality and service. Each piece of Barreto equipment is designed to excel in the most difficult conditions, without the downtime often experienced in harsh rental and industrial environments. From the first all-hydraulic walk-behind tiller to the first all-hydraulic walk-behind trencher, Barreto set out to revolutionize the world of equipment and continues to strive for excellence.

Best Chippers and Stump Grinders ever built! Over the decades, Cal-Line Equipment has specialized in tree-related equipment, and we’ve grown considerably as the only company catering to the arborist industry. We are the global leader in sales for Bandit Industries equipment. All our locations carry a wide range of Bandit wood chippers, stump grinders, horizontal grinders and whole-tree chippers. In addition, we are a leader in promoting education within our industry, conducting seminars ranging from safety to operations and maintenance to bugs and disease. Whether it’s parts, service or sales, Cal-Line Equipment knows what you need.

Air Compressors, Hand Held Tools and Small Pumps & Light Towers. Since 1901, Chicago Pneumatic has delivered reliability with a deep understanding of customer needs. We are a global manufacturer of high-performance power tools, air compressors, generators, light towers, and hydraulic equipment for professional and industrial applications. Our products are engineered for performance and lasting customer value.

Attachments — including Augar, Bits, Trenchers, Forks, Soil Conditiners and Brooms. Digga is a world leader in auger- and anchor-drive technology and has been manufacturing drives and augers since 1981. Digga provides drilling and anchoring solutions for skid-steer loaders, excavators up to 90 tons, truck cranes, backhoes, telehandlers, tractors and mini loaders. Digga N. America also provides augers, mounting frames, torque monitors, wearparts and extensions. Digga operates five manufacturing facilities on three continents, and Digga drives are exported to over 50 countries.

Insurance Products for the Rental Industry. EPIC is a unique and innovative retail risk management and employee benefits insurance brokerage and consulting firm, founded in San Francisco, CA, in 2007 with offices and leadership across the country. EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants has a depth of industry expertise across key lines of insurance, including risk management, property and casualty, employee benefits, unique specialty program insurance and private client services.

Drain Cleaning Equipment. At the heart of our drain-cleaning machines is our patented Flexicore® cable. These remarkably effective and durable drain-cleaning cables save you money because they last longer. Flexicore cables are the strongest, most durable drain-cleaning cables in the industry. Professionals who have used it know that its patented design, strength, and durability put it head and shoulders above all other cables in the industry.

GNE provides quality products and brands to the lawn and garden, rental agriculture, and power equipment industry. Great Northern Equipment Distributing Inc. (“GNE”) is a leading B2B distributor and manufacturer of top-quality power equipment, job tools, Honda engines and parts. Staying true to that commitment has helped us build lasting relationships with customers — top brands and best-in-class support — because our customer is our commitment!

Hogan Stakes specializes in manufacturing Steel Stakes and Anchors for tents, temporary structures and inflatables used for special events as well as anchoring systems for permanent and semi­permanent covers and shelters for private and government projects. They also manufacture concrete accessories in California. Their tent-stake products work in all soils and surfaces, and they have been manufacturing quality steel products since 1948 — that’s over 50 years!

Rental Equipment Coverage and Compliance Services for Equipment Dealers. Rental Equipment Protection (REP™) is all-risk coverage for your rental equipment, a hassle-free claims process with a team of licensed insurance agents, peace of mind, predictable cost and a revenue source. REP™ means that JT Bates Group covers everything unless it is otherwise stated in our agreement. REP™ increases your coverage while decreasing your guesswork and stress.

MCS Rental Managament Software. Gain complete control over your rental assets with MCS-rm rental software, maximizing utilization and minimizing costs. With all your asset's lifetime history stored in one place, you can review information quickly. This helps you to plan for the future, increase equipment utilization and revenue, and gain insight into your valuable rental management data so you can analyze your strengths and weaknesses, identify changing business trends and make more informed strategic decisions.

MEC's portfolio ranges from all-electric and direct-electric drive-slab scissors and vertical masts to rough-terrain scissors and booms. MEC’s track record for innovation is coupled with a legacy of quality for 45 years and counting. Every MEC product has differentiated features and benefits that affirm it is A Better Solution. MEC continues to innovate, design and manufacture machines based in California.

General Tool/Lawn & Garden/Party & Event. MTA Distributors is dedicated to equipping you with the tools you need to grow and be successful, and MTA Distributors is America's largest rental equipment distributor. We supply rental companies with the finest lawn and garden, safety, light construction and special event equipment available. We also train existing and startup companies for entry into the rental industry.

Pearl® has a full line of technologically advanced abrasives, diamond tools, durable equipment and unique solutions for tile and masonry contractors. Pearl quality is advanced engineering, rigid quality control and proven experience. Professionals all across the country look to Pearl Abrasive Company for a full line of technologically advanced abrasives and diamond products. Pearl professional products also include our patented Hexpin® Surface Preparation equipment, tile saws, masonry saws, concrete saws, core-drill rigs and dust-containment systems. In addition, we offer solutions for the tile and masonry contractor with the Tuscan Leveling System®, Smart Spacer™ and Roto-Wedge Spacer™. We provide fast delivery and friendly service from our strategically located and fully stocked warehouses throughout North America.

Hydrostatic Test Pumps & Posts Hole Diggers. RICE Hydro was established in 1976 by Allen Rice, who designed the first hydrostatic test system — one that allowed for ease of operation, precision, reliability and rapid results. From humble beginnings out of his garage in El Cajon California, the first RICE hydrostatic test pump was constructed. The company's current owners continued to grow RICE Hydro into the well-known, respected company that it is today. The ever-developing RICE product line of hydrostatic test pumps and the Dirt Dawg, a one-man hydraulic towable post-hole digger is designed to meet today’s technological challenges and demands.

Commercial Fueling Card Solutions. Robinson Oil Corporation owns and operates 36 retail convenience stores under the flagship brand Rotten Robbie. We are members of the nation's largest and most progressive commercial fueling networks; Pacific Pride, CFN, and Fleetwide, offering thousands of fueling stations nationwide. ROC specializes in commercial fleet fueling programs customized to an organization's specific needs, helping fleets design and implement fuel purchasing policies and management systems designed to lower the total cost of fueling.

Hydraulic Breakers, Compactors, Augers, Demolition Tools. Founded in Ohio in 2010, Toku America Inc. has been supplying contractors, builders, construction services and even rental agencies with some of the best equipment for construction and demolition in the industry. Their durable Striker™ Breakers are second to none and will speed up your next project. Whether you need to remove a four-lane overpass downtown or just some small rocks that are in the way of planting, Striker™ Breakers fit nearly any equipment size or model you may have. Toku America offers a wide variety of demolition equipment as well, from small hand-tool lines to post pounders, crushers and even guardrail cutters and hydraulic hammers.

TVH is the leading supplier of quality replacement parts and accessories for material handling, industrial and light construction equipment — a parts specialist since 1969. Need spare parts or accessories for your machines? You can choose from over 46 million items for material handling, industrial vehicles, and construction and agricultural equipment. In need of electronic components and services? We’ve got you covered thanks to our electronics department in Belgium (the largest in Europe) and subsidiary Flight Systems Industrial Products (U.S. market).

Flooring Abrasives and Equipment for Wood and Concrete Floors. Virginia Abrasives' roots date back to the early 1970s, when a hard-rock garnet-mining business in the Adirondack mountains of New York decided to invest in the sandpaper manufacturing business. Our initial focus was aimed at producing the world's best sandpaper, using hard-rock garnet abrasives. Over time and due to customer requests, the company's markets as well as product lines have expanded into a broader offering for the construction trades. Now, our home for manufacturing high-quality abrasives and supplying dependable rental equipment is in Petersburg, Virginia. Celebrating our 50th year in business, we are poised to service the needs of flooring professionals and rental customers for many more years to come.

Compaction Equipment including Rammers, Plates Dual Drum and Trench Roller. Offering customers across the globe a broad portfolio of construction equipment, spare parts and related services, Wacker Neuson has been known for reliability and innovation since the company’s inception in 1848. Wacker Neuson’s diverse product line-up enables us to support countless applications across a wide range of industries, including the construction, landscaping, municipal and industrial sectors.

GPS Vehicle Finder
Jim Schumacher
P.O. Box 740940
Arvada, CO 80006
(800) 303-1854
www.GPSVehicleFinder.com

What comes to mind at the mention of women in manufacturing? Rosie the Riveter, perhaps? Our minds revert to a throwback from the early 1940s. The only reason we have that icon is because men were off to war and someone — women — had to do the job. Once the necessity was over, the Rosies went back to non-manufacturing duties. Subsequent potential Rosies were prohibited or, at the very least, discouraged from taking technical and skilled trade classes.

 

Today, a smaller percentage of women are choosing to be Rosies than the originals, despite the evolution of STEM and manufacturing. Fortunately, an initiative is growing to put more girls in contact with manufacturing equipment. In partnership with three regional Arkansas education cooperatives, Ledwell kicked off Women’s History Month by hosting a manufacturing competition for high school girls. The “Girl Power to the Max” event, held on March 1, showcased the entries of 21 finalists. Similar to applying for a job, the finalists were judged on creativity, construction design, technical skill and interview responses.

Fewer than 2% of all heavy trucks sold last year were electric. But by 2035, that number has to be 50% in California. The Biden administration recently cleared the way for California to require that half of all heavy trucks sold in the state be fully electric by 2035, and the state becomes the world’s first government to require zero-emission trucks. California needed approval from the White House because its rule exceeds Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements.

A California state appeals court on Monday upheld a ballot measure allowing apps like Uber and Lyft to treat their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. The court found the ballot measure, known as Proposition 22, actually was constitutional, but the court did strike down a part of the proposition that limited gig workers' ability to organize and join unions. Uber and Lyft celebrated the victory in court, and their stock prices shot up a few points each on the news. California voters backed Prop 22 in November 2020, when it won nearly 60% of votes in California. Prop 22 exempted app-based drivers from AB 5, meaning they could continue to work as independent contractors. Meanwhile, the California Trucking Association still seeks an injunction against AB 5 in the lower courts, and the appeals court's recent ruling has no bearing or benefit for the trucking industry. California's deadline to respond to the challenge was extended to March 29.

On April 18, California Rental Association announced it is joining efforts to help reduce large truck crashes in works zones by supporting a state-wide work zone-safety outreach campaign led by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). CRA calls on all drivers to share work zones safely by staying alert, obeying traffic signs and allowing all vehicles extra space while driving through California’s active work zones.

For every 5,000 freight stops that are eliminated at traffic lights each day, fleets can save 3,800 minutes in travel time, $1,500 in fuel and operational costs, four miles per gallon in fuel efficiency and 1,300 kilograms of emissions. Freight North Texas, an ongoing planning program led by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), is working to eliminate stops at traffic lights with an intelligent traffic signal-optimization program that has been adapted from transit-authority systems for trucks to enhance the safety, mobility, efficiency and air quality associated with freight movements in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

 

Another statewide project, Texas Connected Freight Corridors, that received federal funding to provide traveler information to freight vehicles through connected vehicle technology for what’s known as The Triangle — I-35, I-45 and I-10 — found in a user survey that last-mile deliveries were still an issue getting off the freeways and getting through traffic lights in the warehouse districts. That became the impetus for the Freight Priority project.

Click on "Learn more" to see a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards for fiscal year 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020, to Oct. 30, 2021) following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA for all industries. OSHA publishes the list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. Far too many preventable injuries, illnesses and deaths occur in the workplace that are related to these top 10 cited standards.

April 26, 2023 – Zoom
4th Wednesday Rental Workshop — CYRP Mentoring Program More...

 

April 26, 2023 – National City, CA
San Diego Territory Meeting hosted by Cal-Line More…

 

May 17, 2023 – Fairfield, CA
Vintage Territory meeting hosted by All Star Rents More…

 

June 14, 2023 – Ontario, CA
Inland Territory meeting hosted by City Rents More...

 

July 18, 2023 – Arroyo Grande, CA
Tri-County Territory Meeting hosted by Dennis & Diann Wells More...

 

Sept. 13, 2023 – West Sacramento, CA
Vintage Territory Meeting hosted by Made in The Shade More...

 

Sept. 26-28, 2023 – Louisville, KY
The Utility Expo More…

 

Oct. 16, 2023 – Oak View, CA
Tri-County Territory Meeting hosted by Greg Rents More…

 

Nov. 2, 2023 – Corona, CA
Pre-Golf Yard Territory Meeting hosted by MTA More…

 

Nov. 3, 2023 – Corona, CA
CRA 8th Annual Golf Tournament More…

 

Nov. 6-9, 2023 – Atlantic City, NJ
MATRA – The Tent Show  More…

 

Jan. 14-17, 2024 – Las Vegas, NV
CRA Rental Rally Tradeshow 

This month, we asked members about about camping and RV Rally Campouts. If you have additional ideas for surveys for CRA members, please email CRA at info@calrental.org. 

Kitty Thompson, of Downey Party Rentals in Downey, CA, is the winner of the April Survey Raffle. Congratulations Kitty!