Counter Talks

For decades, construction machines were seen purely as physical, mechanical tools. Today, that definition has changed. Machines are evolving into smart, connected platforms that continuously generate and deliver value across their lifespans. Component OEMs are at the heart of this transformation, working with technology providers and machine manufacturers to digitize construction. Andy Grover with...

2025 has been a year full of economic uncertainty as the United States reshapes international trade and its relationship with other countries. As a result of this seismic shift in American policy, Canada has faced significant economic impacts. As we head into the final months of the year, Counter Talks spoke to Laure-Anna Bomal, an economist for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, abo...

As 2024 ends, Canadian Rental Service editor Patrick Flannery says goodbye to the Counter Talks podcast and the magazine he has helmed for so many years. Joining Patrick in this episode is new editor Mike Lacey and associate editor Macenzie Rebelo, who introduce themselves and discuss their plans for 2025.

Movember is back with an added focus. The popular fundraising drive for men’s health has added support for mental health to its efforts along with prostate and testicular cancer. Mitch Hermansen joined Annex Business Media publisher/editor, Patrick Flannery, to talk about why these issues are important and what we in the construction community can do to help the guys who work for us.

Artificial intelligence has been exciting tech nerds for decades, but the rental industry has struggled to see how it can actually improve profits in its operations. The benefits of improved data collection and analysis have seemed marginal next to the costs in time and technology investment. But now, “generative” AI, like that powering ChatGPT, promises a new level of assistance that could have a...

Dawn Bloomer is going to put on a very special presentation at Rental Mart + Turf & Rec Show on Oct. 17 in Calgary. Dawn’s fun, informed and interactive workshop will give you some time to chew over key strategies for your company based on her Seven Drivers of Business Success. This is not your typical business trends talk and Dawn is not your typical business consultant. Listen here to find o...

The Canadian Rental Mart, Canada’s trade event for the equipment and event rental industries is coming to Calgary, Sept. 11 – 12. Canadian Rental Service brand manager Navneet Matharu joins Counter Talks to talk about our excitement to bring Canada’s big rental event to the west for the first time in its 40-year history. And to let us know about all the new and old friends who will be joining us t...

Melanie Misener has taken over as interim executive director of the Canadian Rental Association following the departure of Nathalie McGregor, who led the organization for 10 years. Here’s your chance to get to know Melanie and hear her plans to get Canada’s rental association back to the thing it does best: bring Canadian store owners together to support each other.

Contact with electrical power lines has killed 20 people in Ontario in the last 10 years. As powerline safety and code specialist for the Ontario ESA, Patrick Falzon’s mission is to empower people with the information they need to avoid these horrific incidents. And as the industry that rents equipment and erects tents that can reach overhead high-energy lines, we have a role to play. Falzon clear...

Kelly Brincheski, general manager of Collective Event Rentals in Winnipeg, is the new Region 10 director for the American Rental Association. It’s a big honour, but the title itself contains a challenge. As just one of the ARA’s several regions, Canadian rental store members have sometimes wondered if they are lost inside the U.S. behemoth. The ARA is trying to address that with a Canada task forc...

Dan Crowley spends his days talking to rental operators so we brought him on to address one of the most vexing problems we all face: hiring and retaining the right people to work in our stores. He boils his observations of what works and doesn’t work down to solid tips you can apply in your store tomorrow. Key to attracting and keeping the right people is your company values – they tell you both w...

Now for something completely different. Pat Flannery brings you his conversations from the Canadian Rental Association’s National Show held in Ottawa in January. Only one technical glitch!

In his role as vice-president of products for Trackunit, a telematics and emissions-tracking provider, David Swan has seen a sea change in attitudes about sustainable power in the construction equipment manufacturing world. What were formerly hesitant, even reluctant, moves to demonstrate some capability in low-emissions power sources has become a flood of enthusiasm that is dominating the industr...

Another year has gone by and it’s time for a high-level view of our business conditions and results in 2023. Marvin Cruz, research director, and Christina Santini, national affairs director, for the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses join Counter Talks to tell us what they are hearing from small and medium-sized businesses across the country. We hit inflation, labour shortages, regulati...

Time for a check-in with the Canadian Rental Association, which has seen its share of change and challenge over the last several years. Coming out of COVID and its separation from the American Rental Association, the CRA is plotting a new course forward with a new governance structure, new event strategy and new member services. Sheldon Fingler, the incoming president of the new national board, jo...

Getting involved in your local community is one of the best ways to raise your rental store’s profile, help out the customers you depend on and build bonds that will support your business for years to come. The American Rental Association has a program to help stores do that called the ARA Foundation Community Impact program. Recently, the program came to Canada for the first time, bringing rental...

When you look at the big picture for yourself and your business, what do you see? Dawn Bloomer is a business consultant who helps small business owners get out from under the day-to-day grind of putting out fires and fixing leaks to take a look at their goals and find ways to organize their businesses to meet them. She joins CounterTalks to offer some sage advice on issues like delegation, success...

It’s time for mid-year economic conditions checkup. Kevin Stanton, a business development manager for EquipmentWatch with long experience in equipment finance, joins CounterTalks to take a look at this year’s rental rate and equipment valuation numbers and help Pat draw some conclusions. What can we see in the numbers? Forest fires, interest rates, housing shortages, Amazon deliveries and more. St...

One day in late May, Blake Menning, vice-president of All-Choice Rentals in Drayton Valley, Alta., and his wife got an alert in the wee hours of the morning. Wildfires had reached the outskirts of town and they had 10 minutes to pack up their young children and evacuate using the only passable road out of town. That started a six-week odyssey that saw Menning and his team do things they’d never do...

Seven years ago Martin Rancourt came out of a very brief retirement to buy Location de Beauce in beautiful Saint-Georges, Que. On his first day in the store, he looked around and said “What have I done?” He needed a starting point to transform a 40-year-old rental operation, so he turned to the Lean management principles he’d learned in his manufacturing career. Gathering his staff for a Kaizan se...

Ontario’s excavation safety regulator, One Call, is getting serious about making sure people don’t injure themselves or destroy infrastructure by hitting utilities during earthmoving projects. As of the start of this month, anyone digging anywhere in Ontario to any depth without calling for a locate first could face a fine of up to $10,000. This might be something that person at your counter renti...

Ken McDougall, president of Guelph, Ont.,-based aerial equipment manufacturer, Skyjack, sat down with Canadian Rental Service editor, Patrick Flannery, at ConExpo to talk about the company’s upcoming plans to optimize processes; the state of the equipment manufacturing and rental industries; the impact of recent U.S. trade decisions; the prospects for electrification and other zero-emission techno...

Andrew Botterill is an oil and gas industry analyst with Deloitte and he joins CounterTalks from Calgary to talk about Deloitte’s latest whitepaper forecasting gas prices in 2023. We take a look at the present state of the market and what might lie ahead this year. We also get into the factors affecting prices and creating volatility; the geopolitical effects of oil supply; and the policies and ev...

When supply chains and inflation make it harder to afford new equipment, the used market becomes more important to us all. And in the rental business, we always want to keep a sharp eye on used machinery values as they impact the value of our fleets and, ultimately, our businesses. Kieran Holm is a former executive at Ritchie Brothers auctioneers and now global vice-president for used equipment at...

JustBins president and Canadian Rental Service columnist, Adam Snook, joins CounterTalks for a look back at 2022 and the top news stories in our rental world. The big got bigger with another wave of acquisitions and mergers – we talk about how independent rental stores can survive. Governments are providing naloxone kits to businesses – we talk about whether employers want to be responsible for gi...