New Startup Helps Fleet Owners Rent Idle Heavy Equipment

It was only a matter of time until someone decided to invent the Uber of heavy equipment.

Although, to be fair, "invent" is a strong word.

For Silicon Valley investors and wannabes, pitching your hot new app as the "Uber of THIS" or the "Airbnb of THAT" has become the next big thing. Sometimes called peer2peer or crowdsourcing, the business model that was made so successful by Uber and Airbnb aims to connect consumers directly with one another for services like transportation, lodging, food delivery, laundry, home improvement, and almost every other industry in the world.

So it was only a matter of time before the business model was implemented in the heavy equipment industry as well. Enter AnyQuip, a Canada-based startup that pitches itself as the "Airbnb or Uber for heavy equipment owners."

It's not a bad idea, actually. AnyQuip comes from Calgary, Alberta, and is being presented this June at the Global Petroleum Show. The company has created an online platform that allows idle heavy equipment fleets to rent out their machines to comapnies in the oil and gas, construction, or mining industries. So rather than the peer-to-peer model of Uber, it's a "contractor-to-contractor" model.

AnyQuip wants to help companies save money on heavy equipment costs, while also helping owners earn extra revenue for idle equipment. The app also provides things like payment processing, insurance verification, and contracts.

“It’s been great. We get rental requests on a daily basis and new members every couple of days,” said Jennifer Lussier, AnyQuip co-founder and chief marketing officer, to the Calgary Herald. “Everybody, especially now, is trying to get their equipment used to the maximum and earn some extra revenue.”

Like everyone else in the industrial world, AnyQuip's founders really, really want to see oil prices rally. Back in 2011, when oil prices were still rising, the North American construction equipment market was the largest in the world, with $25.8 billion in revenue. Things have contracted since the price of oil sank like a dinosaur in a tar pit, but the global construction equipment market is still worth an impressive $145.5 billion.

“When the economy does turn around, these guys may or may not have access to capital to go out and purchase the heavy equipment they need again,” Lussier said. “So they can turn to us and rent, as well.”

Of course, renting heavy equipment isn't the only way to get the most mileage out of equipment costs. For owners, renting out equipment comes with major risks. Not only do you have to work out complicated contracts and insurance agreements, but it puts extra strain on valuable machinery. And should the renter use the equipment improperly, it's the owner who will be paying for heavy equipment servicing.

Like AnyQuip, our Long Island company exists to help heavy equipment owners. Rather than putting our hopes in a new app, we offer high quality heavy equipment components, from cutting edges and bucket pins to oil coolers and used Caterpillar parts. Too often, owners go looking for replacement machines when all that's needed are replacements for broken heavy equipment components.

Most construction equipment has a lifespan of about 15 years, but with regular, high quality servicing, you can often drastically extend the life of your equipment. Or you could just turn your peers for a rental using AnyQuip.