Commercial Equipment Rental and Leasing NAICS 5324

Jun 2, 2025 - Headwinds to Slow US Manufacturing Growth

• US manufacturing growth is expected to slow in 2025 amid trade strife, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainties, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s Spring 2025 Supply Chain Planning Forecast. Manufacturing revenue is forecast to rise by 0.1%, 4.1 percentage points below the ISM’s previous forecast released in December 2025. Just over a third of the ISM survey respondents said they expect revenues to increase in 2025, 22% said revenues will fall, and 44% expect no change. Capital expenditures are projected to decrease by 1.3% in 2025, a significant drop from a 5.2% rise forecasted in the ISM’s December 2024 report. Manufacturing activity is a leading demand driver for commercial equipment rental and leasing services.
• Citing danger from wildfires, the Trump administration recently announced rollbacks in certain regulations covering logging activity on federal lands, according to the Associated Press. The emergency designation will exempt about 176,000 square miles of forests on federal lands from an objection process that allows groups such as local governments and tribes to challenge logging project plans on the administrative level. The move also hopes to further the Trump administration’s goal of increasing domestic lumber production. The policy change tasks regional Forest Service officials to devise plans for increasing available timber volumes by 25% over the next four or five years. Some environmentalists objected to the directive, arguing it would primarily benefit the timber industry and do little to protect communities from fire danger. An increase in logging activity could boost demand for logging equipment rental and leasing.

• The total value of construction starts decreased by 9% in April compared to March, according to Dodge Construction Network. Nonbuilding construction starts dropped 22%, as utility starts fell 70% and highway and bridge were down 8%. Residential starts fell 4.2% month-over-month in April; single-family starts dropped 5%, while multifamily starts were down by 3%. Nonresidential building starts fell 3% in April, as a 2% rise in institutional starts and a 78% jump in manufacturing projects were not enough to offset a 21% decline in commercial starts. Dodge Construction Network chief economist Eric Gaus said, “Broad-based monthly declines in construction starts represent a troubling signal for the sector. While not definitive, the slowdown in April aligns with delays in the planning pipeline and other economic data that capture the volatility and uncertainty of all the April tariff announcements. Uncertainty around trade policy and the economy’s direction will continue to weigh on construction activity in the coming months.”
• In April, an Illinois-based roofing firm filed a proposed class action lawsuit in a Chicago federal court accusing several major equipment rental firms of unlawfully fixing prices, according to Reuters. The suit alleges that United Rentals, Sunbelt Rentals, HERC, H&E Equipment, and Sunstate Equipment violated antitrust law by sharing nonpublic pricing, inventory, and competitive data with software firm Rouse Services, a provider of rental rate benchmarking data for the industry. The lawsuit claims the data sharing by the large rental firms allowed them to increase their rates without worrying about being undercut by smaller competitors. Reuters reported that Rouse Services and its parent company RB Global, United Rentals, and Sunbelt Rentals did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Other industries – including hotels and multifamily housing – have also faced lawsuits alleging anticompetitive practices enabled by revenue management software platforms.