Unlike his predecessors at United Rentals, Michael Kneeland is a 30-year rental industry veteran. Although he takes the reins at United during a challenging economic downturn, Kneeland is optimistic about United's prospects and passionate about the rental industry. RER's Michael Roth recently sat down with Kneeland for an exclusive interview about the economy, new directions at United Rentals, soccer, Winston Churchill and more.

RER: Let's talk about some of the challenges you have faced since taking over on an interim basis for Wayland Hicks. You faced a challenging time after the collapse of the Cerberus deal and the dramatic drop in the stock price. How did you reassure investors, maintain morale at the company and keep operations running smoothly at United Rentals?

Kneeland: The strategic alternatives process obviously took a surprising turn, but it didn't disrupt our focus. Earlier in the year we put a new strategy in place that refocused our operations on equipment rental and emphasized fleet management and cost control. It doesn't matter whether we are public or private — our strategy was viable then and now. So there was a fundamental continuity in place, which kept the fourth-quarter drama from affecting customer service. We also made sure that we communicated with employees as frequently as possible, and externally we met with the investment community as soon as it was appropriate.

You've been very successful this year, it appears, at cutting costs. What have been some of the more successful cost-cutting measures?

We're pleased with the progress we have made so far, but there is a lot more to do. We have a strategic sourcing initiative in place that has realized $29 million in savings on non-rental purchases in its first 24 months; we estimate that there is another $41 million we can cut by streamlining our supplier relationships.

We closed or consolidated approximately 30 marginal branches this year through September as part of our branch optimization program. We also made some workforce reductions, the bulk of which came in 2007. We are very sensitive to the fact that equipment rental is a service business, and we don't take workforce reductions lightly. The reality is that a more stringent approach to cost control has made us a stronger company, which is better for our customers.

How do you address the challenge of maintaining strong customer service while having to reduce headcount?

Our focus on cost control is pervasive: some reductions came from the field, but also came from the corporate strata. We are very much aware of the customer service implications, and our customer surveying indicates that we have successfully kept our service levels intact. Our employees deserve 100 percent of the credit for that.

Are there any other achievements for United Rentals over the past year that perhaps people in the industry haven't paid much attention to?