HOUSTON - Prime Equipment recently opened five start-up branches: Spartanburg, S.C.; Salisbury, N.C.; Apple Valley, Calif.; Lawrenceville, Ga.; and Rosenberg, Texas.

The branches will be managed by Steve Steading, Ken Brown, Jim Cottingham, Adrien DuPont and Randy Wendel, respectively.

With these openings, Prime, based here, now has 188 locations in 23 U.S. states. It also has branches in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Combined with Rental Service Corp., Atlas Copco-owned Prime is No. 2 on the RER 100.