United Rentals Aids Florida In Hurricane Cleanup

Oct. 25, 2004
United Rentals was one of many companies to begin preparing in advance for this year’s series of hurricanes. Dave Murphy, United Rentals national accounts manager in Brandon, Fla., worked non-stop to make sure that Florida Power & Light had the right ...

United Rentals was one of many companies to begin preparing in advance for this year’s series of hurricanes.

Dave Murphy, United Rentals national accounts manager in Brandon, Fla., worked non-stop to make sure that Florida Power & Light had the right equipment when needed to restore power to millions of Florida residents. "We supplied FPL with anything they wanted, which became more challenging once the second hurricane, Frances, hit,” Murphy said. “Our equipment went from staging area to staging area, one storm after the other."

United Rentals personnel played a key role in setting up staging areas -- land set aside to provide fuel, meals, materials and equipment for field crews -- including coordinating with Signature Special Events to bring in tents, and providing forklifts, palette jacks, light towers and other equipment necessary to get the staging areas up and running.

On Florida's west coast, United Rentals' Fort Myers branch experienced its busiest month ever after Charley made landfall to the north in Punta Gorda. Branch manager Phil Johnson said the level of business was unbelievable and it was a major undertaking for his staff. "We experienced an extremely high volume of calls and four times the normal volume of customers came into the store," Johnson said.

Customer service remained a priority, even though the branch ran on generators for several days, and operated without its computer system. "We were writing paper contracts by hand," said Johnson. "That was a challenge."

The demand for rental equipment justified buying 10 new boom lifts and new skid-steer loaders, Johnson said, as well as countless generators. "When the equipment came back from rent, someone was always there to receive it no matter what time of day. Everyone pitched in and worked really hard. The average work day was 12 hours, with some guys putting in 18 to 19 hours a day."

In all, 75 United Rentals branches in 11 states supplied equipment used in the recovery efforts. Eighty percent of the equipment came from the company's Florida branches, while the balance was brought in from United Rentals branches in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.