Milton Caterpillar, a Caterpillar dealer that covers much of New England, has entered into a rental alliance with Taylor Rental Center, Plymouth Mass. Under the alliance agreement, Milton Cat sold 10 compact earthmoving machines and a 65-foot Genie boomlift at a discounted price, providing Taylor with an opportunity to rent Caterpillar equipment and enable Milton to expand territory and market share without the overhead expense required to open a new branch.

“It’s a win-win for both of us,” Taylor Rental Center owner Dan Shaughnessy told RER. “In exchange for our loyalty, Milton Cat is able to expand into this area without the cost of property and buildings during these tough economic times. And it enables us to serve our customer base by providing Caterpillar machines.”

The way the alliance works is that when Milton Cat gets a call for a rental of less than one month in Taylor’s trading area, Milton immediately patches the Taylor Rental staff on to the call making it a three-way conference call. Taylor then handles the rental. Milton provides service on the machines — primarily track loaders, skid-steer loaders and backhoes — and also provides Taylor with an extended two-year warranty as opposed to the usual one-year warranty.

Taylor Rental Center divested itself of the compact equipment machines it already owned in order to offer exclusive loyalty to Caterpillar.

“We’re a general rental center, offering compact equipment, general tools, and party rentals,” Shaughnessy added. “This was a great opportunity for us to ally ourselves with Caterpillar and service customers in a way we could not have been able to do in this economy.”

Milton Caterpillar, based in Milford, Mass., has 13 branches in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and upstate New York.