United Rentals Names Matt Flannery President

United Rentals’ board of directors has named Matthew Flannery president of the company in addition to his responsibilities as chief operating officer.
March 14, 2018

United Rentals’ board of directors has named Matthew Flannery president of the company in addition to his responsibilities as chief operating officer. Michael Kneeland, who became president and CEO of United Rentals in 2008, will continue to lead the company as CEO.

“Matt Flannery is ideally qualified to serve in this expanded role,” said Kneeland. “He is an engaging leader with a talent for inspiring our organization. As president, he will ensure that our company remains at the forefront of innovation, customer service and operational excellence.”

Flannery joined United Rentals in 1988. He has more than 25 years of sales, management and operations experience in the equipment rental industry, including extensive experience in all areas of the company’s operations. In addition to serving as chief operating officer, he previously served as United Rentals’ executive vice president-operations and sales, and in various field management roles at senior, regional, district and branch levels.

United Rentals, Stamford, Conn., is No. 1 on the RER 100, and has 997 rental locations in 49 states and every Canadian province.

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.

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