Herc Rentals

Early history

The company was founded in 1965 as a subsidiary of The Hertz Corporation.[9] It was originally named Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation (HERC). It was the second largest equipment rental company as of 1994.[10] Ford Motor Company considered acquiring HERC in 2002 but opted not to.[11]

In 2013, HERC's headquarters were moved from Park Ridge, New Jersey to Estero, Florida.[12][13] The company generated over $1.5 billion in revenue in 2013, which was 14% of Hertz's total revenue.[14] Its annual revenue had increased to $1.7 billion by 2015.[6]

Spin-off and recent history

In 2014, it was announced that Hertz Global planned to spin-off HERC as a separate publicly traded company.[15][16][17] The spin-off raised $2 billion for Hertz to reduce its own debt.[18] On July 1, 2016, Herc Rentals Inc. became an independently traded company (NYSE: $HRI).[19] It is currently owned by Herc Holdings.[8]

Lawrence Silber became head of the company in 2015 and led it during the transition,[12] becoming CEO and president after the spinoff.[20] The company was renamed Herc Rentals, based on the acronym for its previous name.[21]

Silber instituted a number of changes to the company and its corporate culture,[22] including hiring a new executive team,[13] opening new branches,[23] and increasing the company's salesforce by 50%.[12] He also diversified the company's revenues with the introduction of new products such as power tools, climate control,[13] power generators,[24] commercial vehicles, and other specialty equipment.[25] Effective January 1, 2026, Aaron Birnbaum was appointed as president of the company, with Silber continuing his role as CEO.[26]

Between 2016 and 2020, the company spent $1.8 billion into expanding its rental fleet.[23] The company invested between $525 and $575 million into its rental fleet in 2021,[27] and over $1 billion in 2023.[28] During this time, the company's revenue and earnings have increased. Its yearly earnings increased by 28% in 2021,[23] and by 35% in 2022.[27] The company continued to grow in 2023, when its revenues increased by 18%.[29]

After spinning off, Herc Rentals pursued active consolidation within the equipment rental industry, completing more than 50 acquisitions in recent years.[30][31]In addition to earlier acquisitions like CBS Rentals,[32] All-Star Rents,[33] Dwight Crane,[34] Reliable Equipment,[35] All Reach,[36] and Champion Rentals,[37] Herc executed its most significant acquisition to date in 2025 by purchasing H&E Equipment Services for $5.3 billion. The integration of H&E expanded Herc's overall scale by more than 30%, added 165 branch locations to its platform, and significantly expanded its specialty rental fleet offerings across major metropolitan areas.[38]

It is currently one of the largest equipment rental companies in the world and operates in the United States and Canada.[3][39]