GM Equipment Rentals has much to celebrate. Besides providing the best construction equipment sales, rentals, and maintenance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Columbus, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, this company has also established long-lasting relationships with clients by exceeding expectations and gaining trust through its team’s exceptional work. Marking an impressive 20th anniversary this year, GM Equipment Rentals is a family-run business founded in 2006, with an exceptional track record of ideal customer and employee care that has helped it become a go-to source for rentals, sales, parts, and servicing.
Boasting a fleet of more than 700 units, service assets, and accessories such as boom lifts, scissor lifts, telehandlers, mast forklifts, small dirt equipment, and more, GM leases a variety of aerial and material handling equipment, and offers custom hydraulic hoses, electrical and hydraulic maintenance, and diagnostics. Along with renting out brand-new, well-maintained construction equipment that has undergone a comprehensive inspection and received OSHA approval, and offering timely, trustworthy customer service, GM Equipment also provides repair services on site or at its facilities, with highly skilled service specialists performing boom inspections on a quarterly or annual basis.
Another recent accomplishment was the company’s ability to elevate its Hydraulix offering, a bucket truck repair division established in November 2020 as part of a continuous endeavor to differentiate itself, remain current, and carry on its legacy of variety and advancement. Hydraulix services include DOT inspections, yearly boom inspections, hydraulic repair, electrical diagnostics, lathe and mill work, dielectric testing, and custom hoses of all sizes, in addition to the hydraulic and electrical repair of various boom, bucket, and derrick trucks. Since its inception, the division has grown to serve a wide range of clients with varied needs at offices in Columbus, Ohio and St. Marys, Pennsylvania.
“As of January 1st this year, we separated that company as its own entity and put a focus on driving that business to newer heights,” says General Manager, Drew Dobson. “So far this year, it’s been a really good story. We’re employing more people for good-paying jobs, expanding our services line, and taking a lot of pride in gaining more customers and performing good work.”
GM still has hurdles to overcome, however, including finding, training, and retaining the skilled personnel required to keep the company running smoothly, an industry-wide concern.
“It’s what I’m hearing in our industry across the board, whether it be from our customers or the contractors performing the work; they’re struggling to find mechanics and truck drivers,” Dobson says. “At the end of the day, what it comes down to is we can only be as successful as those around us. If we get full support from our employees and our vendors, we can be successful.”
While GM has certainly enjoyed success over the past 20 years, there has “definitely been a shift downhill” recently that’s making it tougher, specifically since the onset of the pandemic. GM, however, remains committed to meeting the challenge.
“It’s important for everybody to be accessible and make sure we’re turning things around quickly, because it all hinges on that,” Dobson says. “We still have great partners who help us every single day, whether they be our employees or our vendors, but it’s just been tougher for everybody all around.”
Today’s troubling economy has also served to increase expenses while slowing delivery and progress across the board, compared to pre-COVID times. “Even in the midst of those hurdles, we’re still doing everything in our power to be a top player,” Dobson, says, adding that GM’s reliable workforce plays a large part in that.
GM employees themselves remain committed to ensuring the company continues to thrive despite these challenges. That dedication to quality and service has helped employees find not only success but longevity, unusual in today’s workplace, and truly a testament to what GM is doing right.
“We know we have our share of turnover here and there, but our core group of employees have been here a long time,” Dobson says. “We have employees who have been here for over 15 years now, and in today’s market, we really think that that’s a good testament to how well we try to take care of them.”
What makes GM a great place to work? A combination of factors, with the foremost being good pay and solid benefits. “On top of that, we try to think outside the box and offer our employees some things that other businesses don’t, such as paid time off for birthdays,” says Dobson. Another is being flexible with time, offering every employee the opportunity to work 4/10s in a week in order to take a Friday off once a month, he adds. “As far as I know, there’s nobody else in our industry doing that. We’re constantly working on ways to improve benefits, such as 401(k) with a match, to take good care of our people.”
Additionally, the relationship between management and employees is one of open communication, encouraging everyone to come forward with any issues or problems. “We tell everybody here, we’ve got a job to do,” Dobson says. “This company has turned into a real machine, and it takes a lot of energy to fuel that machine, but at the end of the day, our core principles of being a family-owned company haven’t faltered. We take great pride in it being a laidback workplace, where if an employee has a question or issue, it’s an open-door policy,” he says.
“We take a lot of pride in listening to our employees. Their ideas and thoughts on whatever may be in front of us are valuable,” Dobson says. “Two heads are always better than one, and if we can work to make a better process or situation, or just answer a simple question, that’s always the way that we want to go.”
All of these efforts have successfully created a company that has not only grown for the past 20 years but will continue to do so well into the future. “Moving forward, it’s about looking to the next milestone, like the 25-year or 30-year anniversary,” Dobson says. “There are no direct plans at this moment for a large expansion, but we’re also the type of people who are never going to pass up a good deal or a good opportunity. We’re always open to the next big thing.”
Reaching future milestones will depend on maintaining quality employees, and Dobson reiterates the importance of bringing in skilled and dedicated employees who will help usher in the future of the company. If you’re one of those people, he adds, there is a place for you at GM Equipment Rentals. “If you’re a motivated individual, you want to work hard and be rewarded as such, and you want to have the ability to move up and exceed your goals, this is a good place for you. Our history can attest to that. Our other employees can attest to that, that we’re always looking to grow and expand and do the next big thing, and we need more people to help us do that.”
Finding those types of committed and eager workers shouldn’t be difficult for a company of this stature. “That’s the biggest thing: we tell everybody, it’s not that you have to necessarily be an expert in your position, but we need you to almost be an expert in motivation. We’re willing to teach, and we’re willing to help. You’ve got to be willing to put the work in.”
He adds that encouraging young people to venture into trades out of high school is also a necessary and positive step to help create a solid and secure future in industries that have so much to offer.
“I think we as a society have finally come to that realization here in the past year,” he says. “We’re in this period where everybody was being told, ‘you’ve got to go to college.’ The trades suffered from that, and now we’re realizing it, but it’s going to be a while before the turnaround happens, where we can get back to a more normal distribution of talent.”
With skilled tradespeople retiring at a steady pace, finding those younger, skilled workers will be an ongoing concern, but companies like GM Equipment Rentals provide strong incentives to enter this healthy and lucrative field of employment.
Until then, GM plans to continue on its productive path forward, serving both its loyal customers and skilled employees, to ensure a bright future, banding together to handle any potential challenges the company and the industry may face.
Dobson is assured they will succeed. “There are other factors just plain out of our control already working against us, and if we can do our best to ensure a good working relationship or a good outcome for the customer, that’s what we need to do,” he says.
And that’s where GM Equipment Rentals’ focus has stayed, ensuring success over the past 20 years. “That’s what we’ve been focusing on,” he stresses. “Despite all the other hurdles, we’re focusing hard on making sure the customer is taken care of. We’re trying to take care of our employees, keep them happy, keep them around, and keep them employed here for a long time. Our goal is for every employee to want to retire from our company.”
