Hey everyone, I’m Ross. I have been around rental and heavy equipment for most of my career. I spent years on the sales side working with contractors, jobsite supers, and fleet managers trying to keep projects moving and rental costs under control. Anyone who has dealt with rental bills knows how messy and inconsistent they can get. A few months ago I stepped out of my old job to build something I think this industry is missing. It is called The Rate Daddy. The short version is that it helps contractors understand their rental charges, compare patterns, and catch the small things that add up over time. It is not a marketplace and it is not trying to replace reps. It is more like a second set of eyes that never gets tired and never forgets what you paid last quarter. I am still early in the build, but the core works well enough that I am looking for people who want to kick it around, ask hard questions, or tell me where it needs to be better. I am offering free rental reviews right now as we collect real world examples and get ready for a broader release at the begininng of 2026. I will keep this short so it does not feel like an ad. If anyone is curious about what it does, how it works, or why I am building it, I am here. Happy to talk through real situations or walk through examples. The best feedback always comes from the field. I have a GPT I made that you can converse with and get an idea of the app functions. AI is coming to construction, the tech and software is currently kind of "bulky" and you need multiple log ins to see the info.. We combine one dashboard for this, fits into your normal workflow process. cuts down on unnecessary rental meetings and cold calls, cuts down on emails back and forth with A/R and A/P. You can find my Equipment Rental Advisor in the "Explore" page in Chat GPT and type "Equipment Rental Advisor" and have some fun. If this sounds scary to you, trust me I was there 8 months ago.
Welcome to the Forums. Take a moment and look at the Forum rules here - HeavyEquipmentForums Specifically this section - This is your freebie thread. Curious question about your post - Why would anyone renting equipment need to cold call? We don't rent that often but we know our rental people we deal with and call them directly.
Hey appreciate you responding, I'll answer the best I can from my point of view. So the cold calling is, the Rental Reps showing up on job sites or your office without an appointment and they talk to your trades about renting from them, ect. you may or may not experience that. our app is for everyone, but our free version would benefit you the most if you don't rent much. Our GPT helps you compare quotes, look for hidden fees, and help negotiate our findings. People that rent the least usually pay the most, at least in my experience as a rep. I gave deals to the busier customers. Our GPT offers more insights, It does not store your info, you can screen shot your last quote and as long as it has your zip code it will compare to what it knows... most of our current data we received is from the Ohio Valley Region, so depending on where you are it may only pull public data. Email [email protected] to get a free rental audit. we can show you anything that may have been over looked. up to 1 year of invoices for free.
Also to the moderators, I am not going to solicit people or do advertisements. But I think Heavy equipment managers, shop managers, and various other jobs on this thread deal with rentals even if they don't want to. I am looking for pain points to discuss with the market in hopes of solving something I see as a major problem. Apologize if it looked like an ad.
Herb Tarlek, now there's a real salesman!
Herbert R. Tarlek Jr. Senior showed up in one episode, IIRC he was played by Robert Kulp.
Sounds to me like another product pushing people to 'think' they need AI to make their lives easier. As with a lot of this stuff the solution seems like more of a burden than the problem. While not exactly an apples to apples comparison I liken it to these self serve kiosks at fast food places. I can't count the number of times I've gone into our local McDonald's and there are 5-10 people fumbling their way through all the pages and options on those dumb kiosks. I walk right up to the counter, place my order, and often have my food before they even get done ordering. I rent equipment somewhat regularly and deal with 3-4 different rental outfits. When I rent equipment I pick up the phone and call one of the local branches, get their price and availability, if it's suitable I make the rental reservation right then. If their rate seems high or it'll take a while to get I call the next place. Whole process takes just a few minutes, no emails, no computer programs. I don't care if I'm getting the absolute best rate every time, to me the quality (reliability) of the equipment, timely delivery and availability are just as important as price. Not sure how a computer program is going to being to get a feeling for that, there is not much hard data on those factors, it's something you just learn over time dealing with these places. The profit from getting the job done as easily and quickly as possible with as little downtime as possible far outweighs the few dollars I might save here or there. I see far to many businesses tripping over a dollar to save a dime.
Well said, price means nothing if broke down 5 minutes into the job. Simon C
Don't eat much take-out but been spending plenty of time in the booming metropolis lately due to mom's health stuff. One day decided to stop at local taco chain (no bells involved) on way home. Walked up to the counter expecting someone to take my order and my cash, nope told me need a card or smarty pants app or no burritos, was so pissed they wouldn't take greenbacks drove 35 miles home and made my own burritos which were better and accompanied by a frosty beverage, win/win. Screw technology.
I was so pi$$ed at one dealership when I rented a small Mustang skid steer to fit through a gate. It was way under powered to begin with but with the air filter plugged with concrete dust it could barely move out of its own way. Took it back and the guy claimed the air filter was changed. I said let's go look at it and you'll see the indicator is red and the filter is packed. He refused and stuck by his story. I talked to someone a couple month's later who told me they worked for the company doing reno's. on the hockey arena involving concrete demo. The company had rented the exact skid steer because it was the only 36" wide machine available. He said the dust was so bad everybody had to wear respirators. The air filter on the skid steer had to be taken out several times a day to knock excess concrete dust out of it. Rentals can be great but it all depends on the place renting them.