How to use changes in the used and rental equipment market to your advantage.
By Nicole Needles
THE PAST SEVERAL years have forced material handling dealers to rethink how they approach two essential business segments: used equipment and rentals. From supply chain disruptions to rapidly shifting customer expectations, dealers have had to become more agile, more transparent and more intentional about how they structure and market these parts of their operations.
Two industry leaders, David Morrison, CEO of Morrison Industries, and Bruce DeFord of National Lift Truck, shared insights with The MHEDA Journal about what has changed, what challenges remain and how dealers can position themselves for long-term success.
When Supply Shrinks, Demand Shifts
Few industry segments fluctuated as dramatically as the used equipment market during the supply chain disruptions of 2021 and 2022. Morrison described the period as a “perfect storm” of rising demand and shrinking supply.
“During the supply chain disruption in mid to late 2021, the original equipment manufacturers had difficulty getting computer chips or whatever they needed,” Morrison said. “The supply of new trucks was very difficult, but demand was rising. So, what you had was consumers looking for solutions right away, and you couldn’t supply them with new equipment, so they went to used equipment.”
Morrison added that dealers selling new equipment were also forced to rely heavily on their rental fleets to hold customer orders that were delayed for a year or more. That further tightened the market.
“So, there were fewer used trucks available, which drove prices even higher,” he said.
When OEMs eventually caught up, the pendulum swung sharply in the other direction. Trucks that dealers had ordered over a 12-month period arrived almost all at once.
“It just kept steamrolling,” Morrison said. “As more new equipment was delivered, whether for the customer or for your rental fleet, it gave a nice oversupply in the used sales market, and that drove prices back down.”
Clearer Categories and Higher Expectations
Eventually, the used market stabilized, and dealers had to return their attention to an evergreen challenge: setting customer expectations. Many have adopted a “good, better, best” model for positioning used equipment. Terms vary, such as wholesale, rental-ready, retail-ready and bronze, silver, gold. However, the goal is the same: transparency.
“Dealers want to communicate expectations,” Morrison said. “If it’s wholesale, the customer should know the truck does not come with a warranty. If it’s rental-ready, it may have more limited warranty. And retail-ready comes with higher expectations – it’s going to hold up in a higher-use application.”
Some dealers, he added, are even eliminating the middle tier to avoid mismatches between price and expectation.
“They’ve gone to just two: wholesale or retail-ready,” he said. “Trying to fit in the middle ended up disappointing customers.”
Customer expectations overall have also changed since the pandemic. With supply now abundant again, buyers expect stronger quality. This is also expected in used units.
“Post-supply chain, their expectations are that the equipment is generally going to be in a retail-ready condition,” Morrison said. “More of them have higher expectations for used equipment now than they did prior.”
Finding Balance: Warranty, Inventory and Adaptability
Dealers navigating economic uncertainty in 2026 will need to stay disciplined, Morrison said. Each organization must decide how to balance margins on used equipment with the risks of carrying too much inventory.
“You have to balance the goal of having margin against the goal of having too much inventory,” he said. “Each dealer has to decide what the right balance is.”
That balancing act also applies to warranty coverage. Some dealers are expanding warranty offerings on retail-ready units to meet buyer expectations. Morrison cautions that warranties must remain limited and realistic.
“A lot of people are willing to offer warranties, but they offer very limited warranties,” he said. “They offer it just on the powertrain, which reassures the customer they didn’t buy a lemon, but doesn’t address hoses, tires or other wear items.”
Dealers also must be thoughtful about which units they refurbish and which they wholesale. Age, hours, cost structure, labor rates and even equipment type all factor into the decision.
“People generally lean into pneumatics and will refurbish those at a higher rate than electric trucks,” Morrison said. “There’s a lot more wholesale electric equipment now than in the past.”
Through uncertainty, he said, adaptability matters – but discipline matters more.
“There are times you just need to bite the bullet and move equipment out of your inventory,” Morrison said. “Or bite the bullet and bring stuff in at a higher value than you wanted. It depends on how it goes.”
Rental as a Growth Engine, Not an Afterthought
If used equipment fluctuates with supply, rentals operate on a different kind of rhythm, one built on long-term value, customer relationships and internal structure. According to Bruce DeFord of National Lift Truck, rental departments often don’t receive the recognition they deserve.
“A well-flowing, well-operated rental department will create policies. It will create structure,” DeFord said. “It will create the demand to have mechanics, the demand to have drivers. It sets a structure within the building that helps facilitate everything else.”
DeFord said the rental segment is often mislabeled as “aftermarket,” which can unintentionally relegate it to secondary status behind sales.
“Just using the term aftermarket implies what’s more important is the market before that – meaning the sales,” he said. “One indicator that a company needs to evolve is if rental is not considered one of the primary areas of the business. It needs to carry as much weight as selling a piece of equipment.”
At National Lift Truck, rental is embedded in the company’s core philosophy. Sales teams are trained not just to sell equipment, but to sell solutions.
“What we strive to do with our sales team is build relationships with customers,” DeFord said. “They don’t have to tie up capital to get a particular job done. They can spend a smaller amount of money to rent a piece of equipment. Rental needs to be an important part of how we help solve customers’ needs.”
When Education Drives Retention
Customer education plays a major role in rental success, both in retention and in expanding business across service segments. DeFord encourages customers to visit the facility to see first-hand the breadth of equipment available.
“We love to have customers come to our shop and see what we have,” he said. “The amount of equipment they can lay hands on – they’ll say, ‘I didn’t know you did that,’ as they walk around.”
Sales staff are taught to serve as experts and problem-solvers.
“If the customer proposes a problem, we show them how it can be solved,” DeFord said. “Don’t assume they know. We need to be the expert.”
Growth in rental, he added, is best measured not only by revenue but by whether rental customers expand into additional business lines.
“One key indicator is having rental customers start to do business with us in different segments,” he said. “If they start doing safety training, or buying equipment, that’s a big indicator of growth.”
Both leaders emphasized the value of dealer-to-dealer collaboration. Morrison credited peer groups as a stabilizing force as his organization navigates volatile markets.
“Being part of a MHEDA-NET group gives you reassurance that the things you’re doing aren’t out of alignment,” he said. “If what you’re doing sounds like what other people are doing, that gives you greater confidence to move forward.”
A Marketplace That Rewards Prepared Dealers
As 2026 continues, the used and rental markets continue to evolve, shaped by new economic signals, shifting customer expectations and the industry’s collective experience from the disruptions of the past few years.
For Morrison, the takeaway is clarity and discipline. For DeFord, it’s structure and relationship-building. Together, their insights point to a unified conclusion: the dealers who will thrive in the years ahead are those who treat used and rental equipment not as secondary offerings, but as strategic pillars of their business.
Article Takeaways
1. Clear Vision Drives Strong Outcomes. – A well-defined strategy empowers teams to stay aligned and make confident decisions, even when external factors change equipment demand.
2. Collaboration Accelerates Used and Rental Equipment Innovation. – When organizations create space for open dialogue and shared problem-solving, creative solutions emerge faster and more effectively.
3. Continuous Learning Builds Resilience. – Investing in ongoing development helps leaders and employees be informed and adaptable when it comes to equipment sales.
