Dive Brief:

• Companies that rent construction equipment to contractors and builders were receiving rates this summer that were 3.9% above July 2012, the Rouse Rental Report found.
• Fleet utilization was 0.9% higher in July than it was a year ago.
• The report is based on data collectedly nightly from rental vendors across the country, Rouse says.

Dive Insight:

It is notable that utilization is higher, given the ongoing slowdown in public-sector construction. This report comes after an equipment industry analysis that predicted somewhat slower sales this year because equipment owners, including the rental companies that comprise a large part of the market, had been upgrading in 2012 as the recession eased.