Herc adopts 'mobile first' strategy says CEO Silber

Herc Rental CEO Larry Silber said his aim was "to run our business from a smart phone" within five years; "mobile first is the approach and our philosophy."

Mr Silber was speaking at the second ALH Conference and Awards, which opened today in Miami, Florida. More than 180 delegates were registered for the event at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay hotel.

In his keynote speech he said Herc had made the decision to move its entire IT platform to the Cloud, with all services offered to customers available on a mobile platform; "Our future success is tied to convenience...it becomes a prime means of success."

The company has launched a mobile App and Mr Silber said Herc will continue to develop new services for customers based on mobile technology; "We have just started our journey, but we think we have taken a leadership position in the industry."

He said voice recognition systems, for example, could be ready within five years, allowing customers to search for and rent equipment without having to type on a device.

Addressing the current rental market in North America he said Herc was confident about he underlying economic conditions through 2017 and beyond, and said that the US presidential election in November was unlikely to have a major impact on future prospects.

He added that Herc liked the aerial market - it has a fleet of 26,000 units - with machines having good total cost of ownership characteristics.

Mr Silber contrasted that with telehandlers, saying they were more expensive to operate and maintain. He said it was likely that Herc would scale back its involvement in telehanders - it currently has 5,000 units - and that the company would welcome efforts by telehandler OEMs to reduce the cost of ownership.

Further reports on the event will appear onlinde and in future issues of Access, Lift & Handlers magazine.