The Rental Journal Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, we’re joined by Tim Doling, Director of Global Markets at POWR2, a global leader in clean energy storage solutions. Tim brings deep industry experience and a passion for sustainable innovation to the conversation, offering insights into how POWR2 is transforming the way the construction and rental industries approach power generation.

POWR2 specializes in hybrid energy systems, particularly their flagship product—the Hybrid Power Unit which integrates battery storage with traditional generators to dramatically cut fuel usage, reduce emissions, and lower noise on job sites. Tim walks us through how these solutions not only align with global sustainability goals but also make strong commercial sense for equipment rental businesses looking to improve efficiency and meet ESG targets.

This episode was recorded by Michael Larsen at the 2025 ARA Show in Las Vegas.

Listen to the Leading the Charge podcast by Powr2
https://powr2.com/leading-the-charge/

Tony Conant is the American Rental Association Chief Executive Officer. The American Rental Association (ARA) is the largest international trade association for owners of equipment and event rental operations and manufacturers and suppliers of rental equipment. As rental continues to evolve, ARA employees and members are working together to build a strong future for our industry.

Michael Larsen caught up with Tony Conant while at the ARA Show in Las Vegas.

The ARA Show is the world’s largest equipment and event rental trade show. Hosted by the American Rental Association (ARA) since 1956, this can’t-miss trade show includes networking events, education, and a trade show featuring hundreds of exhibitors.

Learn more about the upcoming The ARA Show 2026 in Orlando
https://arashow.org/

Gab Robinson is the CEO of Harry the Hirer with over 20 years experience in the event hire industry.

Harry the Hirer is a national supply company with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Adelaide with a combined warehouse size of 135,000m².

The Harry the Hirer warehouses are home to the latest and best products including, flooring, furniture, Audio Visual, lighting, power and rigging and also contain in house signage and custom fabrication departments.

They provide solutions to music festivals, exhibitions & conferences and major events such as the the Australian Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival, Commonwealth games & Australian Open.

This podcast episode was sponsored by Latner Software.

Have you been searching for a modern equipment rental software that is web based, helps streamline your processes and aids decision making with in-built reporting? 

Watch a personalised demo of Latner Software in the link below:

https://play.goconsensus.com/ue0152739

James MacPherson has over 18 years in the equipment rental industry, working at companies such as Coates Hire & Onsite Rental Group. He worked his way through various customer facing roles within the branches but would eventually find a passion for pricing & data. Today James is a specialist in analysing equipment rental rates, while also helping rental companies better utilize their data through reporting solutions. From this passion, James would go onto start his own company called Wolf and Bear Services, where he provides consulting services to the equipment rental industry.

Get in contact with James - enquiries@wolfandbear.net.au
https://wolfandbear.net.au/

This podcast episode was sponsored by Arrow. Tired of manual data entry into your CRM? Does your current CRM slow you down? It’s time to build and close deals from anywhere. Remove the manual data entry, create and send quotes in 3 clicks with Arrow. Finally, a powerful way to close deals on your phone. See Arrow in action at the American Rental Association Show in Las Vegas on October 17th - 20th.

Learn more about Arrow: https://www.rentalarrow.com/podcast

Get in contact with The Rental Journal Podcast

• Website: https://www.therentaljournal.com/contact-us
• Email: mark.simonsen@therentaljournal.com

Patrick Tunnicliffe has a background in mechanical and maintenance engineering and world cup snowboard racing but found himself in the equipment rental industry in 2010.  His engineering, planning, process efficiency, and operations background complimented his role as General Manager of a rental store which led to dramatic improvements of the operations and profitability of the company.  Today Patrick is sharing his experiences and helping owners do the same from a business consulting perspective with a focus on leveraging technology to exponentially improve their businesses.

Patrick Tunnicliffe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-tunnicliffe/

This podcast episode was sponsored by Arrow. Tired of manual data entry into your CRM? Does your current CRM slow you down? It’s time to build and close deals from anywhere. Remove the manual data entry, create and send quotes in 3 clicks with Arrow. Finally, a powerful way to close deals on your phone. See Arrow in action at the American Rental Association Show in Las Vegas on October 17th - 20th.

Get in contact with The Rental Journal Podcast

• Website: https://www.therentaljournal.com/contact-us
• Email: mark.simonsen@therentaljournal.com

Aileen Hiskins is the founder of Strategic Alignment Training, a company that delivers coaching, mentoring and training programs. Aileen was involved in the design and ongoing delivery of the Hire and Rental Industry Association Women in Hire & Access Mentoring Program, Young Professional Network & HATS (Hire Apprenticeship training scheme).

Strategic Alignment Training: https://www.sa-training.com.au/

This podcast episode was sponsored by Arrow. Tired of manual data entry into your CRM? Does your current CRM slow you down? It’s time to build and close deals from anywhere. Remove the manual data entry, create and send quotes in 3 clicks with Arrow. Finally, a powerful way to close deals on your phone. See Arrow in action at the The ARA Show in Las Vegas on October 17th - 20th.

Arrow CRM: https://www.heyarrow.com/
The ARA Show: https://arashow.org/

Get in contact with The Rental Journal Podcast
Website: https://www.therentaljournal.com/contact-us
Email: mark.simonsen@therentaljournal.com

Colleen Cohen has been involved in the equipment rental industry for the past 47 years, first joining the industry with Coates Hire in 1973. Throughout her career she has worked at the likes of National Hire, Abbott Hire, RentQuip and Baseplan Software.

This episode was sponsored by Empiraa. Empiraa is the strategy software as a service that can help you unlock the power of strategy in your business. Launching in early 2022, Empiraa is offering a free 30 day trial and 50% off the first 6 months when you sign up pre-launch. This will be open till late November so make sure you get in now. Visit https://www.empiraa.com/

Get in contact with The Rental Journal Podcast
Website: https://www.therentaljournal.com/contact-us
Email: mark.simonsen@therentaljournal.com

Podcast Timestamps
[02:16] - How did you first become involved in the equipment rental industry?

[06:23] - Colleen talks about when Abbott Hire, St George Hire and Stephen Donnelly Hire merged to become National Hire

[10:00] - What were the different rental software solutions you implemented over the years?

[10:45] - Colleen talks through when she first met Greg Parfitt & Adrian Manning

[12:37] - Colleen talks about travelling to the U.S to find a rental software for National Hire

[19:38] - Colleen talks about how she got a job at Baseplan Software

[22:07] - What advice would you give to somebody looking to change rental systems?

[25:15] - What was it like working with Stephen Donnelly?

[27:39] - Colleen talks about a memorable moment with the HIRA

[29:36] - What was the safety like back in the 1970's?

[35:16] - What was it like working in the equipment rental industry in the 70's as a female?

[39:02] - Who do you think played a big influence on you from a mentor perspective?

[40:28] - If you could give advice to your younger self, what would you say?

[44:03] - How do you define success?

Charles Anderson is the co-founder of Arrow, a company looking to change the way sales reps in the heavy equipment industry interact with CRM solutions. On a mission to eliminate data entry Friday, Charles and the Arrow team visited over 100 different dealerships to talk to equipment sales managers, reps and owners to build Arrow from the ground up.

Learn more about Arrow at https://www.rentalarrow.com/podcast

Episode Timestamps

[01:36] - How did you first become involved in the equipment rental industry?

[10:25] - What is the purpose of Arrow, and what made you start the company?

[15:11] - What are the common challenges that you think salespeople in the equipment rental industry typically face?

[17:59] - How is Arrow different to other CRM solutions when it comes to data entry?

[24:48] - Charles talks about integrating with third party systems

[28:05] - Charles talks through the importance of customer experience

[33:33] - Who do you think played a big influence as a mentor for you?

[35:50] - How do you manage having balance in your life and being a start up founder?

[38:46] - If you could give some advice to your younger self, what would you say?

[41:46] - How do you define success?

Kyle Clements is the founder of quipli, a business that helps take equipment rental businesses online. Kyle is relatively new to the industry, however to fast track his knowledge interviewed over 100 equipment rental businesses to find out whether or not they wanted an online store front, and what the business requirements would be. We dive into the results, while talking about general advice around the topic of e-commerce and the equipment rental industry.

Learn more about quipli @ https://www.quipli.com/

This episode was sponsored by Arrow. Arrow is the all-in-one sales tool built for you. In less than 3 clicks you can now find assets and share to your customers. Streamline paperwork with "Deal Mode" where you can create and send rental deal elements in seconds, from anywhere.
Arrow is the tool built to power up your rental process with seamless inventory management, smart marketing and reporting tools all from one platform. Finally, a better way to CRM. Build and close big deals the simple, powerful way with Arrow.

Visit https://www.rentalarrow.com/podcast to book your demo

Episode Timestamps
[01:19] - How did you first became involved in the equipment rental industry?

[07:40] - Kyle talks about the results from interviewing 100 rental companies about online rental transactions

[13:39] - What is the difference between a B2B and B2C online transaction?

[17:20] - What is the definition of e-commerce?

[21:24] - How does an e-commence platform, a company website and customer portal all work together?

[23:11] - What is a payment gateway and how does it work on a website?

[25:07] - How does an equipment rental business manage the rollout of an online storefront?

[27:39] - Kyle talks about sourcing equipment photos for customers to display online

[29:19] - Kyle talks about displaying rental rates online

[30:33] - Kyle talks about integration between online store fronts and rental management software

[33:23] - What do you think is being the biggest challenge you've faced in your career so far?

[34:40] - So who do you think has been a big influence on your career so far?

[38:48] - How do you define success?

Gary Kerr is the founder of Kerr's Hire in Victoria, Australia and has over 50 years experience in the equipment rental industry. Gary is a past President of the Hire and Rental Industry Association and is truly an industry legend.

This episode was sponsored by Arrow. Arrow is the all-in-one sales tool built for you. In less than 3 clicks you can now find assets and share to your customers. Streamline paperwork with "Deal Mode" where you can create and send rental deal elements in seconds, from anywhere.
Arrow is the tool built to power up your rental process with seamless inventory management, smart marketing and reporting tools all from one platform. Finally, a better way to CRM. Build and close big deals the simple, powerful way with Arrow.

Visit https://www.rentalarrow.com/podcast to book your demo

Timestamps
[02:09] - How did you first become involved in the equipment rental industry?

[05:09] - Gary talks about when Wreckair Hire acquired Geelong Hire in 1981

[09:18] - Gary reflects on the day he started Kerr’s Hire

[11:08] - What is the history of Kerr's Hire?

[16:21] - Gary talks about almost selling Kerr's Hire to Kennards Hire in 2009

[21:56] - What do you look for in people when recruiting?

[23:27] - What are some options for career progression?

[26:45] - How important is it to keep Kerr's Hire a family owned business?

[29:36] - Gary talks about bringing his song Jared Kerr into the business

[32:37] - How do you think the industry is evolved over the last 20 years?

[35:09] - Gary talks about interviewing Phil Newby and the HRIA moving from state based to a national organization.

[47:51] - What is the Personal Property Securities Act?

[54:55] - What advice would you give to somebody thinking of starting their own Hire business?

[56:22] - Who played a big influence on you from a mentor perspective in your career?

[58:09] - If you could go back and give them advice to your younger self, what would you say?

[01:00:06] - How do you define success?