NEW HAMBURG, ON, July 02, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ — When you're in the business of renting out equipment, there's no higher compliment than a local market that calls for your product by name. This is a common bond for two shops in two very different parts of Canada.
Each store rents Argo ETVs (extreme terrain vehicles), the renowned amphibious people carriers that have evolved into heavy-duty industrial vehicles designed for the toughest of work conditions.
In the heart of northern Ontario's rugged mining country, Timmins Rent All was just starting to evolve from primarily a tool rental shop into the supplier of larger equipment about 12 years ago. “And then one day we got a phone call specifically for an Argo,” recalls Al Laporte, “so we looked into it, bought a used one, put it on rental, and did really well with it that first year.”
The apparent opportunity for increased business intrigued Laporte. As it turned out, the local authorized Argo dealership was coming available. An authorized Argo dealer and rental house since 2001, Timmins Rent All today is not only a benefactor of, but also a leading contributor to the Argo product line. Laporte, now an owner and General Manager of Timmins Rent All, serves on the commercial development team for Argo's parent company, Ontario Drive and Gear Ltd. (ODG) of New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada. By responding to customer requests in the field, Laporte has been instrumental in the development of new complementary products from Argo. These include crane and flatbed platforms for the various Argo carriers.
Richard Wharmby is an owner and rental coordinator at Expedition Rentals in Edmonton, Alberta. He says, “Customers ask for them by name. It's not 'What can I use?' It's 'Do you have Argos?' And most of the time, it's 'How many do you have on hand? I need them today or tomorrow!' ” His store has rented out the Argo vehicles since 2008, but has already grown the fleet to 20-plus units. “Every year, we seem to increase by five or six. For us, the more snow there is in the winter, the better it is for Argo rentals in the spring and summer,” he explains. “In Alberta, there's enough muskeg up north that it doesn't ever really dry up in some spots, so our summers are busy with Argo rentals. It's kind of an industry standard here that oil and gas companies and surveyors need Argos for the sort of work they are doing in the summer.”
“That is the time of the year when it's just easier to go out and check well sites with an Argo than it is with anything else. A quad is just going to get stuck in the mud, and the Argo just drives over the top and gets out there,” says Wharmby. “Very often if they go out with quad vehicles one week, they're back to us the next week for Argos, because everyone else has an Argo …read more
Source: Supply Chain Digital
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