Good morning. Welcome to Herc Holdings First Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today’s presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Elizabeth Higashi. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Kate, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Welcome to our first quarter 2021 earnings conference call. Earlier today, our press release, presentation slides and 10-Q were filed with the SEC and are all posted on the Events page of our IR website at ir.hercrentals.com. This morning, I’m joined by Larry Silber, President and Chief Executive Officer; Aaron Birnbaum, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and Mark Irion , Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We’ll review the first quarter, our view of the industry and our strategic outlook. The prepared remarks will be followed by an open Q&A. Before I turn the call over to Larry, there are a few items I’d like to cover. First, today’s conference call will include forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the environment as we see it today and, therefore, involve risks and uncertainties. I would caution you that our actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements made on this call. Please refer to slide 3 of the presentation for a complete safe harbor statement as well as the Risk Factors section of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. In addition to the financial results presented on a GAAP basis, we will be discussing non-GAAP information that we believe is useful in evaluating the Company’s operating performance. Reconciliations for these non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP equivalent can be found in the conference call material. Finally, a replay of this call can be accessed via dial-in or through a webcast on our website. Replay instructions were included in our earnings release this morning. We have not given permission for any other recording of this call and do not approve or sanction any transcribing of the call. I’ll now turn the call over to Larry.

Thank you, Elizabeth. Please turn to slide number 4. We’re off to a great start in 2021. What a difference 12 months makes. Just a year ago, when we reported our first quarter, like other companies, we pulled our guidance due to the uncertainty of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a year later, we’ve continued to execute and grow the business and have the confidence to increase the full year guidance we provided just a few months ago. Our outstanding team of professionals represents a company with a history of over 56 years in the equipment rental industry. The purpose that drives our 4,800 employees is to help our customers and communities to build a brighter future. They do this every day by staying focused on serving our customers safely, efficiently and effectively. During the first quarter, we added three new greenfield locations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Santa Fe Springs, a suburb of Los Angeles, California; and Houston, Texas. In April, we acquired two independent locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, increasing our location count to 15 in that major metropolitan area. As of today, we are operating 282 locations across the United States and Canada in 39 states and 5 Canadian provinces. Now, please turn to slide number 5. We entered the year with our fleet well positioned to meet anticipated demand and saw the normal seasonal improvement in volume on rent during the quarter. As expected, our volume did not quite return to prior year levels and rates were still down slightly, but we did generate rental revenue growth as a result of strong contributions from our specialty and entertainment businesses. With the return to positive rental revenue growth, we continue to excel in our strategic focus on operating leverage and delivered excellent bottom line…

Thank you, Larry. Before I start my discussion of our results, I would like to take this opportunity to both congratulate and thank all of our team members. After an incredibly challenging 12 months, our team continues to perform effectively and professionally. This -- first quarter results speak for themselves. We greatly appreciate the contributions of each and every one of our team members. Congratulations team Herc. Now, please turn to slide 8. The strategic investments we continue to make to diversify our customer base and industry verticals really paid off this quarter. Our ProSolutions business continued its growth trajectory and took market share in the first quarter of 2021 with the growth driven by successful focus on providing specialty heat solutions as well as supporting the remediation from weather-related events, such as the winter storm that hit Texas and the surrounding states. Our ProSolutions revenues have increased by double digits for the last four years and generated another excellent quarter in Q1, up by over 30%. Our entertainment business has turned from a headwind to a tailwind. We remain focused on our customers and opportunities during the pandemic shutdowns, and entertainment has now exceeded pre-pandemic highs and will be a growth driver for years to come. Our core business experienced a normal demand and seasonally impacted first quarter, and we benefited from solid operating performance in our regional operations. We saw early strengthening specifically in our Northeast, Carolina and Southeast markets, and our South Central region successfully integrated our December acquisition of Champion Rentals. We will continue to leverage our operational capabilities to execute our strategy and take advantage of opportunities in our end markets. Now, please turn to slide 9. As a provider of essential services, our most important commitment is focused on health and safety. We will…

Thanks, Aaron, and good morning, everyone. Our first quarter results continued to demonstrate that we have a business of scale and a successful strategy that is capable of performing in all environments, and it is clearly performing exceptionally well in the current environment. We are really pleased with our performance in Q1. Our results exceeded our own expectations. And based on current performance and the trends we are seeing, we’ve adjusted our outlook for the rest of the year and raised our guidance. Our results speak for themselves. We’re rapidly expanding our margins and are executing on our strategy to provide excellent customer service and premium equipment to our customers throughout North America for both large and small projects. Our focus on margin improvement over the last couple of years continues to pay off. As the economy recovers, we have the capital available to accelerate growth and have a track record of utilizing operating leverage to accelerate profitability. Slide 13 shows a summary of our first quarter results. Equipment rental revenue increased 3.6% from $386.5 million to $400.4 million in the first quarter of 2021, primarily due to improved mix and flattish pricing. We will discuss these drivers on the next slide. We continue to deliver solid profitability with adjusted net income in the first quarter of 2021 of $33.3 million or $1.10 per diluted share compared with adjusted net income of $1.1 million or $0.04 per diluted share. We continue to execute on our operating leverage model, driving an increase in adjusted EBITDA of 25% from revenue growth of only 4%. This drove an increase in adjusted EBITDA margin of 680 basis points to 40.7% in the first quarter, a historic high. REBITDA was $176.9 million with flow-through of over 200%. REBITDA margin increased by 570 basis points to…

Thanks, Mark. And now, please turn to slide number 19. This slide shows how far we’ve come over the last five years in closing the gap with our industry peers. Our first quarter adjusted EBITDA margin has increased from a low of 25.1% in 2017 to 40.7% in 2021. REBITDA margins are even better and a cleaner comparison with 2021 REBITDA margins of 43.8%, an improvement of 570 basis points over the prior year. As you can see, we’ve improved our net leverage substantially since we went public in 2016, reducing net leverage from 4.1 times to 2.2 times. As we build into what appears to be a new industry up cycle, we intend to focus on top line growth and operating leverage. Our strong free cash flow provides liquidity for new growth initiatives. Our leadership team is comprised of seasoned industry veterans, and we intend to take advantage of our scale and customer service capabilities to continue to expand our footprint and penetrate our larger markets. The rental equipment market is huge and continues to be fragmented. There are plenty of rental activity for Herc to target. We are committed to growing our market share and closing the gap with our larger peers. So, thank you. And now, operator, please open the lines for questions.

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Ross Gilardi from Bank of America. Go ahead.

I just wanted just to run some quick math by to see if my logic is correct. I mean, your fleet on OEC is down 5%, but fleet on rent is down only 1.7%. Does that imply your time U is actually up like 330 basis points year-on-year, or are there other factors, like mix that are moving that number around? And if that’s the case, could we see rates up greater than, probably, I would think most investors are assuming up 1% to 2% or something this year? But, it seems like the tightness in the market is paving the way for rates to perhaps outperform expectations. And I just wanted to get your take on what I just said.

Yes. Good question. Well, we normally don’t comment on time U, but certainly, directionally, what you’re saying is accurate. Mark, you may want to comment on the margin?

Yes. No. You’re right. There’s a mix component in there, but time U is directionally up. In terms of rate, yes, no, we’ve swung positive in March. We had a slight decrease in 2020. So it’s not likely to be a big increase in 2021, also early in the year, but positive trends and yet to be seen what the tightness in fleet is likely to do to rate as we go through the year. Also, early in the year, we see a sort of tightness in fleet. So, the indications are out there, but it is a seasonally impacted quarter. And as we get into the seasonality in the back end of the year, then that should show up.

Okay. And then, maybe a little bit more color on the decision not to raise the CapEx outlook, unless the gross versus net formula is moving around a little bit. Just given the strength in your business, and just curious, could you get more fleet in time for the season if you wanted it, or are the lead times just too extended and just equipment is not available?

Yes. Look, I think, we are well positioned, and we placed our CapEx early last year, and we’re well positioned to receive that. I think, we’re at a point where we want -- we still have some room to drive up our utilization. So, we’d like to continue to drive utilization. And you’re correct. I think, anything going forward now, you’re probably looking at late in the year and receiving gear, and there’s no sense in receiving gear in December when that’s a seasonal time when gear comes off rent. Aaron, you may want to further comment on the fleet?

No. Thanks, Larry. I would just echo what you said mostly. We did get our orders in early, as we communicated, as we feel pretty comfortable as we go through the mid part of the year and feel like we’re well positioned for this year specifically.

Additionally, we’ve sort of changed our focus on used equipment, Ross, and we’re sort of shying away from the auction channel, focusing more on retail and wholesale. And that will naturally slow down the disposal cycle a bit.

Okay. And then, just lastly, guys, I wanted to ask you about this entertainment business because you seem really excited about it. It sounds like it’s amped up quite a bit. Can you give us a little more color about that? I don’t think you’re talking specifically about the live events business specifically. But yes, a little more color there. And did you say your ProSolutions business was up 30% year-on-year in the first quarter? And I’m not sure if I heard that correctly.

Yes. This is Aaron again. Yes, the ProSolutions business for the quarter was up 30% year-on-year. And the entertainment business, as you recall from last year, it really went to zero during the pandemic, and it’s come back very, very strong. The team did an amazing job during the pandemic phase to build the relationships, and we came out really strong in the first quarter with the entertainment business. So, as we said, we are -- that those revenue levels are higher than they were a year ago, before the pandemic manifested. So, we’re excited about what the team has done in our entertainment division, and we expect a lot more of that. As you -- as we all know, the content, there’s a content craze out there. A lot of people want new content. So, we’re benefiting from that. One last thing, we continue to invest in that segment as well to kind of fuel the growth.

Okay. So, it’s more like more filmed entertainment as opposed to just live events, which are coming back, but it still seem like they’re a long way from where they were, at least here in the Northeast?

At the moment -- yes. At the moment, live events are not back. May be later in the year, there’s talk about that. But what we’re specifically talking about in Q1 is TV, film and commercials.

Our next question is from Rob Wertheimer from Melius Research. Go ahead.

So, I’m not sure my questions are all that different from those of Ross. A little bit of a crystal ball or your experience versus past years. How does this year shape up on starting on fleet tightness on utilization? One of those time U -- close, I understand. But are we starting out average tightness a little bit more? And then, is availability of equipment less than in prior years. In other words, do we set up for at least a potential for a tighter summer than sometimes the case? Thank you.

Yes. Look, I would say, for sure, we’re starting out a little tighter than maybe we have in past years. We used the end of the year last year to dispose of a fair amount of fleet to purposely tighten up the fleet going into this year, knowing that we had a fairly sizable gross CapEx spend coming in beginning the end of Q1 into Q2 and Q3. So, it was tighter and that was purposely done. We had some room to tighten up. And then, coupled with the -- we did have a surprisingly strong start in Q1 with our ProSolutions business, aided by the Texas freeze in the Texas area in the surrounding states and then the entertainment business that Aaron just discussed sort of picking up a little quicker. As far as fleet being tight, I think, the industry fleet is tight because of availability and supply chain start-up, but that benefits the rental industry in terms of -- we have $3.6 billion of fleet on hand, and we have it available, and that gives us the opportunity to address those areas where supply might be limited from the manufacturing standpoint. We are not in a position where our company will not experience a shortage of gear. We’re in good position to receive all of the gear we have on order and utilize our gear. But yes, there is -- we are hearing it and from all of the OEMs that there is a supply chain tightness.

Our next question is from Jerry Revich from Goldman Sachs. Go ahead.

I’m wondering if you could just talk about the sequential cadence of pricing. Nice to hear that pricing was up year-over-year, Mark, in March. I think to get that pricing would have to be moving up 50 to 100 basis points in March versus February. Is that the cadence that you’re seeing? And how is that cadence into April?

Without getting into sort of too much monthly sort of granularity, you can kind of see it on the chart on page 14. We’ve been picking up a few basis points a quarter going forward. And it’s typical for pricing to sequentially improve into March off of here anyway as you move through Q1. So, it’s not dramatic. It’s still work out there. I think, we are probably continuing to lead the industry in terms of pricing and rate, and we’ll look to sort of continue that going forward. So, we’re looking -- it was slightly down in 2020. It looks like it’s going to be slightly up in 2021, and we’ll continue to take opportunities wherever we can.

Well, the reason for the question is normal seasonality is about 150 basis points per quarter in an up cycle in 2Q and 3Q. And so, a few folks wind up running at that normal seasonal rate, given the way the comps look, you’d be exiting with pricing up 5%-plus in the fourth quarter. So, I just want to make sure I understand how that -- how you see that cadence playing out versus normal seasonality. Because given the comps, the exit rate would be pretty attractive, I think.

Yes. I mean, like I said, we’re sort of looking at it being slightly up for 2021. I think you’re -- I think, 150 basis points might be some point far back in time. It certainly was in 2019 or maybe 2018 for us. The industry, in general, has not been putting up those sort of price trends for quite some time.

Okay. And then, conceptually, how are you thinking about the magnitude of price increases that you’re willing to push through to customers? Obviously, you’re in a good position with lead times for new equipment winding out, used equipment inventories for the industry down significantly. Conceptually, how are you thinking about your willingness to push pricing as annual renewals come due? Can you just talk about the philosophy and heading into the up cycle here?

I think it’s -- I mean, I think it’s still a little bit too early. I mean, Q1 is still seasonally challenged in terms of demand, and there is still -- our specialty businesses have been outperforming, but there’s still a certain amount of pressure in the classic business. So, we’ll -- we’ve got to focus on rate. We’ve got a track record on rate. We will take opportunities where we can. So, I mean that’s our ongoing philosophy. We will look for increases on renewals. But there’s still -- we’re still shaking our way out of the impacts from last year, and it’s not as though we’re really in the sort of end of milk and honey already. So, it’s moving into the seasonal part of the year. The indications are out there that it’s going to be tight, but we’re not really living there at the moment, and we’ll continue to sort of keep our eyes open and execute where we can.

Okay. And lastly, for rental gross margins, normal seasonality is -- your full year gross margins are 400 or so basis points above first quarter levels, which is obviously seasonally impacted, as you point out. So, what should we think about seasonality, like this year versus what a typical year might look like or any of your direct cost of rent and operating expenses, artificially low in the quarter that will be ramping up beyond the point you made about volume, Mark, or anything we should keep in mind versus normal seasonality?

Yes. No, this quarter’s margin improvement was real and really impressive. There were no adjustments or unusual sort of credits through the quarter that drove that. So, it is a new baseline for us. So, you would expect to see margins improve as we get into the seasonally strong Q2 and Q3. The sort of guidance, I think, that I sort of worked into the transcript was if you just sort of run DOE and SG&A as a percentage of rental revenues and trend that down slightly with operating leverage, then that should sort of get you there. But the margin is real and will improve as we get into the seasonally strong quarters with more revenues.

Our next question is from Brian Sponheimer from Gabelli Funds. Go ahead.

Just to kind of piggyback on what Jerry was speaking to and maybe what you’ve learned over the past year or so, things like travel and entertainment, and maybe some other fixed costs, anything that -- from a cost-out standpoint that you think is a little more permanent than you would have otherwise thought before COVID happened?

Well, look, I think we obviously learned some new things over the course of the last 12, 13 months or so since we went into sort of pandemic mode. And it’s helped us from a standpoint, whether it’s SG&A or DOE, on how we deliver material, how we man our branches, how we service customers, how we engage with customers. And I think some -- a lot of that learning will sustain. Now as Mark said, look, we -- as we seasonally go into the year and have higher volume, those costs will go up in absolute volume, but as a percent of revenue, they ought to be flattish along the way.

Yes. Okay. That’s more on the cost side. I want to talk about leverage. The 2.2 is trailing. By year end, you’ll be below 2, given $820 million or so in EBITDA against $1.5 billion -- $1.6 billion in net debt. You’ve made one acquisition of note. What’s the environment out there like for your ability to pick up incremental yards? And what are you looking for primarily when you’re going to put that capital to work?

Yes. Look, we did an additional two acquisitions in early April that we closed on up in the San Francisco Bay Area, further increasing our footprint count and our density, and that major metropolitan market now have 15 locations in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. And we continue to look at M&A and greenfield activity as a focus going forward. Our preference would be greenfield activity, if we can find the locations and reasonably put them in place in those large markets. And we’ll look at M&A as an alternative, whereas what’s the buy versus make scenario. So, we’re actively engaged and continue to scout out opportunities, both for greenfields and M&A.

Anything that might be out of what is your core fairway of both ProSolutions, ProContractor and Gen Ren? I guess I refer, obviously, to some of the acquisitions that your eyes made that kind of gone outside their, what I would say, their core rental business was?

Yes. I don’t think you’ll see us go outside of our core or very near adjacencies to our core. I don’t -- you won’t see us do anything sort of that will put us into something completely new or completely afield from our current business or current geographies.

Our next question is from Neil Tyler from Redburn. Go ahead.

Three from me, please. Firstly, on the ProSolutions business, I’ve slightly lost track of whether you think the weather, the events in Texas were a meaningful net contributor to that growth or whether actually the opposing effects netted that off. Secondly, back to the entertainment, the growth in entertainment that you referred to in there. Have you been able to cross sell yet to any of those customers with whom your team has built relationships, or is that something that you still anticipate is further opportunity? And then, if you could just -- if we’re able to -- give me a slice there on what proportion of the revenue base, the entertainment business currently contributes? Thank you.

Neil, this is Aaron. Yes, we do a tremendous amount of cross-selling with our entertainment business, such as our rolling equipment such as forklifts and aerial booms, our ProSolutions business that supplies climate and our lighting products that we rent. So yes, we’re -- we absolutely cross sell there with products and with the sales teams.

And in terms of the size, it’s 5% to 6% of our revenue. So it’s not a huge portion of the business, but it’s having an unusual impact just given the fact that it swung from almost zero last year to strong growth this year. So, the tail effect is considerable.

Yes. And your first question about the Texas weather event, it was like any other weather event that we normally experience, and not unusual and not sort of overly meaningful, different than a normal weather event.

Okay. Thank you. I wonder if you give chance of a follow-up as well. Larry, I think it was the last call where we discussed the Biden administration infrastructure plan, and you referred to that as it’s not in the forecast and still gravy. As that gravy makes its journey to the table, so to speak, where -- I mean, whereabouts on the journey do you see it? And do you have enough line of sight on those projects -- would you have enough line of sight on those projects to be able to equip them, given the tightness you’ve described in the OEM supply chain?

Well, I guess, the news is a little different in the UK than it is here. I don’t think the journey is far enough along to really give it credence yet, whether it had any impact. And to me, it’s still somewhat in the future. And then, when and if it ever really develops, it will be 18 months ahead down the road until there are several ready projects so for that to get prepared. So, there is no visibility today. Certainly, every state has wish lists, and we’re aware of those wish lists. But until they get funded and then get the plans, the engineering plans behind them, it’s a long way off. Look, I think -- I do think it’s having a positive mental impact on the business where people are genuinely excited and hopeful as we would be. But I don’t think there’s any gravy yet.

Our next question is from Steven Ramsey from Thompson Research. Go ahead.

I wanted to dig in a little bit, too, on the national and local accounts. It appears the national accounts are still outperforming the local accounts. Maybe what does this tell you about the market? Do you expect this dynamic to continue through the rest of this year? And is that a pricing headwind?

Yes. I’m not sure, Stephen. I think -- I mean, if you go back to 2020, national accounts were less volatile, right? So, there was a stronger sort of -- or less drop in that business than there was in the local accounts. That should swing around this year. I don’t think there’s any real dramatic differences in terms of relative strength there. So, I think we’re sort of heading into a slightly positive environment for both. And we should look to generate slightly positive rate improvement out of both. So, the mix is good. It’s a balance that we like at that sort of 60-40 mix, I guess, would be our sort of ideal. We’re around there. It sort of fluctuates from quarter-to-quarter based on certain activity in certain accounts, but there’s no real dramatic trend change taking place here this year.

Okay, great. And then, something to clarify on entertainment. Do you mean that volumes are also at pre-COVID highs, or is that total revenue? And then also on the pricing side, I believe in the past, you’ve discussed that entertainment has some sort of pricing premium relative to other verticals. Is the pricing on the entertainment -- for entertainment customers, is that back to pre-COVID levels, or do you see it getting back there in the near term?

Yes on all of the above. Volume, revenue, it’s premium price and it’s going well.

Great. And then last question. On your strategy to densify highly populated areas, is this a strategy that you’re pursuing more in the way of densifying current areas of strings, or do you intend to plant new flags with greenfields and M&A this year?

Yes. Look, I think, ever since we got here in 2015, we have said that our strategy is going to be around major metropolitan markets with populations of 1 million people or more, and that’s been the focus. I think, our focus primarily has been to densify markets where we already have a footprint and improve that footprint. So, we have a base of business that we just like to continue to grow, better be able to service, add density, add gear into that market and then better service that market. That said, as we look at opportunities, we’ll also consider some markets that we may not be as densely populated in to look to get a greater foothold, and that could come either by way of greenfield or M&A.

Our next question is from Ken Newman from KeyBanc Capital.

So, my first question, I’m curious, could you just talk a little bit about your ability to gain market share as the industry rebounds? Specifically, I’m wondering if you have a sense on whether your smaller competitors are already feeling the impacts from the tighter supply chain. And just where do you think -- how tight can the industry fleet utilization go before you start to see any real impacts to market share gains?

Well, we feel -- this is Aaron, Ken. We feel very confident that we got our fleet orders for this year and early in the year. So, we think that’s going to put us in a really strong position as the seasonality of the business picks up through the course of the year. Not exactly sure how to answer the small competitors. I think, if they didn’t get their orders in early and they’re starting now, they’ll probably have trouble getting equipment this year. As we went into the end of last year, we weren’t exactly sure what kind of year this would be, but we felt like we wanted to get our orders in so that we were ready. And did I -- I think I captured your questions there, unless I missed something.

No, that’s good color. I just -- that’s helpful here. And then, my final one here is, can you just give us a sense or help us think about what’s embedded in the guidance from a used equipment sales perspective? I know you talked a little bit about more shifting towards retail versus auction. But obviously, used prices have been elevated and increasing over the last couple of months here. Is there a new range in terms of fleet sales that you’d be able to give us today?

I mean, I think you’ve sort of got in Q1, a transition to gains from losses in 2020 with improvement in the OEC, our recovery as a percentage of original cost. That’s likely to consider -- to continue through the year. In terms of volume, flat to down. If equipment is tight, then it’s not a great environment for us to be ramping up equipment sales. So, we’ll look to probably maximize opportunity in terms of price and limit opportunity in terms of volume.

Understood. And then, just one last one from me, if you don’t mind. You’ve given some good color on just your ability to go after some more M&A. As you kind of think about just where we are in the cycle, obviously, your leverage is in a really good position today. Any color on how you think about the size of opportunities that are out there, especially as you kind of weigh the opportunities for improving organically or green starts versus actually going out there and buying competitors?

Well, all of that depends on what’s available for sale and who might want to engage in that activity. As you probably know, there are not a lot of large businesses left out there to consolidate. So, most of the activity is around smaller branch count type companies that are out there. So, nothing sort of really big is on the horizon that is in with our mainstream as one of the questions was before, mainstream of where our focus would be. So, I think that might sort of answer the question.

Our next question is from Mig Dobre from Baird. Go ahead.

Well, we covered a lot here, but I just conceptually want to make sure that I understand this properly. You talked about record rental revenue on lower fleet than you had in 2019. Your guidance seems to assume low-single-digit type rental rates for the full year. I guess, the implication for me out of all of this is that, from a utilization perspective, after utilization perspective, you’re implying here that you’re at record, going to be back at record or pretty close to it. Do I have that right, or am I missing something?

Yes. No, I think you’ve got it right. I mean, the step-up in Q1 was huge. Q1 is a tough year -- Q1 is a tough quarter to sort of move dollar utilization, so that’s a reset for us. We don’t see that going backwards, as you get into the seasonally stronger part of the year. So dollar utilization improves as the year goes ahead. So, we’re certainly looking at a record year in terms of dollar utilization over ‘19 and ‘20.

Okay. And on that utilization concept, right, and especially as we think about the growth algorithm in 2022, right, what sort of do we need to see here for the business in order to be able to grow in 2022? I’m presuming that rental rates are going to be part of that equation. But, I’m sort of wondering can you see further expansion and utilization of these record levels that you’re assuming in your forecast for ‘21, or is this going to become truly primarily a factor of fleet growth and rental rates, hopefully, as the driver of ‘22 top line and earnings?

Yes. So, as you sort of move through the rebound in the cycle to the sort of strength of the cycle, it would be typical to be investing in fleet and driving revenue growth with fleet growth there. We’ll be looking to do that. And we’ve got the platform. We’ve got the operations set up. We’re executing. So, all our growth levers are here. But no, certainly, volume becomes more important as you start moving through the cycle.

Understood. And where I’m going to all this questioning is here. You talked about the OEMs experiencing tightness and their ability to supply equipment to the market. And I understand that your CapEx for ‘21 is sort of set in place and you’re going to get your equipment allocation. But I’m sort of wondering where your thinking is on 2022 because, right, your business is going to need that incremental equipment, especially as the market is recovering, yet, I think we’re far from certain that the OEMs are going to be able to ramp production, maybe to the extent that equipment demand is going to be needed. So, I guess I’m curious, what are you hearing from your partners in this regard? And how are you approaching your ordering in your negotiations for 2022 equipment this year, right, in 2021, maybe relative to what you have done in the past?

Yes. I would say, look, it’s still a bit early in the game for us to be focused on 2022 at the moment. And we’ll sort of pick that up as we get well into the second quarter and approaching the third quarter where we’ll look at what our fleet looks like, what our utilization looks like and what the future holds. But having spent 30 years on the manufacturing side of the table, I think this year, from a demand standpoint, is a bit of an aberration because they’re coming out of a time where they slam the doors closed last March and April and turned off all their supply lines, and ramping them back up is what’s happening and causing the shortages here in 2021. I think by 2022, most of the major manufacturers will have their supply lines up and running and have ample capacity to deal with volumes that might be prevalent in 2022.

Understood. But just to clarify something here. When you’re talking about looking at this dynamic in Q2 and Q3, I’m just trying to understand how that would compare relative to what you normally do in your planning process. Is it fair to assume that you’re earlier, or are you similar?

Similar to what we did last year.

I think, we’re the third biggest customer for a lot of these guys. We’ve got an ongoing relationship where there’s constant dialogue taking place. Our fleet team has done an excellent job in terms of anticipating -- getting ahead of the contraction in demand in 2020 and getting ahead of the tightening of demand in 2021, and we’ll continue to do a great job as we roll into 2022. It’s a daily dialogue, and we’ll sort of work that through as we harden up our forecasts for 2022.

I think, we have time for one last question.

Actually, there’s no more questions.

Great. Well, thank you all for joining us on the call today. And if you have any further questions, as always, please don’t hesitate to call me. And we really do look forward to seeing you soon. Take care, and thanks for participating today.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.