ARA of Oklahoma’s ‘Better Together Day’ offered insights for both sides of the rental aisle
By Connie Lannan
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ARA of Oklahoma’s ‘Better Together Day’ offered insights for both sides of the rental aisle

The ARA of Oklahoma kicked off its first in-person gathering in nearly two years in a big way with its “Better Together Day” on Feb. 22. The event featured a variety of education for all rental segments and plenty of networking opportunities.

“We decided to try an all-in-one blast-of-education event,” says Pat Reynolds, owner, Journey Productions, Lawton, Okla., who serves as ARA of Oklahoma president. “Since we haven’t been able to meet in so
long, we thought it would be helpful to offer a refresher on resources offered by the American Rental Association [ARA] as well as an update from Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers on Department of Transportation [DOT] laws and regulations. We wanted to offer something special. We held our event at Aspen Ranch in Edmond, Okla., a great venue that Jennifer Rodriguez, with Marianne’s Rentals and our board secretary, knew about. We decided to offer topics that would appeal to every rental operator, both members and prospective members who cater to either equipment or event rental.”

James Auerbach, ARA vice president, event segment

The morning began with a social breakfast and networking time. James Auerbach, ARA vice president, event segment, followed with a presentation about ARA resources. He discussed everything from the newly revamped RentalU educational offerings to the ARA Job Posting Portal, affinity programs and ARA’s brand-new solution for ARA members’ group health-care needs that will launch May 1.

“The new health coverage option sounds very interesting. I want to see how that will fit with our operation. He also talked about how jobs posted on the ARA Job Posting Portal don’t just stay on the ARA site. They go out to so many other job boards, including the major military job board and Career Builder, etc. I didn’t realize that. Lawton is a military town, so I will definitely try it and with ARA offering members five free postings, that encouraged me more to try,” Reynolds says.

In addition, Reynolds learned about ARA’s Peer Advisory Groups. “For me, who has been a member of ARA for numerous years, I somehow didn’t know about those groups. They sound very interesting as do the updates on RentalU,” he says.

Alex Scoggins, co-owner, Taylor Rental, Sallisaw, Okla., also was intrigued by the RentalU updates and all the new education being offered. “We didn’t know about the revamped site and how it is more accessible. We plan to take advantage of that. That was very valuable,” he says.

Having a more user-friendly site was an aspect that Leslie Hunter, CTA, event manager, 110 Events, Oklahoma City, was excited to see. In addition, “it was a great opportunity to see other businesses in our area that are part of ARA and see some old friends. It also was nice to learn that the association is looking to make the event side more heard by having more representation,” she says.

After lunch, Oklahoma Highway Patrolmen Caleb Swickey and Terry Hinkle offered a Q&A about DOT laws.

“That subject is always important as you can always ask questions about how to tie down your equipment and other legal aspects of using Class A, Class B and Class C vehicles, 1-ton and three-quarter-ton as well as trailers,” says Charles Hewett, president, ABC Equipment Rental, Tulsa, Okla. “You can look at it online but there seems to be a lot of mismatched information there. It is nice to hear directly from the patrol officers who enforce the laws.”

Hewett had a chance to ask questions regarding log books and tie-downs. “I wanted clarification on log books as well as verify some of the tie-down best practices because they said that not seeing items tied down correctly is the No. 1 reason they will pull someone over. So it is really important to get every answer you can from them about how to tie stuff down. I got the answers I needed. They were great,” he says.

Scoggins also appreciated the Q & A as “I learned a few things, particularly about securing a piece of equipment to a trailer. I knew you had to have every one of the four corners secured, but I didn’t realize that you also had to have a securement device on each of the four corners,” he says.

Reynolds says that other questions came up regarding liability issues when a customer comes in with an underweight vehicle to haul a large piece of equipment. “They tell their customer that they really shouldn’t be doing this. The question to the DOT folks was how liable are rental operators for those types of situations? It was determined by the patrol officers who came that rental operators are not responsible as they are renting the piece of equipment and not renting the truck or trailer to haul it on. Members had lots of other questions, too. It was great to have those two gentlemen there to offer advice from the official source,” he says.

As is tradition for ARA of Oklahoma meetings, door prizes are given at the end of the meeting. “We gave away some great door prizes,” Reynolds says. “We gave away a really nice Hilti drill set from our Hilti Associate Member Director Krysta Farris, $200 in gift cards and a package of contract addendum from James Waite’s law firm. They were all nice.”

A first-time attendee went home with the Hilti drill set. “My cousin, Joshua Blankenship, who works for us, came with me to the meeting,” Hewett says. “This was his first ARA of Oklahoma meeting. He told me he got a lot out of the event and then at the end, he ended up winning the big door prize. He was very glad he came with me.”

Hewett also is glad he went. “I thought it was a great event. You always learn something new. The venue was awesome — the nicest place we have ever held a meeting. The food was excellent — and I was able to network with a lot of people I haven’t seen because of COVID. It was nice to catch up with everyone,” he says, adding that he hopes even more rental operators take advantage of these opportunities in the future.

Hunter says the event was well worth her while. “I was able to converse with a client of ours that I have only worked with through email. It’s great to put faces with names and absolutely helps to make their partnership with us more personal. It also was a good opportunity to see what others are doing in our market and learn best practices from them. The venue and service were outstanding — a beautiful location in which to finally get together again,” she says.

Reynolds, too, was pleased with how the day went. “We had a very enthusiastic crowd. Everyone was excited to be together. I think we have something to build on now. We [the ARA of Oklahoma board] will be working on a schedule of events in the coming year so we can have more contact with rental operators in the state on a more regular basis,” he says.

 

Connie Lannan

Connie LannanConnie Lannan

Connie Lannan is special projects editor for Rental Management. She helps plan, coordinate, write and edit ARA’s quarterly regional newsletters, In Your Region. She also researches, writes and edits news and feature articles for Rental Management, Rental Pulse, supplements, special reports and other special projects. Outside of work, she loves to bake for others, go for walks with her husband and volunteer for her church and causes she believes in.

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