United Rentals North America 10-K2020 FY Annual report

United Rentals is the largest equipment rental company in the world, operates throughout the United States and Canada, and has a limited presence in Europe. The table below presents key information about our business as of and for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. Our business is discussed in more detail below. The data below should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified by reference to, our Management’s Discussion and Analysis and our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained elsewhere in this report.

The Company focuses on the following in managing its human capital:

For the past several years, we have executed a strategy focused on improving the profitability of our core equipment rental business through revenue growth, margin expansion and operational efficiencies. In particular, we have focused on customer segmentation, customer service differentiation, rate management, fleet management and operational efficiency.

We are currently managing the impact of COVID-19, as discussed throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our general strategy focuses on profitability and return on invested capital, and, in particular, calls for:

United Rentals serves the following three principal end-markets for equipment rental in North America: industrial and other non-construction; commercial (or private non-residential) construction; and residential construction, which includes remodeling. In July 2018, we completed the acquisition of BakerCorp, which allowed for our entry into select European markets (the acquisition added 11 European locations in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to our branch network). In 2020, based on an analysis of our charge account customers’ Standard Industrial Classification (“SIC”) codes:

We believe that we benefit from the following competitive advantages:

Our information technology systems are accessible to management, branch and call center personnel. Leveraging information technology to achieve greater efficiencies and improve customer service is a critical element of our strategy. Each branch is equipped with one or more workstations that are electronically linked to our other locations and to our data center. Rental transactions can be entered at these workstations, or through various mobile applications, to be processed on a real-time basis.

We have two reportable segments– (i) general rentals and (ii) trench, power and fluid solutions. Segment financial information is presented in note 4 to our consolidated financial statements.

The general rentals segment includes the rental of construction, aerial and industrial equipment, general tools and light equipment, and related services and activities. The general rentals segment’s customers include construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities and homeowners. The general rentals segment comprises eleven geographic regions—Carolinas, Gulf South, Industrial (which serves the geographic Gulf region and has a strong industrial presence), Mid-Atlantic, Mid Central, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific West, South, Southeast and Western Canada—and operates throughout the United States and Canada. We periodically review the size and geographic scope of our regions, and have occasionally reorganized the regions to create a more balanced and effective structure. 

The trench, power and fluid solutions segment includes the rental of specialty construction products and related services. The trench, power and fluid solutions segment is comprised of (i) the Trench Safety region, which rents trench safety equipment such as trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers and line testing equipment for underground work, (ii) the Power and HVAC region, which rents power and HVAC equipment such as portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment including heating and cooling equipment, and (iii) the Fluid Solutions and (iv) Fluid Solutions Europe regions, both of which rent equipment primarily used for fluid containment, transfer and treatment. The trench, power and fluid solutions segment’s customers include construction companies involved in infrastructure projects, municipalities and industrial companies. This segment operates throughout the United States and in Canada and Europe.

Our principal products and services are described below.

Our customer base is highly diversified and ranges from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses and homeowners. Our customer base varies by branch and is determined by several factors, including the equipment mix and marketing focus of the particular branch as well as the business composition of the local economy, including construction opportunities with different customers. Our customers include:

We market our products and services through multiple channels as described below.

Our strategic approach with respect to our suppliers is to maintain the minimum number of suppliers per category of equipment that can satisfy our anticipated volume and business requirements. This approach is designed to ensure that the terms

The North American equipment rental industry is highly fragmented and competitive. As the largest equipment rental company in the industry, we estimate that we have an approximate 13 percent market share in North America based on 2020 total equipment rental industry revenues as measured by the ARA. Estimated market share is calculated by dividing our total 2020 North American rental revenue by ARA’s forecasted 2020 industry revenue. Our competitors primarily include small, independent businesses with one or two rental locations; regional competitors that operate in one or more states; public companies or divisions of public companies that operate nationally or internationally; and equipment vendors and dealers who both sell and rent equipment directly to customers. We believe we are well positioned to take advantage of this environment because, as a larger company, we have more resources and certain competitive advantages over our smaller competitors. These advantages include greater purchasing power, the ability to provide customers with a broader range of equipment and services, and greater flexibility to transfer equipment among locations in response to, and in anticipation of, customer demand. The fragmented nature of the industry and our relatively small market share, however, may adversely impact our ability to mitigate rental rate pressure. See "Industry Overview and Economic Outlook" above for a discussion of market performance in 2020, which included the pronounced impact of COVID-19, as well as projected performance in 2021.

Our operations are subject to numerous laws governing environmental protection and occupational health and safety matters. These laws regulate issues such as wastewater, stormwater, solid and hazardous wastes and materials, and air quality. Our operations generally do not raise significant environmental risks, but we use and store hazardous materials as part of maintaining our rental equipment fleet and the overall operations of our business, dispose of solid and hazardous waste and wastewater from equipment washing, and store and dispense petroleum products from storage tanks at certain locations. Under environmental and safety laws, we may be liable for, among other things, (i) the costs of investigating and remediating contamination at our sites as well as sites to which we send hazardous wastes for disposal or treatment, regardless of fault, and (ii) fines and penalties for non-compliance. We incur ongoing expenses associated with the performance of appropriate investigation and remediation activities at certain locations.

Approximately 5,700 of our employees are salaried and approximately 12,550 are hourly. Collective bargaining agreements relating to approximately 117 separate locations cover approximately 1,330 of our employees. We monitor employee satisfaction through ongoing surveys and consider our relationship with our employees to be good.

Demand for our services and products is sensitive to the level of exploration, development and production activity of, and the corresponding capital spending by, oil and natural gas companies, including national oil companies, regional exploration and production providers, and related service providers. The level of exploration, development and production activity is directly affected by trends in oil and natural gas prices, which historically have been volatile and are likely to continue to be volatile.

Prices for oil and natural gas are subject to large fluctuations in response to relatively minor changes in the supply of and demand for oil and natural gas, market uncertainty, and a variety of other economic factors that are beyond our control. Any prolonged reduction in oil and natural gas prices will depress the immediate levels of exploration, development and production activity, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even the perception of longer-term lower oil and natural gas prices by oil and natural gas companies and related service providers can similarly reduce or defer major expenditures by these companies and service providers given the long-term nature of many large-scale development projects. Additionally, potential climate change regulation, including a potential carbon tax, could adversely affect the level of exploration, development and production activity of certain of our customers and the demand for our services and products.

The equipment rental industry is highly fragmented and competitive. Our competitors include small, independent businesses with one or two rental locations, regional competitors that operate in one or more states, public companies or divisions of public companies, and equipment vendors and dealers who both sell and rent equipment directly to customers. We may in the future encounter increased competition from our existing competitors or from new competitors. Competitive pressures could adversely affect our revenues and operating results by, among other things, decreasing our rental volumes, depressing the prices that we can charge or increasing our costs to retain employees.

We believe that one of our competitive advantages is the mobility of our fleet. Accordingly, our business in the past has been, and in the future could be, adversely affected by limitations on fuel supplies or significant increases in fuel prices that result in higher costs to us for transporting equipment from one branch to another branch. Although we have used, and may continue to use, futures contracts to hedge against fluctuations in fuel prices, a significant or protracted price fluctuation or disruption of fuel supplies could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, potential climate change regulation, including a potential carbon tax, could increase the overall cost of fuel to us and have a material adverse effect on us.

At December 31, 2020, our total indebtedness was $9.7 billion. Our significant indebtedness could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition in a number of ways by, among other things:

Despite our indebtedness level, we may be able to incur substantially more indebtedness in the future and such indebtedness may be secured indebtedness. The indentures or agreements governing our current indebtedness permit us to recapitalize our debt or take a number of other actions, any of which could diminish our ability to make payments on our indebtedness when due and further exacerbate the risks associated with our current level of indebtedness. If new debt is added to our or any of our existing and future subsidiaries' current debt, the related risks that we now face could intensify and we may not be able to meet all of our debt obligations.

We rely on our ABL facility and accounts receivable securitization facility to provide liquidity for our business, including to fund capital expenditures, acquisitions, operating expenses and other liquidity needs. The only financial covenant that currently exists under the ABL facility is the fixed charge coverage ratio. Subject to certain limited exceptions specified in the ABL facility, the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant under the ABL facility will only apply in the future if specified availability under the ABL facility falls below 10 percent of the maximum revolver amount under the ABL facility. When certain conditions are met, cash and cash equivalents and borrowing base collateral in excess of the ABL facility size may be included when calculating specified availability under the ABL facility. As of December 31, 2020, specified availability under the ABL facility exceeded the required threshold and, as a result, this financial covenant was inapplicable. Under our accounts receivable securitization facility, we are required, among other things, to maintain certain financial tests relating to: (i) the default ratio, (ii) the delinquency ratio, (iii) the dilution ratio and (iv) days sales outstanding. The accounts receivable securitization facility also requires us to comply with the fixed charge coverage ratio under the ABL facility, to the extent the ratio is applicable under the ABL facility. If we are unable to satisfy the financial covenant under the ABL facility or the financial tests under the accounts receivable securitization facility or comply with any of the other relevant covenants under the applicable agreement, the lenders could elect to terminate the ABL facility, the term loan facility and/or the accounts receivable securitization facility and require us to repay outstanding borrowings. In such event, unless we are able to refinance the indebtedness coming due and replace the ABL facility and/or the accounts receivable securitization facility, we would likely not have sufficient liquidity for our business needs and would be forced to adopt an alternative strategy as described above. Even if we adopt an alternative strategy, the strategy may not be successful and we may not have sufficient liquidity to service our debt and fund our operations. Future debt arrangements we enter into may contain similar provisions.

In addition to financial covenants, various other covenants in the ABL facility, term loan facility, accounts receivable securitization facility and the other agreements governing our debt impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and our restricted subsidiaries. Such covenants include, among other things, limitations on: (i) liens; (ii) indebtedness; (iii) mergers, consolidations and acquisitions; (iv) sales, transfers and other dispositions of assets; (v) loans and other investments; (vi) dividends and other distributions, stock repurchases and redemptions and other restricted payments; (vii) dividends, other payments and other matters affecting subsidiaries; (viii) transactions with affiliates; and (ix) issuances of preferred stock of certain subsidiaries. Future debt agreements we enter into may include similar provisions.

In addition to cash we generate from our business, our principal existing sources of cash are borrowings available under the ABL facility and the accounts receivable securitization facility. If our access to such financing was unavailable or reduced, or if such financing were to become significantly more expensive for any reason, we may not be able to fund daily operations, which would cause material harm to our business or could affect our ability to operate our business as a going concern. In addition, if certain of our lenders experience difficulties that render them unable to fund future draws on the facilities, we may not be able to access all or a portion of these funds, which could have similar adverse consequences.

If the cash that we generate from our business, together with cash that we may borrow under the ABL facility and accounts receivable securitization facility, is not sufficient to fund our capital requirements, we will require additional debt and/or equity financing. However, we may not succeed in obtaining the requisite additional financing or such financing may include terms that are not satisfactory to us. We may not be able to obtain additional debt financing as a result of prevailing interest rates or other factors, including the presence of covenants or other restrictions under the ABL facility and/or other agreements governing our debt. In the event we seek to obtain equity financing, our stockholders may experience dilution as a result of the issuance of additional equity securities. This dilution may be significant depending upon the amount of equity securities that we issue and the prices at which we issue such securities. If we are unable to obtain sufficient additional capital in the future, we may be unable to fund the capital outlays required for the success of our business, including those relating to purchasing equipment, growth plans and refinancing existing indebtedness.

We have historically achieved a significant portion of our growth through acquisitions and we will continue to consider potential acquisitions on a selective basis. From time-to-time we have also approached, or have been approached by, other public companies or large privately-held companies to explore consolidation opportunities. There can be no assurance that we will be able to identify suitable acquisition opportunities in the future or that we will be able to consummate any such transactions on terms and conditions acceptable to us.

In addition, it is possible that we will not realize the expected benefits from any completed acquisition, or that our existing operations will be adversely affected as a result of acquisitions. Acquisitions entail certain risks, including:

Our failure to address these risks or other problems encountered in connection with any past or future acquisition could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisitions, cause us to incur unanticipated liabilities and harm our business generally. In addition, if we are unable to successfully integrate our acquisitions with our existing business, we may not obtain the advantages that the acquisitions were intended to create, which may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, our ability to introduce new services and products and the market price of our stock.

We would expect to pay for any future acquisitions using cash, capital stock, notes, other indebtedness and/or assumption of indebtedness. To the extent that our existing sources of cash are not sufficient, we would expect to need additional debt or equity financing, which involves its own risks, such as the dilutive effect on shares held by our stockholders if we financed acquisitions by issuing convertible debt or equity securities, or the risks associated with debt incurrence.

We have also spent resources and efforts, apart from acquisitions, in attempting to grow and enhance our rental business over the past few years. These efforts place strains on our management and other personnel time and resources, and require timely and continued investment in facilities, personnel and financial and management systems and controls. We may not be successful in implementing all of the processes that are necessary to support any of our growth initiatives, which could result in our expenses increasing disproportionately to our incremental revenues, causing our operating margins and profitability to be adversely affected.

At December 31, 2020, we had $5.2 billion of goodwill on our consolidated balance sheet. Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair value of net assets acquired in business combinations. We assess potential impairment of our goodwill at least annually. Impairment may result from significant changes in the manner of use of the acquired assets, negative industry or economic trends and/or significant underperformance relative to historic or projected operating results. For a discussion of our goodwill impairment testing, see “Critical Accounting Policies-Evaluation of Goodwill Impairment” in Part II, Item 7-Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Our revenues and operating results may fluctuate from quarter to quarter or over the longer term due to a number of factors, which could adversely affect the trading value of our securities. These factors, in addition to general economic conditions and the factors discussed above under “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements”, include, but are not limited to:

Our common stock price has fluctuated significantly and may continue to do so in the future for a number of reasons, including:

Although our Board elected not to extend our stockholders’ rights plan upon its expiration in 2011, we still have in place certain charter provisions that may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers or delaying or preventing changes in control or management of the Company that are not approved by our Board, including transactions in which our stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then-current market prices. We are also subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law which, under certain circumstances, restricts the ability of a publicly held Delaware corporation to engage in a business combination, such as a merger or sale of assets, with any stockholder that, together with affiliates, owns 15 percent or more of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock, which similarly could prohibit or delay the accomplishment of a change of control transaction. In addition, under each of the ABL facility and the term loan facility, a change of control (as defined in the applicable credit agreement) constitutes an event of default, entitling our lenders to terminate the ABL facility or the term loan facility, as applicable, and require us to repay outstanding borrowings. A change of control (as defined in the applicable agreement) is also a termination event under our accounts receivable securitization facility and generally would require us to offer to repurchase our outstanding senior notes. As a result, the provisions of the agreements governing our debt also may affect the likelihood of a takeover or other change of control.

One of the reasons some of our customers find it more attractive to rent equipment than own that equipment is the need to deploy their capital elsewhere. This has been particularly true in industries with recent high growth rates such as the construction industry. However, some of our customers may have liquidity issues and ultimately may not be able to fulfill the terms of their rental agreements with us. If we are unable to manage credit risk issues adequately, or if a large number of customers have financial difficulties at the same time, our credit losses could increase above historical levels and our operating results would be adversely affected. Further, delinquencies and credit losses generally would be expected to increase if there was a worsening of economic conditions. While delinquencies and credit losses did not materially increase during 2020, they may increase in the future if economic conditions worsen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise.

Our success is dependent, in part, on the experience and skills of our management team, and competition in our industry and the business world for top management talent is generally significant. Although we believe we generally have competitive pay packages, we can provide no assurance that our efforts to attract and retain our senior management staff will be successful. Moreover, given the volatility in our stock price, it may be more difficult and expensive to recruit and retain employees, particularly senior management, through grants of stock or stock options. This, in turn, could place greater pressure on the Company to increase the cash component of its compensation packages, which may adversely affect our operating results. If we are unable to fill and keep filled all of our senior management positions, or if we lose the services of any key member of our senior management team and are unable to find a suitable replacement in a timely fashion, we may be challenged to effectively manage our business and execute our strategy.

We have been pursuing a strategy of reducing core operating expenses, including overtime and temporary labor costs, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we have been pursuing a general strategy of optimizing our field operations in order to improve sales force effectiveness, and to focus our sales force’s efforts on increasing revenues from our national account and other large customers. We are also continuing to pursue our overall cost reduction program, which resulted in substantial cost savings in the past. The extent to which these strategies will achieve our desired efficiencies and goals in 2021 and beyond is uncertain, as their success depends on a number of factors, some of which are beyond our control. Even if we carry out these strategies in the manner we currently expect, we may not achieve the efficiencies or savings we anticipate, or on the timetable we anticipate, and there may be unforeseen productivity, revenue or other consequences resulting from our strategies that may adversely affect us. Therefore, there can be no guarantee that our strategies will prove effective in achieving the desired level of profitability, margins or returns to stockholders.

We have achieved significant cost savings through our centralization of equipment and non-equipment purchases. However, as a result, we depend on and are exposed to the credit risk of a group of key suppliers. While we make every effort to evaluate our counterparties prior to entering into long-term and other significant procurement contracts, we cannot predict the impact on our suppliers of the current economic environment and other developments in their respective businesses. Insolvency, financial difficulties or other factors may result in our suppliers not being able to fulfill the terms of their agreements with us. Further, such factors may render suppliers unwilling to extend contracts that provide favorable terms to us, or may force them to seek to renegotiate existing contracts with us. Although we believe we have alternative sources of supply for the equipment and other supplies used in our business, termination of our relationship with any of our key suppliers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations in the unlikely event that we were unable to obtain adequate equipment or supplies from other sources in a timely manner or at all.

If our rental equipment ages, the costs of maintaining such equipment, if not replaced within a certain period of time, will likely increase. The costs of maintenance may materially increase in the future and could lead to material adverse effects on our results of operations.

We rely on our information technology systems to be able to monitor and control our operations, adjust to changing market conditions, implement strategic initiatives and support our online ordering system. Any disruptions in these systems or the failure of these systems to operate as expected could, depending on the nature and magnitude of the problem, adversely affect our operating results by limiting our ability to effectively monitor and control our operations, adjust to changing market conditions, implement strategic initiatives and service online orders. In addition, the security measures we employ to protect our systems may not detect or prevent all attempts to hack our systems, denial-of-service attacks, viruses, malicious software, employee error or malfeasance, phishing attacks, security breaches, disruptions during the process of upgrading or replacing computer software or hardware or integrating systems of acquired businesses or other attacks and similar disruptions that may jeopardize the security of information stored in or transmitted by the sites, networks and systems that we otherwise maintain, which include cloud-based networks and data center storage.

We have, from time to time, experienced threats to our data and systems, including malware and computer virus attacks. We are continuously developing and enhancing our controls, processes, and practices designed to protect our systems, computers, software, data, and networks from attack, damage, or unauthorized access. This continued development and enhancement requires us to expend additional resources. However, we may not anticipate or combat all types of future attacks until after they have been launched. If any of these breaches of security occur or are anticipated in the future, we could be required to expend additional capital and other resources, including costs to deploy additional personnel and protection technologies, train employees and engage third-party experts and consultants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we face increased cybersecurity risks due to our reliance on internet technology and the number of our employees who are working remotely, which could strain our technology resources or create additional opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities. In addition, because our systems sometimes contain information about individuals and businesses, our failure to appropriately maintain the security of the data we hold, whether as a result of our own error or the malfeasance or errors of others, could lead to disruptions in our online ordering system or other data systems, unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information or corruption of data. Our failure to appropriately maintain the security of the data we hold could also violate applicable privacy, data security and other laws and subject us to lawsuits, fines and other means of regulatory enforcement. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (the “GDPR”) has caused European Union (“EU”) data protection requirements to be more stringent and provides for greater penalties. Non-compliance with the GDPR can trigger fines of up to €20 million or 4 percent of annual worldwide revenue, whichever is higher. Such failures could lead to lower revenues, increased costs and other material adverse effects on our results of operations. In addition, the requirements of the GDPR may necessitate changes to our existing business practices in order to comply with the GDPR or to address the concerns of our customers or business partners relating to the GDPR. In addition, countries such as the United Kingdom (the “UK”) have implemented the GDPR through their own legislation, for example, the UK Data Protection Act 2018. Complying with any new regulatory requirements could force us to incur substantial expenses or require us to change our business practices in a manner that could harm our business. Further, any compromise or breach of our systems could result in adverse publicity, harm our reputation, lead to claims against us and affect our relationships with our customers and employees, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Certain of our software applications are also utilized by third parties who provide outsourced administrative functions, which may increase the risk of a cybersecurity incident. Although we maintain insurance coverage for various cybersecurity risks, there can be no guarantee that all costs or losses incurred will be fully insured.

The market value of any given piece of rental equipment could be less than its depreciated value at the time it is sold. The market value of used rental equipment depends on several factors, including:

Our operations in Canada and Europe are subject to the risks normally associated with international operations. These include (i) the need to convert currencies, which could result in a gain or loss depending on fluctuations in exchange rates and (ii) the need to comply with foreign laws and regulations, as well as U.S. laws and regulations applicable to our operations in foreign jurisdictions. See Item 7A—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk for additional information related to currency exchange risk.

In addition, effective December 31, 2020, the UK officially withdrew its membership from the European Union (“Brexit”). The long-term effects of Brexit are uncertain and may include, among other things, greater restrictions on imports and exports between the UK and EU countries, a fluctuation in currency exchange rates and additional regulatory complexity. Our operations in the UK and Europe, as well as our North American operations, could be impacted by the global economic uncertainty caused by Brexit or the actual withdrawal by the UK from the EU. If we are unable to manage any of these risks effectively, our business could be adversely affected. Our operations in the EU represented an immaterial part of our business as of December 31, 2020.

Climate change and its association with greenhouse gas emissions is receiving increased attention from the scientific and political communities. The U.S. federal government, certain U.S. states and certain other countries and regions have adopted or are considering legislation or regulation imposing overall caps or taxes on greenhouse gas emissions from certain sectors or facility categories, among other matters. Such new laws or regulations, or stricter enforcement of existing laws and regulations, could increase the costs of operating our businesses, reduce the demand for our products and services and impact the prices we charge our customers, any or all of which could adversely affect our results of operations. Failure to comply with any legislation or regulation could potentially result in substantial fines, criminal sanctions or operational changes. Moreover, even without such legislation or regulation, increased awareness of, or any adverse publicity regarding, the effects of greenhouse gases could harm our reputation or reduce customer demand for our products and services.

Additionally, as severe weather events become increasingly common, our or our customers’ operations may be disrupted, which could result in increased operational costs or reduced demand for our products and services. While we have invested in administration of programs and physical loss prevention improvements to mitigate the risk of natural disasters causing disruption to our ability to serve our customers and communities in times of need, extended periods of disruptions could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We derive substantially all of our operating income from, and hold substantially all of our assets through, our subsidiaries. The effect of this structure is that we depend in part on the earnings of our subsidiaries, and the payment or other distribution to us of these earnings, to meet our obligations under our outstanding debt. Provisions of law, such as those requiring that dividends be paid only from surplus, could limit the ability of our subsidiaries to make payments or other distributions to us. Furthermore, these subsidiaries could in certain circumstances agree to contractual restrictions on their ability to make distributions. Distributions from our subsidiaries may also be limited by restrictive covenants in our debt agreements.

We are in the ordinary course exposed to a variety of claims relating to our business. These claims include those relating to (i) personal injury or property damage involving equipment rented or sold by us, (ii) motor vehicle accidents involving our vehicles and our employees and (iii) employment-related claims. Currently, we carry a broad range of insurance for the protection of our assets and operations. However, such insurance may not fully cover these claims for a number of reasons, including:

Our operations are subject to numerous laws and regulations governing environmental protection and occupational health and safety matters. These laws regulate issues such as wastewater, stormwater, solid and hazardous waste and materials, and air quality. Under these laws, we may be liable for, among other things, (i) the costs of investigating and remediating any contamination at our sites as well as sites to which we send hazardous waste for disposal or treatment, regardless of fault, and (ii) fines and penalties for non-compliance. While our operations generally do not raise significant environmental risks, we use hazardous materials to clean and maintain equipment, dispose of solid and hazardous waste and wastewater from equipment washing, and store and dispense petroleum products from above-ground storage tanks located at certain of our locations.

Our 1,018 branch locations in the United States are located in 49 states, and Puerto Rico, which exposes us to a host of different state and local regulations, in addition to federal law and regulatory and contractual requirements we face as a government contractor. These laws and requirements address multiple aspects of our operations, such as worker safety, consumer rights, privacy, employee benefits and more, and there are often different and potentially conflicting requirements in different jurisdictions. Changes in these requirements, or any material failure by our branches to comply with them, can increase our costs, affect our reputation, limit our business, drain management time and attention and otherwise impact our operations in adverse ways.

We currently have approximately 1,330 employees who are represented by unions and covered by collective bargaining agreements and approximately 16,920 employees who are not represented by unions. Various unions occasionally seek to organize certain of our nonunion employees. Union organizing efforts or collective bargaining negotiations could potentially lead to work stoppages and/or slowdowns or strikes by certain of our employees, which could adversely affect our ability to serve our customers. Further, settlement of actual or threatened labor disputes or an increase in the number of our employees covered by collective bargaining agreements can have unknown effects on our labor costs, productivity and flexibility.

Under the collective bargaining agreements that we have signed, we are obligated to contribute to several multiemployer pension plans on behalf of some of our unionized employees. A multiemployer pension plan is a plan that covers the union-represented workers of various unrelated companies. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a contributing employer to an underfunded multiemployer plan is liable, generally upon withdrawal from a plan, for its proportionate share of the plan's unfunded vested liability. We currently have no intention of withdrawing from any multiemployer plan. However,

None.

As of January 1, 2021, we operated 1,165 rental locations. 1,018 of these locations are in the United States, 136 are in Canada and 11 are in Europe. The number of locations in each state, territory, province or country is shown in the table below, as is the number of locations that are in our general rentals (GR) and trench, power and fluid solutions (TPF) segments.

A description of legal proceedings can be found in note 15 to our consolidated financial statements, included in this report at Item 8—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, and is incorporated by reference into this Item 3.

Holdings’ common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “URI.” As of January 1, 2021, there were 66 holders of record of our common stock. The number of beneficial owners is substantially greater than the number of record holders because a large portion of our common stock is held of record in broker “street names.”

The following table provides information about acquisitions of Holdings’ common stock by Holdings during the fourth quarter of 2020:

For information regarding equity compensation plans, see Item 12 of this annual report on Form 10-K.

The following selected financial data reflects the results of operations and balance sheet data as of and for the years ended December 31, 2016 to 2020. The following acquired companies are reflected in our results of operations for all periods subsequent to the noted acquisition dates:

The data below should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified by reference to, our Management’s Discussion and Analysis and our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained elsewhere in this report.

We are the largest equipment rental company in the world, with an integrated network of 1,165 rental locations in the U.S., Canada and Europe. In July 2018, we completed the acquisition of BakerCorp, which allowed for our entry into select European markets. Although the equipment rental industry is highly fragmented and diverse, we believe that we are well positioned to take advantage of this environment because, as a larger company, we have more extensive resources and certain competitive advantages. These include a fleet of rental equipment with a total original equipment cost (“OEC”) of $13.8 billion, and a North American branch network that operates in 49 U.S. states and every Canadian province, and serves 99 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. The BakerCorp acquisition discussed above added 11 European locations in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to our branch network. Our size also gives us greater purchasing power, the ability to provide customers with a broader range of equipment and services, the ability to provide customers with equipment that is more consistently well-maintained and therefore more productive and reliable, and the ability to enhance the earning potential of our assets by transferring equipment among branches to satisfy customer needs.

For the past several years, we have executed a strategy focused on improving the profitability of our core equipment rental business through revenue growth, margin expansion and operational efficiencies. In particular, we have focused on customer segmentation, customer service differentiation, rate management, fleet management and operational efficiency.

We are currently managing the impact of COVID-19, as discussed above. Our general strategy focuses on profitability and return on invested capital, and, in particular, calls for:

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. A summary of our significant accounting policies is contained in note 2 to our consolidated financial statements. In applying many accounting principles, we make assumptions, estimates and/or judgments. These assumptions, estimates and/or judgments are often subjective and may change based on changing circumstances or changes in our analysis. Material changes in these assumptions, estimates and/or judgments have the potential to materially alter our results of operations. We have identified below our accounting policies that we believe could potentially produce materially different results if we were to change underlying assumptions, estimates and/or judgments. Although actual results may differ from those estimates, we believe the estimates are reasonable and appropriate.

As discussed in note 4 to our consolidated financial statements, our reportable segments are general rentals and trench, power and fluid solutions. The general rentals segment includes the rental of construction, aerial, industrial and homeowner equipment and related services and activities. The general rentals segment’s customers include construction and industrial companies, manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and government entities. This segment operates throughout the United States and Canada. The trench, power and fluid solutions segment is comprised of: (i) the Trench Safety region, which rents trench safety equipment such as trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails, crossing plates, construction lasers and line testing equipment for underground work, (ii) the Power and HVAC region, which rents power and HVAC equipment such as portable diesel generators, electrical distribution equipment, and temperature control equipment including heating and cooling equipment, and (iii) the Fluid Solutions and (iv) Fluid Solutions Europe regions, both of which rent equipment primarily used for fluid containment, transfer and treatment. The trench, power and fluid solutions segment’s customers include construction companies involved in infrastructure projects, municipalities and industrial companies. This segment operates throughout the United States and in Canada and Europe.

(4)    As of December 31, 2020, we had outstanding advance purchase orders, which were negotiated in the ordinary course of business, with our equipment and inventory suppliers. These purchase orders can generally be cancelled by us without cancellation penalties. The equipment and inventory receipts from the suppliers pursuant to these purchase orders and the related payments to the suppliers are expected to be completed throughout 2021. The total above includes $300 for

Our exposure to market risk primarily consists of (i) interest rate risk associated with our variable and fixed rate debt and (ii) foreign currency exchange rate risk associated with our foreign operations.