I’ve not been on the business end of this industry but I rent skid steers and mini excavators a handful of times a year. I feel like all you said is true, I’m tough on the equipment and I don’t many many choices with the longevity of the machine in mind. However, I’ve considered buying the machines and so have realized the sticker price on a new machine is worth about 30-50 days of daily rent on most the machines I’ve used (assume that relationship exists on bigger things too). Now if they employ maintenance people then they already have a fixed cost and can do preventative maintenance and frequent monitoring. It shouldn’t be too big of a deal and should be priced into the rental rates.

So, it takes a market will pay the rates needed. It takes the business owner to be firm on those rates, under charging may drive revenue but will end up losing as repair expenses go up. And, it requires some volume. I’m guessing what you’re witnessing is businesses with one of those problems. It’s not that people are hard on them and the need a lot of maintenance. These machines need a lot of maintenance even when they’re parked 90% of the time. That’s why I’ve never bought one. I don’t want to deal with the headaches even though the financial part is probably sound for me, the hassle factor is high.