Construction machinery rental

In the world of road construction, deciding whether to invest in your own fleet of machinery is a thorny question that can seriously affect a company’s success. With latest-generation machines carrying seven-figure price tags — just think of GPS-assisted finishing machines, road rollers, certain high-yield planers and asphalt pavers — such a purchase can represent an unsustainable financial burden to a small company unlikely to see a return on its investment in the short term. And it’s not just the purchase itself: depreciation, maintenance and technological obsolescence make these assets an even greater drain on the budgets of micro-enterprises, which are widespread in Italy.

This is why trends are shifting away from equipment ownership and towardrental.

In this context, rental is no longer just a convenient alternative but a strategic solution: freeing up capital, guaranteeing access to the most cutting-edge technology, and transforming a fixed cost into a variable one that provides an unprecedented competitive advantage.

This situation is well known to Assodimi/Assonolo, the association representing the machine, materials and equipment distribution and rental sector in Italy. The members - consisting of distributors, renters, service companies and manufacturers - are assisted by the administrative office and a technical committee of experts, with the aim of improving the entire industry. FAE joined the association in 2025, with its range of road construction machines.

FAE models best suited for rental in road construction applications include the RPL/SSL and RPM/SSL road planers for skid steers, and RWL/SSL and RWM/SSL wheel saws for skid steers. While for roadside maintenance, the best models include the BL0/EX and PML/EX excavator mulchers and the RCU55 remote-controlled tracked carrier equipped with the BL1/RCU mulcher.

Marco Prosperi, director of Assodimi, explains the current situation in Italy's rental market. 'The Italian rental market has experienced years of strong growth across multiple sectors, including construction, industry and infrastructure.

In the road construction sector in particular, we are seeing a significant change in trend compared to the past, with many companies deciding to rent machinery rather than buy it. From our perspective, in a sector where there were few specialised rental companies, an increasing number of rental companies are adding road machinery and equipment to their fleets to meet their customers' increasingly diverse needs. We find this trend extremely interesting given that capital goods, especially road machinery, require targeted maintenance and constant attention during use. These two aspects have a direct impact on safety, and finally, a large proportion of users recognise the attention that rental companies pay to safety. This is one of the criteria that identifies a professional rental company."

The future of the Italian rental industry looks promising, especially when based on a specialized, reliable and comprehensive customer service. Indeed, businesses are not just looking for machinery, but for consultancy and technical support too. Working with companies that can offer a full range of models to cover a broad variety of construction site needs will be a great added value, both for companies renting the models and for those using them.