SET-ting the equipment rental industry standard

Frequently asked questions

• What is a Taxonomy?

  A taxonomy is a means of organizing and classifying ...

  A taxonomy is a means of organizing and classifying different related elements in group of items. In the case of equipment rental, a taxonomy offers a standard way to organize rental fleets. In this manner, unique elements of that fleet can be identified for comparison to like items across the industry.
  
  An example from ARA’s Standard Equipment Taxonomy.
  
• What is ARA SET?

  The ARA Standard Equipment Taxonomy, ARA SET ...

  The ARA Standard Equipment Taxonomy, ARA SET, is an equipment organization and classification scheme and standard data model for fleet and transactional data in the rental industry. Many people have contributed to ARA SET including industry experts, OEMs and our members. ARA SET reflects the most impactful trends in the rental industry.
  
• How do I use ARA SET?

  Use ARA SET to organize your fleet to an industry standard ...

  Use ARA SET to organize your fleet to an industry standard. New, start-up rental companies can get a head start on the market by using ARA SET to organize their fleets and market their services via the web. Someone installing new rental software or migrating to a new system may use this change as the perfect opportunity to organize on the industry standard. When rental companies decide to share their anonymized data, doing so via an industry standard can make it easy to compare their performance to their peers in their metro area, region and nationally.
  
  ARA will be offering a service whereby a rental company can send their make and model inventory to ARA, and for a fee, ARA will suggest an organization scheme in alignment with the standard. Rental software providers can help implement it. Contact ARA for more information.
• Why has ARA launched ARA SET?

  The rental industry generates enormous amounts of fleet and ...

  The rental industry generates enormous amounts of fleet and transactional data. ARA has responded to this challenge at the behest of members who would like a standard way to organize their fleets and share data about their activities. No such rental industry Standard Equipment Taxonomy exists today. Due to ARA’s unique role in the industry as a neutral, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting members and rental activity in general, ARA is the only industry player in a position to establish this standard.
  
  Greater opportunities to democratize access to data in the rental industry rely on data standards. ARA SET is the new standard for rental industry data.
• I am a small rental store owner. How does it benefit me?

  Organizing with ARA SET can facilitate comparing your fleet and ...

  Organizing with ARA SET can facilitate comparing your fleet and performance to others in the industry. By having industry standard category classes, it makes it easier to respond to customer inquiries and price quotes. ARA SET also provides a ready-made structure for web sales.
• Will there be regular updates to ARA SET?

  Yes! Updates to the basic taxonomy, levels 1, 2, and 3, will be provided ...

  Yes! Updates to the basic taxonomy, levels 1, 2, and 3, will be provided at least annually, but no more than semi-annually, depending on how many changes there are and how significant their impact. This structure does not change often, and we plan to enhance it as rental companies take on more product lines and the industry evolves.
• Are you planning to add make and model information to the taxonomy?

  Yes, and we already have thousands of machines in our make and model ...

  Yes, and we already have thousands of machines in our make and model database. We will continue to invest in gathering more models, plus aliases for manufactures and models. Due to the cost of maintaining this information, this information will be provided on a subscription basis. More on these options will be announced shortly. Please contact us if you have questions.
• Will ARA SET be available in my rental management software?

  ARA is making ARA SET available to rental software developers ...

  ARA is making ARA SET available to rental software developers, tell your provider that you would like to leverage the power of ARA SET through their software.