Friday quiz: What isn’t in Trump’s budget cuts? The extent of US rental theft | Iberian power outage
08 May 2025
It’s the International Rental News weekly quiz - how much attention have you been paying to events in the world of equipment rental over the past seven days?
An overhead view of a Caterpillar unit surrounded by people and other machines. Image: Caterpillar
1) President Trump has proposed a budget that would cut non-defence discretionary spending by US$163 billion for fiscal year 2026, which runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, and would impact the construction and infrastructure sectors. Which department is NOT expected to be hit by the squeeze?
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development
- The Department of Energy
- The Department of Homeland Security
2) The American Rental Association (ARA) estimates that roughly how many machines are stolen from US rental firms each month?
- 36
- 360
- 3,600
3) Last week’s massive power outage in Spain and Portugal left rental firms scrambling to continue operations. Alayan, which operates in Spain and Portugal, reported using what method to contact some customers?
- A colleague located in the Canary Islands was able to reach clients still connected by mobile and relay messages to the main office via Teams and email
- Each depot gathered a small group of between six and ten key staff who were dispatched on foot to key jobsites
- The firm used a satellite phone to communicate with larger customers during the outage
4) Terex Corp.’s Aerial Work Platforms (AWP) segment, which includes Genie and Terex Utilities reported that Q1 operating profit this year dropped -97% to $2 million from $92 million in Q1 2024. What reason did the company give for this?
- Increased competition – especially from Chinese rivals – cutting into market share
- Increased raw materials and energy costs
- A strategic production “pullback” that aligned with softening market conditions
5) Caterpillar has announced new technology features for its next generation medium wheel loaders, covering the 950, 962, 966, 966 XE, 972, 972 XE, 980, 980 XE, 982 and 982 XE models. What new feature is NOT included?
- Programmable Kickouts for reduced operator fatigue
- Auto Set Tires for improved digging technique and fill factors
- A milk frother
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