United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) today announced the appointment of Kurt Barker as executive vice president ? corporate services. Mr. Barker has over 15 years of senior management experience with public companies, including nearly 10 years with United Rentals. He joined the company upon its founding in 1997 as vice president ? east region and subsequently served as vice president for the aerial, midwest and highway technologies regions.

In his new role, Mr. Barker assumes the leadership and oversight of the company's core operations of sales and marketing, fleet management, service and maintenance, strategic sourcing and information technology.

Michael J. Kneeland, chief operating officer for United Rentals, said, "We are fortunate to have the benefit of Kurt's strong analytical skills in his new role. His considerable industry experience and management expertise will continue to be an asset to our company."

Prior to United Rentals, Mr. Barker was a region vice president with United Waste Systems, Inc., and held various operating positions with Chambers Development Corp., Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. and Silver King Mines, Inc. He holds a bachelor of science in engineering from South Dakota State University.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world, with an integrated network of nearly 700 rental locations in 48 states, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company's 12,000 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company offers for rent over 20,000 classes of rental equipment with a total original cost of $3.9 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor's MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 2000 Index® and is headquartered in Greenwich, Conn. Additional information about United Rentals is available at unitedrentals.com.