There's no denying the rental industry contributes greatly to society by providing equipment to customers who develop neighborhoods, pave roads, repair bridges and build schools. Although these are all essential components of life, an unforgettable contribution was made the hours, days and now months following the morning of Sept. 11.

That day companies throughout the industry shifted everyday priorities and acted quickly to provide for others. Removing the 1.2 million tons of debris from the fallen World Trade Center towers requires thousands of pieces of equipment and many workers to operate them. The rental industry has provided both.

Ken Holden, commissioner of the New York City Department of Design and Construction, says DDC has split the site into four parts each managed by contractor-led teams. The companies in charge of the clean up efforts in each of the four parts are: Turner Construction Co. and Plaza Construction; AMEC Construction Management; Bovis Lend Lease; and Tully Construction Co.

Senior vice president of Turner Construction Peter Davoren says the attack affected more than 30 million square feet of space. Dozens of companies have donated equipment and money to help in clearing away the destruction, but none of the contributions quite compare to the direct ones provided by the individuals in the initial moments after and since the attacks. What follows are just a few of the individual stories.

Hours after the attacks authorities contacted United Rentals requesting manpower and equipment. Holden was quoted by David Chartock of New York Construction News as saying, “The initial request was for light towers, so we could see what was going on and to allow the fire department to fight the fires. That Tuesday night and Wednesday morning was a mad scramble for light towers.”

Part of that scramble were Pete Mason, regional manager, and Paul Englehart, jobsite specialist, both of Wacker Corp. The two delivered light towers from Wacker's New Jersey location early Wednesday morning. Mason was ready for bed when he received a call from United Rentals at 10 p.m. Sept. 11. “I never thought twice about it,” he says. “We just looked at it as these people needed this stuff, and we were going to get it to them.”

The two waited on the George Washington Bridge behind FedEx trucks and a group of firefighters from Pennsylvania at 3:30 in the morning. They were part of the few let through and when driving across the bridge were the only ones on it. “When you looked down the Hudson River, the whole southern tip of Manhattan was black,” Mason describes. “There were no lights. You could see the smoke. It was just mind-boggling. You couldn't tell where the river stopped and started. The magnitude of the whole thing — that's what strikes you. When you see it in person and when you see it on TV, it's completely different. It's more traumatic in person, and you realize 5,000 people are buried in there. It's very humbling.”

Mason reports just about every contractor from the East Coast was there dropping something off or picking something up. He and Englehart took two towers to the United Rentals Flushing location, then returned to New Jersey, picked up two more and delivered those to a distribution center in Battery Park. “The one thing that I really noticed is how it brought everyone together,” Mason says. “Everyone was in agreement. I've never seen anything like it in this country. That part of it was neat. I guess there's always something good out of something bad.”

Others helped set up light towers at Ground Zero. “I told Deputy Chief Campbell of the New York City Fire Department that United Rentals had 35 portable light towers staged a few blocks away,” says Chris Makinen, merchandise manager of United Rentals. “He looked at me and said, ‘Light this place up like a Christmas tree.’ Our towers were used to light up streets, the temporary morgue, a press area and, most important, in the actual rubble piles to help the steel and rescue workers.

“I felt like I was on a different planet. Everything was devastated. It was ominous. The air was filled with smoke, dust and a chemical aroma.”

Chet Judkins, Northeast regional maintenance and equipment manager of United Rentals helped service the equipment. “Because of the amount of dust and particles in the air, the engines were quickly clogged causing some of the equipment to have operational problems,” Judkins says. “At the scene where I was delivering light towers, I could see forklifts stacking burnt out cars one on top of another. There was a bus with the top blown off parked just across from the World Trade Center stairs. The air smelled like an electrical fire and there was no way to get away from the stench. There was dust and debris everywhere and within seconds my clothes were completely coated. All the buildings surrounding where the World Trade Center once was were completely gray, as though they had instantly aged.”

Randall Foreman, sales coordinator from the United Rentals College Point, N.Y. branch discusses his experience. “I was at the command centers and at Ground Zero delivering and setting up equipment all day Tuesday through Wednesday, and on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. I was directed out of the site. During that whole time I only got four hours sleep in my truck on Wednesday night, but it didn't matter — I was running on adrenaline for 40 hours. I don't think I would have even left on Thursday if they hadn't forced me to.

“I've seen some of our customers who come into the branch regularly working on rescue efforts at Ground Zero, and I think we all look at each other differently now. We will always have a certain bond from this that can't be described in words.”