The National Heavy Equipment Show 2026 brought together professionals from across the rental and construction industry at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. From business owners and operations managers to field teams working on-site every day, the event created space for real conversations around how equipment businesses are actually running today. 

For the PREXA365 team, this show was less about showcasing their rental management software and more about listening. We connected with people across different roles and company sizes, and one thing became clear very quickly – many of the same operational challenges are still widely present across the industry. 

Across conversations at the booth and on the floor, a few themes kept coming up repeatedly. Asset visibility continues to be a major concern. Teams often struggle to track where equipment is, who is using it, and what condition it is in at any given time. 

Coordination between the office and the field is another ongoing issue. Many teams still rely on calls, messages, and manual updates to stay aligned, which slows down operations and creates room for errors. 

The challenges of day-to-day operational tracking also came up frequently. Whether it’s managing internal rentals, keeping records updated, or handling damage and theft prevention, most teams are still working with disconnected systems or manual processes. 

One of the most interesting takeaways from the show was how many businesses are still heavily dependent on spreadsheets. From tracking assets to managing rentals and reporting, Excel & Spreadsheets continue to play a central role in operations. 

While it works to a certain extent, it also creates challenges – data duplication, lack of real-time updates, and limited visibility across teams. Many professionals we spoke to were aware of these gaps but were unsure about the next step toward a more connected system. 

What stood out most was how universal these challenges are. Whether it was a small rental business or a larger operation, the core issues remained the same. Different scales, same problems. 

This highlights a broader shift happening in the industry. Businesses are starting to look for ways to move beyond manual processes and bring their operations into a single system of asset management that can provide better visibility and control.