URI vs DLR Comparison

United Rentals is the world's largest equipment rental company, principally operating in the US and Canada. It has 16% share in a highly fragmented market serving general industrial (49%), commercial construction (46%), and residential construction (5%). The company operates a $21 billion fleet of equipment, including aerial platforms, forklifts, excavators, trucks, power generators, and various other materials serving local and national accounts from nearly 1,600 locations in North America and 100 abroad. It has pursued a strategy of bundling specialty rental capabilities to offer its customers more advanced solutions in addition to its core equipment rental business, supporting its ambitions to become a one-stop shop for customers and enhance and maintain its margin profile.

Digital Realty owns and operates over 300 data centers worldwide. It has nearly 40 million rentable square feet across five continents. Digital's offerings range from retail co-location, where an enterprise may rent a single cabinet and rely on Digital to provide all the accommodations, to "cold shells," where hyperscale cloud service providers can simply rent much, or all, of a barren, power-connected building. In recent years, Digital Realty has deemphasized cold shells and now primarily provides higher-level service to tenants that outsource their related IT needs to Digital. The company operates as a real estate investment trust.