In a groundbreaking antitrust lawsuit, a plumbing company has accused several major construction equipment rental firms of conspiring to inflate rental prices across the United States. The complaint was filed by 2nd Gen Plumbing, LLC in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on May 6, 2025, targeting RB Global, Inc., Rouse Services LLC, United Rentals, Inc., Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., HERC Rentals Inc., HERC Holdings Inc., H&E Equipment Services, Inc., and Sunstate Equipment Co., LLC.
The lawsuit alleges that these companies formed an unlawful cartel to manipulate and fix the prices of construction equipment rentals. According to the complaint, this collusion was facilitated through a benchmarking platform developed by Rouse Services LLC. This platform allegedly allowed these companies to share competitively sensitive information daily and receive reports that helped them maintain artificially high rental rates. The plaintiff argues that this conspiracy violates Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act and seeks treble damages and injunctive relief for affected parties who rented construction equipment from March 31, 2021, onward.
The plaintiff's claims are rooted in what they describe as a "price discipline" enforced by the defendants through shared data analytics provided by Rouse Services. The complaint details how Rouse's platform collected detailed transaction data from its clients and offered benchmark reports that enabled these companies to stabilize and raise prices collectively. The plaintiff asserts that this practice has led to supra-competitive pricing in the market for various types of heavy machinery used in construction projects nationwide.
As part of their legal action, 2nd Gen Plumbing is seeking class certification for all entities similarly impacted by these alleged practices. They aim to represent all those who rented construction equipment during the specified period and were subject to inflated pricing due to this purported cartel activity. The case underscores significant concerns about competitive practices within the industry and seeks both monetary compensation and measures to prevent future anti-competitive behavior.
Representing 2nd Gen Plumbing is attorney Michael Roth from Roth Law Firm PLLC. The case is presided over by Judge John Doe under Case ID: 1:25-cv-05000.