Federal Signal says orders at its Environmental Solutions Group, home of its vacuum truck brands, jumped in the third quarter while that group's backlog barely moved. Alamo Group, owner of Super Products, says vacuum trucks led a rise in its industrial orders even as costs squeezed margins. The big rental fleets report busier equipment, with Sunbelt reporting improving rate momentum and Herc reporting better pricing alongside higher transportation and fuel costs. Badger, which calls itself North America's largest provider of non-destructive excavation, reports Nov. 5. Here is what the fall numbers say so far, and what to watch next.
Badger Infrastructure Solutions, which describes itself as North America's largest provider of non-destructive excavation, does not report its third quarter until after the market closes on Thursday, Nov. 5. Much of the rest of the chain has already reported. Federal Signal, parent of the Vactor and TRUVAC brands, said orders in its Environmental Solutions Group were "up 43% year-over-year, including organic growth in the high teens," while that group's backlog ended September at $901.2 million against $903.8 million a year earlier. Alamo Group, owner of Super Products, said industrial order intake strengthened, "with particularly encouraging activity in vacuum trucks and sweepers." Custom Truck One Source named vacuum among the markets leading a 22% rise in orders. United Rentals posted record rental revenue and raised its full-year guidance, and Herc posted record equipment rental revenue on a busier fleet and raised its 2026 guidance, though Herc said its operating costs were pushed up by "increased transportation and fuel expenses as a result of continued macroeconomic headwinds." For contractors, the fall scorecard so far says truck orders are still climbing, and Federal Signal's Environmental Solutions Group is holding its backlog roughly flat rather than working it down.
The fall scorecard
| Company | Reported | Hydrovac link | Headline result | Supply, backlog or rate signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Signal | Oct. 29 | Vactor, TRUVAC, Guzzler brands | ESG net sales $563.8M vs $465.5M | ESG orders $529.7M vs $371.1M; backlog $901.2M vs $903.8M |
| Custom Truck One Source | Oct. 26 | Vacuum among order leaders | Rental revenue up 20.1% | Orders up 22%, backlog $342M |
| United Rentals | Oct. 21 | Specialty segment rents trench safety gear | Rental revenue $4.316B, up 17.8% | Fleet productivity up 6.5% |
| Herc | Oct. 27 | Utilities on its opportunity list | Equipment rental revenue $1,254M, up 12% | Dollar utilization 43.5% vs 39.9% |
| Clean Harbors | Oct. 28 | Industrial Services | Revenue $1.87B, up 21% | Industrial Services $336.7M vs $332.1M |
| Alamo Group | Nov. 2 | Vacuum trucks in its vocational lineup | Industrial net sales $232.8M vs $247.0M | Industrial bookings $217.9M vs $175.5M; backlog $350.4M vs $438.1M |
| Badger | Due Nov. 5 | Builds its own hydrovacs in Red Deer | Not yet reported | Q2 fleet of 1,822 hydrovacs |
Comparisons in the table are against the same quarter a year earlier. Federal Signal, Alamo Group, Custom Truck One Source, United Rentals, Herc and Clean Harbors reported quarters that ended Sept. 30. Sunbelt Rentals, discussed below, runs a fiscal year, and its latest reported quarter ended July 31.
What Badger's release will answer
Our Oct. 1 scorecard ended on one open question: whether Badger's price increases stuck. The answer comes with the release on Nov. 5 and a conference call at 9:00 a.m. EST on Friday, Nov. 6. Until then, these are the second-quarter baselines it will be measured against.
Price. In July, Badger said that as fleet utilization rose through the second quarter it began to realize pricing opportunities across its markets. Revenue per truck per month, which captures rate and utilization together, was $47,731, up 14% from $41,867. CEO Rob Blackadar said at the time, "As we move through our peak operating season, we continue to see extraordinary demand". Because the work is seasonal, the fairer test is the year-over-year change Badger reports for the third quarter.
Fleet. Badger ended June with 1,822 hydrovacs, up from 1,682, and planned 270 to 310 new builds and 130 to 150 retirements for 2026. Its Sept. 28 notice describes the Red Deer, Alberta plant as having an annual production capacity of more than 350 units.
U.S. plant. "Badger is conducting a fulsome process to develop a second manufacturing facility, located in the U.S.," the July release said, with an opening as early as the second half of 2027 or first half of 2028. The July release named no site, and the plant sits outside the 2026 capital range of $188 million to $230 million. Badger cited Section 232 heavy-truck tariffs of 25% on non-U.S. content and tariff exposure of $18 million to $30 million.
Federal Signal: orders up, backlog flat
Federal Signal's consolidated third-quarter net sales were $656 million, up 18%, and orders were $620 million, up 33%. Consolidated backlog was $967 million at Sept. 30, against $992 million a year earlier. CEO Jennifer Sherman said, "Demand for our products and our aftermarket offerings remains strong overall."
The Environmental Solutions Group, home of the vacuum truck brands, carried the quarter. Orders rose to $529.7 million from $371.1 million, net sales to $563.8 million from $465.5 million. Federal Signal's 10-Q says the group's sales rose "primarily due to the effects of acquisitions and pricing actions." In the U.S., most of the gain came from other specialty equipment, "primarily driven by higher sales of refuse trucks due to the New Way acquisition," and metal-extraction support equipment, while U.S. vacuum truck sales fell $5.5 million. Outside the U.S., vacuum truck sales rose $5.3 million, so the group's vacuum truck sales were roughly flat overall.
That breakdown is a reminder that the group's orders are not a pure hydrovac figure; the segment also sells refuse trucks, and only the high-teens portion of the 43% order growth was organic, meaning it came from businesses Federal Signal already owned, with the rest from acquisitions. Refuse also explains part of the backlog picture. Federal Signal stopped taking new orders for third-party (Labrie) refuse trucks in the fourth quarter of 2025, and its third-quarter backlog still includes about $33 million of those refuse orders. Excluding Labrie refuse sales, the company reported mid single-digit organic net sales growth. In the quarter, the group shipped $563.8 million of product against $529.7 million of new orders, a book-to-bill (new orders divided by sales) of about 0.94, so it delivered a little more than it booked. Federal Signal did not comment on lead times.
New trucks are still getting more expensive. The 10-Q puts the group's gross margin at 26.4%, against 26.3% a year earlier, crediting "favorable sales mix and benefits from pricing actions, partially offset by higher material costs." Federal Signal's filings do not put a number on how much of the growth came from price.
Federal Signal narrowed its 2026 net sales outlook to $2.61 billion to $2.64 billion, from $2.58 billion to $2.67 billion, which it said was primarily due to anticipated delays in deliveries of third-party refuse trucks.
Alamo Group: vacuum truck orders up, margins squeezed
Alamo Group, owner of Super Products, reported after the close on Nov. 2. Its Industrial Equipment Division, which makes the company's vacuum trucks, street sweepers, roadside safety equipment, excavators and snow removal equipment, posted net sales of $232.8 million, down 5.8% from $247.0 million. The release blamed softer end-market conditions and the timing of orders earlier in the year, partly offset by the Petersen acquisition; without Petersen, division sales fell about 12.6%.
Orders moved the other way. Industrial bookings were $217.9 million against $175.5 million a year earlier, about 24% higher. CEO Robert Hureau said "order intake strengthened during the third quarter, with particularly encouraging activity in vacuum trucks and sweepers, reinforcing our confidence in the underlying strength of the business." Bookings still trailed sales, a book-to-bill of about 0.94, so Industrial backlog slipped to $350.4 million at Sept. 30, from $438.1 million a year earlier and from $365.3 million at the end of June. The company said current backlog levels support appropriate customer lead times.
Costs are the catch. Industrial adjusted EBITDA fell to $31.1 million, or 13.4% of net sales, from $38.2 million, or 15.5%, which Hureau tied to higher material and freight costs. He added, "We have taken decisive pricing actions to address these higher costs, although the timing of those actions lagged inflation during the quarter."
"Our Industrial Equipment Division experienced margin pressure during the quarter from elevated material and freight costs."
Robert Hureau, Alamo Group, in the company's third-quarter release
Company-wide, net sales were $403.1 million, down 4.0%, and net income fell to $2.0 million from $25.4 million, after $33.3 million of net pre-tax charges for selling and winding down several businesses and product lines, including Boxerand Dixie Chopper, neither of them hydrovac products. After the quarter, on Oct. 27, Alamo acquired Econ Engineering, a U.K. maker of roadway maintenance vocational trucks, for £120.0 million ($158.7 million), plus customary closing adjustments. Management discusses the results on a call at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Rental fleets are busier, and rates are firming slowly
The rental companies offer a public read on what contractors pay for the gear around a hydrovac job, from trench shoring to pumps and power. Their numbers point to fuller fleets and firmer pricing, with a cost catch.
United Rentals. Rental revenue rose 17.8% to a quarterly record of $4.316 billion, built from a 7.9% increase in average original equipment at cost, a 6.5% increase in fleet productivity and a 4.9% contribution from ancillary and re-rent revenue. Original equipment at cost is what the fleet cost to buy new. Specialty rental revenue, which includes trench safety, climbed 34.7% to $1.704 billion. The 10-Q says that segment rents trench shields, aluminum hydraulic shoring systems, slide rails and crossing plates. CEO Matthew Flannery said the company opened "12 cold starts which brings us to 40 cold starts year-to-date" (newly opened branches) in specialty, that "Power once again posted double-digit growth,"and that "we think 2027 is going to be a growth year."
Herc. Equipment rental revenue reached $1,254 million, up 12%, driven by "a slightly larger average fleet size, an increase in volume on mega projects and acquisition revenue synergies." Dollar utilization, a fleet's yearly rental revenue as a share of what the equipment cost new, rose to 43.5% from 39.9% while average fleet grew only 1.7%. CEO Larry Silber said "pricing improvement and a higher specialty mix further enhanced fleet efficiency," while direct operating costs rose to 42.4% of equipment rental revenue from 41.6%, which Herc tied mainly to "increased transportation and fuel expenses as a result of continued macroeconomic headwinds." Its updated outlook assumes "Fuel inflation persists through remainder of 2026" and raises net rental equipment spending guidance to $1.0 billion to $1.1 billion, from $850 million to $950 million.
Sunbelt. For the quarter ended July 31, Sunbelt's North America Specialty rental revenue rose 25.3% to $1.07 billion, with dollar utilization at 77% from 74%. CFO Alex Pease said "the momentum with rate has been improving as we've gone through the year, and we're continuing to see that in through August."
Used equipment. United Rentals sold used fleet for $348 million at a 46.3% adjusted gross margin. Flannery said "The demand for used equipment remains strong," and CFO Ted Grace said "it feels like the market is normalized."
The industry view is steadier. ARA's latest quarterly forecast, reported Aug. 24, 2026, projects U.S. construction, industrial and general tool rental revenue up 3.4% in 2026 to $83.5 billion, then 4.4% in 2027 and 5.1% in 2028. ARA's Tom Doyle cautioned that "While rental revenue has increased, the results are mixed."
"If you have any of the large infrastructure projects or data center buildouts, you're in a stronger market with generally better results."
Tom Doyle, American Rental Association, via Rental Equipment Register
Vacuum truck rentals: more income, some late deliveries
Federal Signal's 10-Q shows Environmental Solutions rental income of $23.0 million in the third quarter, up from $18.5 million. That is a gain of about 24%. The company's earnings presentation said the group's aftermarket net sales rose 21%, "with double-digit net sales increases in parts, used equipment sales, and rental income."
Custom Truck One Source, a truck builder, dealer and rental fleet, reported rental revenue up 20.1% and utilization of 81.5% versus 79.3%. Its orders rose 22%, "led by the utility, vacuum, refuse, rail and trailer markets," and backlog in its truck and equipment sales business reached $342 million. Delivery dates proved fragile: "More than $20 million of third-party deliveries shifted out of the third quarter as a result of a hailstorm at our Kansas City facility and a vendor warranty recall," with those units expected in the fourth quarter. On the utility side, CFO Chris Eperjesy described "the early stages of what could be a once-in-a-generation transmission demand super-cycle."
Clean Harbors: strong quarter, flat industrial line
Clean Harbors reported revenue up 21% to a record $1.87 billion and adjusted EBITDA up 42% to $456.1 million. Field Services grew more than 70% with help from one substantial event that generated approximately $120 million of revenue at emergency response rates. Industrial Services, the line closest to industrial vacuum work, was nearly flat at $336.7 million against $332.1 million. The release said "data center offerings are getting traction within Industrial Services." The filings do not break out hydro excavation.
Deals: consolidation reaches tanks, slurry and Houston
Federal Signal and Global Vacuum Systems. On Oct. 28, Federal Signal closed its purchase of Global Vacuum Systems for an initial payment of about $29 million. The Navasota, Texas company builds custom code and non-code liquid vacuum tank trucks and had about $12 million of 2025 net sales. Federal Signal says GVS "fills a product gap within our vacuum truck portfolio." These are liquid tankers, not hydro-excavators, but the deal adds Texas build capacity.
Superior Hydrovac and Delta Daylighting. On Oct. 5, Superior Hydrovac, part of Peak Utility Services Group, said it had acquired Delta Daylighting, a Houston-based hydrovac and daylighting provider, and will fold it into Superior. Terms were not disclosed. Peak COO Chris Reinmiller called Delta "a highly strategic addition to our growing hydrovac business."
Arvia, Vacterra and Clearwater. In British Columbia, a set of transactions put Vacterra Hydrovac and Clearwater Environmental alongside Arvia Environmental Systems under OTC-quoted Protect Pharmaceutical Corp., which agreed to adopt the name Arvia Environmental Holdings Ltd. Vacterra provides hydro-excavation across the province, and Clearwater "operates a hydrovac transfer station that processes and recycles non-contaminated hydrovac slurry."
Clean Harbors closes both deals. Clean Harbors closed ES&H on Sept. 18 for $300.7 million and EnviroServe on Oct. 2 for about $470 million, both net of cash acquired. Together the two are expected to bring about $340 million of annual revenue and about $87 million of post-synergy adjusted EBITDA, an 8.9 times multiple. EnviroServe adds a network of 40 locations offering industrial cleaning, remediation, rail services and emergency response.
Still to come
Toro, owner of Tornado, has not reported its fiscal fourth quarter; its last release covered the quarter ended July 31. EquipmentShare is scheduled to report after the close Nov. 9. The utility and pipeline contractors that hire hydrovac crews, including Quanta and MasTec, posted record backlogs; we cover them in a separate report.
What this means for hydrovac operators
Ask for delivery dates in writing. Federal Signal's Environmental Solutions Group, which includes its vacuum truck brands, booked 43% more orders than a year ago (organic growth in the high teens), and its 10-Q credits pricing actions for part of the group's sales growth. Alamo booked about 24% more industrial orders, led by vacuum trucks and sweepers, and is raising prices to catch up with material and freight costs. Custom Truck showed that a hailstorm or a recall can push deliveries a quarter. A contractor in Midland, Texas, planning spring capacity should get delivery dates in writing.
Use rental data in rate talks, carefully. The big fleets report higher utilization, Sunbelt says rate momentum improved through August, and Herc says pricing improved while its transportation and fuel costs climbed, with fuel inflation expected to last through the rest of 2026. That is a fair cost argument when renewing a master service agreement in Houston, Texas, or Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Rental is a real bridge. Federal Signal's Environmental Solutions rental income rose from $18.5 million to $23.0 million. For a Denver, Colorado crew waiting on a new truck, rental or used units are worth pricing, and United Rentals says the used market feels normalized.
Watch disposal and adjacent players. Slurry processing is now part of hydrovac deals in British Columbia, and Clean Harbors has added EnviroServe's 40 locations, which include industrial cleaning. Know who controls the disposal sites you depend on.
Mind the two-speed market. ARA says results are mixed and stronger near large infrastructure and data center builds. Bid lists should follow where the large jobs are.
Badger's Nov. 5 release is the next read on hydrovac service rates.
Hydrovac News covers the safety, regulatory and operational developments shaping the hydro-excavation industry. For ongoing coverage, subscribe to our newsletter.
Sources
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