Exhibit 99

           CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS PURSUANT TO THE SECURITIES LITIGATION
                               REFORM ACT OF 1995

      We wish to inform our investors of the following important factors that in
some cases have affected, and in the future could affect, our results of
operations and that could cause such future results of operations to differ
materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or
on our behalf. Disclosure of these factors is intended to permit us to take
advantage of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. We have discussed many of these factors in prior SEC
filings. Though we have attempted to list comprehensively these important
cautionary factors, we wish to caution investors that other factors may in the
future prove to be important in affecting our results of operations.

Our business is highly cyclical and seasonal.

      Historically, sales of our products have been subject to cyclical
variations caused by changes in general economic conditions. The demand for our
products reflects the capital investment decisions of our customers, which
depend upon the general economic conditions of the markets that our customers
serve, including, particularly, the construction and industrial sectors of the
North American and European economies. During periods of expansion in
construction and industrial activity, we generally have benefited from increased
demand for our products. Conversely, downward economic cycles in construction
and industrial activities result in reductions in sales and pricing of our
products, which may reduce our profits and cash flow. During economic downturns,
customers also tend to delay purchases of new products. In addition, our
business is highly seasonal with the majority of our sales occurring in the
spring and summer months which constitute the traditional construction season.
The cyclical and seasonal nature of our business could at times adversely affect
our liquidity and ability to borrow under our credit facilities.

Our customer base is consolidated and a relatively small number of customers
account for a majority of our sales.

      Our principal customers are equipment rental companies that purchase our
equipment and rent it to end-users. In recent years, there has been substantial
consolidation among rental companies, particularly in North America, which is
our largest market. A limited number of these companies accounts for a
substantial majority of our sales. Some of these large customers are burdened by
substantial debt and have limited liquidity, which has recently constrained
their ability to purchase additional equipment and has contributed to their
decision to significantly reduce capital spending. Purchasing patterns by some
of these large customers also can be erratic with large volume purchases during
one period followed by periods of limited purchasing activity. Any substantial
change in purchasing decisions by one or more of our major customers, whether
due to actions by our competitors, customer financial constraints or otherwise,
could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, the reduction of the
number of customers has increased competition, in particular on the basis of
pricing.

If the capital goods market worsens, the cost saving efforts we have implemented
may not be sufficient to achieve the benefits we expect.

      We announced certain actions to streamline operations and reduce costs,
including a number of implemented and pending facilities closures and other
global organizational and process consolidations. As a result of these actions,
we expect to realize annualized costs savings that exceed the costs to be
incurred in taking these actions. If the economy continues to worsen, the
capital goods market does not improve, or our revenues are lower than our
expectations, the efforts we have implemented may not achieve the benefits we
expect.

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Our customers need financing to purchase our products, which exposes us to
additional credit risk.

      Availability and cost of financing are significant factors that affect
demand for our products. Many of our customers can purchase equipment only when
financing is available to them at a reasonable cost. Some of our customers are
unable to obtain all of the financing needed to fully fund their entire demand
of our equipment from banks or other third-party credit providers. We offer a
variety of financing programs and terms to our customers. These include open
account sales, installment sales, finance leases, and guarantees or other credit
enhancements of financing provided to our customers by third parties. Our
financing transactions expose us to credit risk, including the risk of default
by customers and any disparity between the cost and maturity of our funding
sources and the yield and maturity of financing that we provide to our
customers. We believe that our customers are most likely to seek financing from
us in down economic cycles, which increases our risk in providing this
financing.

We may not realize cash flow from our financial services operations.

      Our Access Financial Solutions segment, which includes leases, loans and
guarantees, is new and has grown rapidly. Although we recognize revenues from
sales in which we provide financing, providing financing to our customers
requires us to use cash from operations or borrowings. If we are unable to
monetize the finance receivables that we originate, we may not realize positive
cash flow from these activities, which could adversely affect our results of
operations and liquidity.

We may not be able to satisfy all credit requests by our customers.

      Due to restrictions contained in our senior credit facilities and our
otherwise limited capital, we may not be able to fund or otherwise satisfy all
credit requests by our customers, which could adversely affect our future sales.
Our ability to continue to meet customer credit needs depends largely on our
ability to generate funds by syndicating or securitizing finance receivables,
either by selling them to a third party or by getting a loan from a third party
secured by such finance receivables, or our ability through credit enhancements
or otherwise to induce third parties to extend credit to our customers. Factors
that may affect our prospects for completing such monetization transactions
include the credit quality and customer concentration of our existing and future
portfolios of finance receivables, market availability for such transactions,
and current and potential changes in accounting rules that may impact the
accounting treatment of monetization transactions. As with financing provided by
third parties in which we offer credit enhancement, in some securitizations and
sales of finance receivables, we expect the third party to have limited recourse
to us. If we are unable to generate funds through these or other types of
monetization transactions, or otherwise induce third parties to satisfy customer
credit demands, we may be unable to sustain our future business plan.

We may experience credit losses in excess of our allowances and reserves for
doubtful accounts.

      We evaluate the collectibility of open accounts and finance receivables
based on a combination of factors and established reserves based on our
estimates of potential losses. In circumstances where we are aware of a specific
customer's inability to meet its financial obligations, a specific reserve is
recorded against amounts due to reduce the net recognized receivable to the
amount reasonably expected to be collected. Additional reserves are established
based upon our perception of the quality of the current receivables, the current
financial position of our customers and past experience of collectibility. Our
finance receivables portfolio has grown rapidly and our historical loss
experience is limited and therefore may not necessarily be indicative of future
loss experience. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate
resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional
allowances would be required.

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We operate in a highly competitive industry.

      We compete in a highly competitive industry. To compete successfully, our
products must excel in terms of quality, price, breadth of product line,
efficiency of use and maintenance costs, safety and comfort, and we must also
provide excellent customer service. The greater financial resources of certain
of our competitors and their ability to provide additional customer financing or
pricing discounts may put us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, the
greater financial resources or the lower amount of debt of certain of our
competitors may enable them to commit larger amounts of capital in response to
changing market conditions. Certain competitors also may have the ability to
develop product or service innovations that could put us at a disadvantage. If
we are unable to compete successfully against other manufacturers of access
equipment, we could lose customers and our revenues may decline. There can also
be no assurance that customers will continue to regard our products favorably,
that we will be able to develop new products that appeal to customers, that we
will be able to improve or maintain our profit margins on sales to our customers
or that we will be able to continue to compete successfully in the access
equipment segment.

Our products involve risks of personal injury and property damage, which expose
us to potential liability.

      Our business exposes us to possible claims for personal injury or death
and property damage resulting from the use of equipment that we rent or sell. We
maintain insurance through a combination of self-insurance retentions and
excess insurance coverage. We monitor claims and potential claims of which we
become aware and establish accrued liability reserves for the self-insurance
amounts based on our liability estimates for such claims. We cannot give any
assurance that existing or future claims will not exceed our estimates for
self-insurance or the amount of our excess insurance coverage. In addition, we
cannot give any assurance that insurance will continue to be available to us on
economically reasonable terms or that our insurers would not require us to
increase our self-insurance amounts.

We may be subject to unanticipated litigation.

      We have occasionally been subject to various legal proceedings and claims,
including those with respect to intellectual property and shareholder
litigation, which have involved significant unbudgeted expenditures. The costs
and other effects of any future, unanticipated legal or administrative
proceedings may be significant.

Our manufacturing operations are dependent upon third-party suppliers, making us
vulnerable to supply shortages and price increases.

      In the manufacture of our products, we use large amounts of raw materials
and processed inputs including steel, engine components, copper and electronic
controls. We obtain raw materials and certain manufactured components from
third-party suppliers. To reduce material costs and inventories, we rely on
supplier arrangements with preferred vendors as a sole source for "just-in-time"
delivery of many raw materials and manufactured components. Because we maintain
limited raw material and component inventories, even brief unanticipated delays
in delivery by suppliers, including those due to capacity constraints, labor
disputes, impaired financial condition of suppliers, weather emergencies or
other natural disasters, may adversely affect our ability to satisfy our
customers on a timely basis and thereby affect our financial performance. This
risk increases as we continue to change our manufacturing model to more closely
align production with customer orders. In addition, recently, market prices of
some of the raw materials we use (such as steel) have increased significantly.
If we are not able to pass raw material or component price increases on to our
customers, our margins could be adversely affected.

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We face risks with respect to our introduction of new products and services.

      Our business strategy includes the introduction of new products and
services. Some of these products or services may be introduced to compete with
existing offerings of competing businesses, while others may target new and
unproven markets. We must make substantial expenditures in order to introduce
new products and services or to enter new markets. We cannot give any assurance
that our introduction of new products or services or entry into new markets will
be profitable or otherwise generate sufficient incremental revenues to recover
the expenditures necessary to launch such initiatives. Such initiatives also may
expose us to other types of regulation or liabilities than those to which our
business is currently exposed.

We may face limitations on our ability to finance future acquisitions and
integrate acquired businesses.

      As with our recently announced acquisition of the OmniQuip business unit
of Textron Inc., we intend to continue our strategy of identifying and acquiring
businesses with complementary products and services, which we believe will
enhance our operations and profitability. We may pay for future acquisitions
from internally generated funds, bank borrowings, public or private securities
offerings, or some combination of these methods. However, we may not be able to
find suitable businesses to purchase or may be unable to acquire desired
businesses or assets on economically acceptable terms. In addition, we may not
be able to raise the money necessary to complete future acquisitions. In the
event we are unable to complete future strategic acquisitions, we may not grow
in accordance with our expectations.

      In addition, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully
integrate any business we purchase into our existing business or that any
acquired businesses will be profitable. The successful integration of new
businesses depends on our ability to manage these new businesses and cut excess
costs. The successful integration of future acquisitions may also require
substantial attention from our senior management and the management of the
acquired companies, which could decrease the time that they have to service and
attract customers and develop new products and services. In addition, because we
may pursue acquisitions both in the United States and abroad and may actively
pursue a number of opportunities simultaneously, we may encounter unforeseen
expenses, complications and delays, including difficulties in employing
sufficient staff and maintaining operational and management oversight. Our
inability to complete the integration of new businesses in a timely and orderly
manner could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and
financial condition.

We are subject to currency fluctuations from our international sales.

      Our products are sold in many countries around the world. Thus, a portion
of our revenues is generated in foreign currencies, including principally the
Euro, the British Pound Sterling, and the Australian Dollar, while costs
incurred to generate those revenues are only partly incurred in the same
currencies. Since our financial statements are denominated in U.S. dollars,
changes in currency exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and other currencies
have had, and will continue to have, an impact on our earnings. To reduce this
currency exchange risk, we may buy protecting or offsetting positions (known as
"hedges") in certain currencies to reduce the risk of an adverse currency
exchange movement. Currency fluctuations may impact our financial performance in
the future.

Our international operations are subject to a variety of potential risks.

      International operations represent a significant portion of our business.
For fiscal 2003, approximately 27% of our revenues were derived from sales
outside the United States. We expect revenues from foreign markets to continue
to represent a significant portion of our total revenues. Outside the United
States, we operate a manufacturing facility in Belgium and 22 sales and services
facilities elsewhere. We also sell domestically manufactured products to foreign
customers.

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      Our international operations are subject to a number of potential risks in
addition to the risks of our domestic operations. Such risks include, among
others:

      o     currency exchange controls;

      o     labor unrest;

      o     differing, and in many cases more stringent, labor regulations;

      o     differing protection of intellectual property;

      o     regional economic uncertainty;

      o     political instability;

      o     restrictions on the transfer of funds into or out of a country;

      o     export duties and quotas;

      o     domestic and foreign customs and tariffs;

      o     current and changing regulatory environments;

      o     difficulty in obtaining distribution support;

      o     difficulty in staffing and managing widespread operations;

      o     differences in the availability and terms of financing; and

      o     potentially adverse tax consequences.

      These factors may have an adverse effect on our international operations,
or on the ability of our international operations to repatriate earnings to us,
in the future.

      Part of our strategy to expand our worldwide market share and decrease
costs is strengthening our international distribution capabilities and sourcing
basic components in foreign countries, in particular in Europe. Implementation
of this strategy may increase the impact of the risks described above and we
cannot assure you that such risks will not have an adverse effect on our
business, results of operations or financial condition.

Compliance with environmental and other governmental regulations could be costly
and require us to make significant expenditures.

      We generate hazardous and non-hazardous wastes in the normal course of our
manufacturing and service operations. As a result, we are subject to a wide
range of federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations.
These laws and regulations govern actions that may have adverse environmental
effects and also require compliance with certain practices when handling and
disposing of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. These laws and regulations also
impose liability for the cost of, and damages resulting from, cleaning up sites,
past spills, disposals and other releases of, or exposure to, hazardous
substances. In addition, our operations are subject to other laws and
regulations relating to the protection of the environment and human health and
safety, including those governing air emissions and water and wastewater
discharges. Compliance with these environmental laws and regulations requires us
to make expenditures.

      Despite our compliance efforts, risk of environmental liability is part of
the nature of our business. We cannot give any assurance that environmental
liabilities, including compliance and remediation costs, will not have a
material adverse effect on us in the future. In addition, acquisitions or other
future events may lead to additional compliance or other costs that could have a
material adverse effect on our business.

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We rely on key management and our ability to attract successor management
personnel.

      We rely on the management and leadership skills of our senior management
team led by William M. Lasky, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief
Executive Officer. Generally, these employees (including William M. Lasky) are
not bound by employment or non-competition agreements. The loss of the services
of William M. Lasky or of other key personnel could have a significant, negative
impact on our business. Similarly, any difficulty in attracting, assimilating
and retaining other key management employees in the future could adversely
affect our business.

Terrorist's actions have and could negatively impact the U.S. economy and the
other markets in which we operate.

      Terrorist attacks, like those that occurred on September 11, 2001, have
contributed to economic instability in the United States and elsewhere, and
further acts of terrorism, violence or war could further affect the markets in
which we operate, our business, financial results and our expectations. There
can be no assurance that terrorist attacks, or responses to such attacks from
the United States, will not lead to further acts of terrorism and civil
disturbances in the United States or elsewhere or to armed hostilities, which
may further contribute to economic instability in the United States. These
attacks or armed conflicts may directly impact our physical facilities or those
of our suppliers or customers and could impact our domestic or international
revenues, our supply chain, our production capability and our ability to deliver
our products and services to our customers.