Exhibit 99.1

United Rentals Announces Third Quarter 2012 Results

Updates Full Year 2012 Pro-Forma Outlook

GREENWICH, Conn. – October 16, 2012 – United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) today announced financial results for the third quarter 2012¹. Total revenue was $1.219 billion and rental revenue was $1.051 billion. On a GAAP basis, the company reported third quarter 2012 net income of $73 million, or earnings of $0.70 per diluted share. Adjusted EPS² for the quarter was $1.35 per diluted share. The company’s effective tax rate for the third quarter 2012 was 22.3%.

Third Quarter 2012 Highlights³

The following year-over-year pro-forma comparisons assume the combination of United Rentals results and RSC results for the third quarter 2011:

CEO Comments

Michael Kneeland, chief executive officer of United Rentals, said, “We delivered a strong performance in the quarter, propelled by the effective execution of our strategy and widespread demand for our rental equipment. All but one of our regions reported year-over-year rate increases, and we now expect a rate gain of approximately 7% for the full year. Third quarter time utilization, while below last year’s record level, contributed to a very healthy year-to-date performance of 67%. Our exceptionally strong flow-through and adjusted EBITDA margin make it clear that we’re effectively managing rates, utilization and costs.”

Kneeland continued, “The RSC integration is going very well, and we’re raising our total cost synergies target to a range of $230 to $250 million. We’ve realigned our sales territories and consolidated 187 branches to date, all while continuing to generate double-digit revenue growth from our target accounts. These larger customers are at the heart of our strategy for profitable growth. They believe, as do we, that while there is some macro uncertainty, there are also good reasons to be optimistic about the coming year.”

2012 Pro-Forma Outlook

The company has updated its full year pro-forma outlook as follows:

RSC Integration Update

Since the close of the RSC transaction on April 30, 2012, the company has:

Nine Months 2012 Results

For the first nine months of 2012, on an as-reported basis⁸, the company reported the following results:

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On a pro-forma basis (that is, assuming the combination of United Rentals results and RSC results for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2012), the company reported the following:

Free Cash Flow and Fleet Size

For the first nine months of 2012, on an as-reported basis, free cash usage was $410 million after (i) total rental and non-rental capital expenditures of $1.185 billion, and (ii) aggregate merger and restructuring related cash payments of $119 million.

The size of the rental fleet was $7.40 billion of original equipment cost at September 30, 2012, compared with $4.05 billion at December 31, 2011. The age of the rental fleet was 46.4 months on an OEC-weighted basis at September 30, 2012, compared with 50.3 months at December 31, 2011.

Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)

Return on invested capital, on an as-reported basis, was 7.4% for the 12 months ended September 30, 2012, an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the same period last year. The company’s ROIC metric uses after-tax operating income for the trailing 12 months divided by the averages of stockholders’ equity (deficit), debt and deferred taxes, net of average cash and excludes the impact of merger and restructuring related costs. To mitigate the volatility related to fluctuations in the company’s tax rate from period to period, the federal statutory tax rate of 35% is used to calculate after-tax operating income.

Conference Call

United Rentals will hold a conference call tomorrow, Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call will be available live by audio webcast at unitedrentals.com, where it will be archived until the next earnings call, and by calling 866-238-1665.

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Non-GAAP Measures

Free cash (usage) flow, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted earnings per share (adjusted EPS) are non-GAAP financial measures as defined under the rules of the SEC. Free cash (usage) flow represents net cash provided by operating activities, less purchases of rental and non-rental equipment plus proceeds from sales of rental and non-rental equipment and excess tax benefits from share-based payment arrangements, net. EBITDA represents the sum of net income from continuing operations, loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes, provision for income taxes, interest expense, net, interest expense-subordinated convertible debentures, depreciation of rental equipment and non-rental depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA plus the sum of RSC merger related costs, restructuring charge, stock compensation expense, net, the impact of the fair value mark-up of acquired RSC fleet and inventory and the gain on sale of our software subsidiary. Adjusted EPS represents EPS plus the sum of the RSC merger related costs, restructuring charge, asset impairment charge, pre-close RSC merger related interest expense, the impact on interest expense related to the fair value adjustment of acquired RSC indebtedness, the impact on depreciation related to acquired RSC fleet and property and equipment, the impact of the fair value mark-up of acquired RSC fleet and inventory, RSC merger related intangible asset amortization, the gain on sale of our software subsidiary and the loss on repurchase/redemption of debt securities and retirement of subordinated convertible debentures. The company believes that: (i) free cash (usage) flow provides useful additional information concerning cash flow available to meet future debt service obligations and working capital requirements; (ii) EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA provide useful information about operating performance and period-over-period growth; and (iii) adjusted EPS provides useful information concerning future profitability. However, none of these measures should be considered as alternatives to net income, cash flows from operating activities or earnings per share under GAAP as indicators of operating performance or liquidity. Information reconciling forward-looking free cash flow and Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP financial measures is unavailable to the company without unreasonable effort.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world, with an integrated network of 848 rental locations in 48 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The company’s approximately 11,200 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company offers for rent approximately 3,400 classes of equipment with a total original cost of $7.40 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 2000 Index^® and is headquartered in Greenwich, Conn. Additional information about United Rentals is available at unitedrentals.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, known as the PSLRA. These statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seek,” “on-track,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend” or “anticipate,” or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of vision, strategy or outlook. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and, therefore, you should not place undue reliance on them. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) a slowdown in the recovery of North American construction and industrial activities, which decreased during the economic downturn and significantly affected our revenues and profitability, may further reduce demand for equipment and prices that we can charge; (2) a decrease in levels of infrastructure spending, including lower than expected government funding for stimulus-related construction projects; (3) our highly leveraged capital structure, which requires us to use a substantial portion of our cash flow for debt service and can constrain our flexibility in responding to unanticipated or adverse business conditions; (4) restrictive covenants in our debt agreements, which could limit our financial and

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operational flexibility; (5) noncompliance with covenants in our debt agreements, which could result in termination of our credit facilities and acceleration of outstanding borrowings; (6) inability to access the capital that our business may require; (7) inability to manage credit risk adequately or to collect on contracts with customers; (8) incurrence of impairment charges; (9) the outcome or other potential consequences of litigation and other claims and regulatory matters relating to our business, including certain claims that our insurance may not cover; (10) an increase in our loss reserves to address business operations or other claims and any claims that exceed our established levels of reserves; (11) incurrence of additional costs and expenses (including indemnification obligations) in connection with litigation, regulatory or investigatory matters; (12) increases in our maintenance and replacement costs as we age our fleet, and decreases in the residual value of our equipment; (13) inability to sell our new or used fleet in the amounts, or at the prices, we expect; (14) challenges associated with past or future acquisitions, such as undiscovered liabilities, costs, integration issues and/or the inability to achieve the cost and revenue synergies expected; (15) management turnover and inability to attract and retain key personnel; (16) our rates and time utilization being less than anticipated; (17) our costs being more than anticipated, the inability to realize expected savings in the amounts or time frames planned and the inability to obtain key equipment and supplies; (18) disruptions in our information technology systems; (19) competition from existing and new competitors; (20) labor difficulties and labor-based legislation affecting labor relations and operations generally; and (21) the costs of complying with environmental and safety regulations. For a more complete description of these and other possible risks and uncertainties, please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, as well as to our subsequent filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date hereof, and we make no commitment to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements in order to reflect new information or subsequent events, circumstances or changes in expectations.

# # #

Contact:

Fred Bratman

(203) 618-7318

Cell: (917) 847-4507

fbratman@ur.com

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UNITED RENTALS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (UNAUDITED)

(In millions, except per share amounts)

UNITED RENTALS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In millions)

UNITED RENTALS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)

(In millions)

UNITED RENTALS, INC.

SEGMENT PERFORMANCE

($ in millions)

UNITED RENTALS, INC.

DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE CALCULATION

(In millions, except per share data)

UNITED RENTALS, INC.

ADJUSTED EARNINGS PER SHARE GAAP RECONCILIATION

We define “Earnings per share from continuing operations – adjusted” as the sum of earnings per share from continuing operations – GAAP, as reported plus the impact of the following special items: RSC merger related costs, RSC merger related intangible asset amortization, impact on depreciation related to acquired RSC fleet and property and equipment, impact of the fair value mark-up of acquired RSC fleet and inventory, pre-close RSC merger related interest expense, impact on interest expense related to fair value adjustment of acquired RSC indebtedness, restructuring charge, asset impairment charge, loss on repurchase/redemption of debt securities and retirement of subordinated convertible debentures and gain on sale of software subsidiary. Management believes adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations provides useful information concerning future profitability. However, adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations is not a measure of financial performance under GAAP. Accordingly, adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations should not be considered an alternative to GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations. The table below provides a reconciliation between earnings per share from continuing operations – GAAP, as reported, and earnings per share from continuing operations – adjusted.

UNITED RENTALS, INC.

EBITDA AND ADJUSTED EBITDA GAAP RECONCILIATION

(In millions)

EBITDA represents the sum of net income, loss from discontinued operation, net of taxes, provision for income taxes, interest expense, net, interest expense-subordinated convertible debentures, depreciation of rental equipment, and non-rental depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA plus the sum of the RSC merger related costs, restructuring charge, stock compensation expense, net, the impact of the fair value mark-up of acquired RSC fleet and inventory and the gain on sale of software subsidiary. These items are excluded from adjusted EBITDA internally when evaluating our operating performance and allow investors to make a more meaningful comparison between our core business operating results over different periods of time, as well as with those of other similar companies. Management believes that EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, when viewed with the Company’s results under GAAP and the accompanying reconciliation, provide useful information about operating performance and period-over-period growth, and provide additional information that is useful for evaluating the operating performance of our core business without regard to potential distortions. Additionally, management believes that EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA permit investors to gain an understanding of the factors and trends affecting our ongoing cash earnings, from which capital investments are made and debt is serviced. However, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are not measures of financial performance or liquidity under GAAP and, accordingly, should not be considered as alternatives to net income or cash flow from operating activities as indicators of operating performance or liquidity. The table below provides a reconciliation between net income and EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA.

UNITED RENTALS, INC.

RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES TO EBITDA AND ADJUSTED EBITDA

(In millions)