Introduction: The Death of the Middle Market

The handshake deal is dead. It died quietly, suffocated not by a lack of demand for yellow iron, but by the relentless mathematics of modern capital allocation. For decades, the North American heavy equipment landscape was defined by the regional baron—the family-owned dealership that controlled a dozen counties, sponsored the local little league teams, and carried the note when a fleet owner had a rough quarter. That era is over. It has been replaced by the era of the algorithm, the private equity roll-up, and the “platform” strategy.

As we move through 2026, the heavy equipment distribution channel is undergoing its most violent structural transformation since the farm crisis of the 1980s. But unlike that contraction, which was driven by a collapse in demand, the current consolidation wave is driven by a quest for efficiency and a war for recurring revenue. We are witnessing the extinction of the middle-market dealership. The localized iron peddler is being systematically dismantled, acquired, and integrated into transnational conglomerates or private equity-backed service platforms.

This report is an autopsy of the independent dealer and a roadmap for the future of fleet management. The drivers of this consolidation—financial pressure, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) mandates, and a demographic succession cliff—have converged to create a market where size is the only defense against irrelevance. For the fleet manager, the implications are profound: the loss of pricing leverage, the digitization of the relationship, and a fundamental shift in how machinery is serviced and maintained.

In 2024 and 2025, the industry faced a “bifurcated” reality. The agricultural sector softened as commodity prices dipped, leaving dealers with bloated inventories of high-horsepower tractors.1 Conversely, the construction sector, buoyed by the lingering tailwinds of infrastructure spending and the onshoring of manufacturing, remained robust, attracting billions in institutional capital.2 This divergence created a perfect storm for M&A activity, as cash-rich construction groups and opportunistic private equity firms swooped in to acquire distressed or aging dealerships.

But the story is deeper than just balance sheets. It is about the “Agency Model” haunting every dealer convention, the technician shortage that has turned labor into a luxury good, and the legislative battles over “Right to Repair” that threaten to upend the service monopoly. This analysis will dissect these forces with granular detail, utilizing 2025 earnings data, market reports, and industry signals to paint a definitive picture of the equipment economy in 2026.

Part I: The Macro-Economic Vise (2024–2025)

To understand why a third-generation dealer in Iowa sells his birthright to a conglomerate based in North Dakota or a PE firm in New York, one must first understand the economic vise that tightened throughout 2024 and 2025. The environment shifted from one of easy money and inventory scarcity to one of capital discipline and inventory misalignment.

1.1 The Bifurcation of Ag and Construction

The years 2024 and 2025 created a sharp schism between agricultural and construction equipment markets, driving distinct consolidation behaviors in each sector. The “one-stop-shop” dealer that sold both combines and excavators found themselves balancing a seesaw that refused to level out.

In the agricultural sector, the narrative was one of contraction. Coming off record highs in the early 2020s, commodity prices softened, and farm income retreated. Dealers forecasted significant declines in new equipment revenue for 2025, with the lowest optimism seen in over a decade.1 Forecasts noted that dealers faced a “triple threat”: lower commodity prices, increasing costs for equipment inputs, and the uncertainty of an election year.1 This sentiment was corroborated by the forecasted 12% sales decline for 2025 in dealer wholegoods.3

However, the “good news” for these struggling Ag dealers was confined entirely to the aftermarket. Over 90% of dealers projected their parts and service revenues would be flat or up in 2025.1 This created a specific vulnerability: Ag dealers became “service rich but cash poor.” They held heavy wholegoods inventory with weak absorption rates, making them prime targets for acquisition by larger groups like Titan Machinery, who possess the balance sheet to weather cyclical downturns and the desire to capture that steady aftermarket revenue.4 Titan’s acquisition of Farmers Implement & Irrigation in South Dakota, a deal that closed in May 2025, exemplifies this trend—capturing $20 million in revenue and stabilizing a regional footprint.4

Conversely, the construction sector remained resilient. Caterpillar’s second-quarter 2025 financials reflected this nuance; while sales revenues dipped slightly to $16.6 billion due to unfavorable price realization in some markets, the company maintained strong operating margins.5 The construction market did not see the demand collapse that Ag did. Instead, it saw a shift in ownership models, with rental giants gaining market share. This resilience attracted a different class of buyer: Private Equity (PE) and massive rental conglomerates like United Rentals and Herc, who see construction machinery not just as sales units, but as yielding assets in a rental-dominated future.

1.2 The Inventory Paradox: Misalignment as a Solvent

For years, the headline was “supply chain shortage.” By 2025, the narrative flipped to “inventory misalignment.” This is not merely a logistical headache; it is a solvency crisis for independent dealers.

According to the Dealer Insights Survey by Fusable, 42% of dealers cited misaligned inventory as their top profitability barrier in 2025.6 The lots were full, but often with the wrong mix—rows of medium-frame tractors when the market demanded compact track loaders, or vice versa. This “asset bloat” forced a cash-flow crisis for independent dealers.

Why does this drive consolidation? Because “Floor Plan Interest” is the killer of the independent. In a high-interest-rate environment—even as rates began to moderate in late 2025—the carrying cost of a non-moving dozer can obliterate the net profit of a dealership’s entire quarter. Dealers reported holding onto iron longer, dropping prices faster, and feeling pressure to make “bad deals” just to move machines.6

Unlike the major publicly traded groups (Alta, Titan, Rush), smaller dealers lack the sophisticated data analytics to predict regional micro-trends in demand. They ordered what they could get during the shortage years (2022-2023), and those units arrived just as demand shifted. A staggering 1 in 3 dealers admitted their inventory strategy was “reactive” rather than “proactive”.6 When a dealer is reactive in a capital-intensive industry, they eventually react by selling the business to someone with deeper pockets.

1.3 The Cost of Capital and Valuation Multiples

The financial “physics” of the dealership model have changed. The cost to build new service bays, upgrade ERP systems to meet OEM standards, or floor-plan inventory has skyrocketed.

While blue-sky multiples (the goodwill value of the dealership) remained historically strong in 2025, driven by the profitability of the pandemic years7, the cost of the debt used to buy them increased. This favored cash-rich strategic buyers and those with access to institutional capital markets. Private Equity firms, sitting on dry powder, could afford to pay premiums for “platform” acquisitions, while smaller neighboring dealers could not afford the leverage required to buy out a competitor.

This valuation dynamic created a window of opportunity for exiting owners. With blue-sky values near record highs—averaging $21.8 million for automotive dealerships, a proxy often used for heavy equipment valuations—owners looked at the looming capital requirements for 2026 and decided to cash out at the top.7 The result was a flurry of buy-sell activity where the sellers were independent families and the buyers were institutional conglomerates.

1.4 Tariff Pressures and Global Uncertainty

Adding to the macro-economic pressure were trade dynamics. The heavy equipment market in 2025 was fundamentally transformed by tariff impacts, specifically new Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives.8 Equipment prices in some categories saw increases of 25% or more due to these raw material costs.

For a large dealer group like Alta Equipment or United Rentals, these costs can be passed on or absorbed through diversified revenue streams. For a smaller dealer, a 25% price hike on inventory makes the equipment harder to finance for their local customer base, squeezing margins further. This “inflationary squeeze” disproportionately hurts the bottom end of the market, accelerating the consolidation trend as smaller players seek the purchasing power protection of larger groups.

Part II: The Private Equity Invasion and Capital Stack

Historically, heavy equipment dealerships were viewed by Wall Street as cyclical, capital-intensive, and low-margin businesses—unattractive to Private Equity. That has changed dramatically. PE firms now view dealerships through the lens of “Industrial Services” and “Aftermarket Recurring Revenue.” They are not buying iron merchants; they are buying service annuities.

2.1 The “Roll-Up” Arbitrage

Private Equity works on a specific arbitrage model that is currently reshaping the equipment landscape.

The Math of Consolidation:

A small, single-location dealer might trade at 4x to 5x EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). A large, diversified platform (like Alta or Titan) trades at significantly higher multiples, often 8x or 9x EBITDA.

The Strategy:

PE firms execute a “roll-up.” They buy ten small dealers at 4x EBITDA, combine them into a single entity, cut backend costs (HR, IT, Finance), and rebrand them as a regional platform. Without selling a single extra tractor, the new entity is instantly worth 8x EBITDA because of its scale and perceived stability. They have doubled the value of the assets simply by combining them.

This “financial engineering” is ensuring that consolidation will continue until the supply of viable “mom and pop” shops is exhausted. The fragmented nature of the machinery industry—where more than half of global revenue still comes from small and midsize companies—makes it a prime target for this strategy.9

2.2 Major Private Equity Moves in 2025

The activity in 2025 confirmed this thesis.

Platinum Equity & FleetPride/TruckPro:

The merger of FleetPride and TruckPro, closed in October 2025, created a heavy-duty aftermarket colossus.10 While focused on the on-highway sector, the strategic logic applies directly to off-highway: scale in purchasing, logistics, and digital capability. Platinum Equity’s move signifies a belief in the resilience of the parts and service supply chain over the volatility of new equipment sales.

Brightstar Capital & WW Williams:

Brightstar Capital Partners acquired WW Williams, a major service provider and dealer. The stated logic was to leverage investment to “increase service offerings and improve technological capabilities”.11 This deal highlights the trend of buying established service networks to build a “platform” for further acquisitions. The goal is not just to sell engines, but to control the maintenance contracts for power generation and industrial equipment across a vast geography.

Herc Rentals & H&E Equipment Services:

In a massive $5.3 billion play, Herc Rentals moved to acquire H&E Equipment Services.12 This transaction, superseding a previous bid by United Rentals, represents the pinnacle of consolidation—public-to-public M&A. This deal removes a major competitor from the board and consolidates pricing power in the rental market. For the independent rental yard, facing a competitor with the combined fleet and capital cost advantages of Herc and H&E is an existential threat.

2.3 The “Industrial Services” Pivot

PE firms are driving a shift in operational focus. When a dealership is acquired by private equity, the metrics change. The focus shifts from “market share” (selling the most units) to “absorption rate” (covering fixed costs with parts and service gross profit).

This shift is visible in the earnings of groups like Alta Equipment. Despite revenue fluctuations in new equipment sales, they emphasize their “Product Support” revenues, which grew 1.1% year-over-year in Q3 2025 with gross profit percentages increasing to 47.2%.13 This resilience is what PE investors are buying. They are turning dealerships into “industrial utilities”—businesses that get paid whether the customer is expanding their fleet or just trying to keep the old one running.

2.4 The Capital Allocation Rebalancing

Publicly traded dealer groups are also rebalancing their capital. Alta Equipment, for instance, divested its aerial fleet rental business in Chicago for $18 million in 2025 to refocus capital on higher-margin opportunities.14 This discipline—shedding non-core assets to double down on core dealership operations—is a hallmark of the consolidated era. Small dealers rarely have the luxury of such strategic divestitures; they are often “all in” on their local market. Large groups treat geographies and asset classes as a portfolio to be optimized.

Part III: The OEM Mandate — “Grow or Go”

The major OEMs—Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, Volvo—are no longer content with dealers who act merely as resellers. They require “Commercial Excellence” and deep digital integration. The pressure from the manufacturer is perhaps the single most potent driver of consolidation.

3.1 Caterpillar’s “Next 100 Years” Strategy

Caterpillar’s Investor Day in late 2025 laid out a strategy that effectively creates a high barrier to entry for its own dealers. The “Next 100 Years” strategy focuses intensely on “Services” and “Advanced Technology”.15

Caterpillar has set aggressive targets for services revenue growth. To achieve these targets, dealers are required to invest millions in:

  • Telematics Infrastructure: Monitoring tens of thousands of connected assets to predict failures.
  • Customer Value Agreements (CVAs): Shifting customers from transactional repairs to subscription-based maintenance.
  • Digital Integration: Seamlessly integrating their ERPs with Cat’s central digital architecture.16

The message to dealers is clear: If you cannot afford the Capital Expenditure (CapEx) to build this digital infrastructure, you should sell to a dealer who can. An independent dealer with three locations in rural Nebraska cannot fund the same AI-driven predictive maintenance stack as a Titan Machinery or an Alta Equipment Group. The “Commercial Excellence” scorecards used by OEMs to rank dealers penalize those who lag in these investments, creating a “Grow or Go” environment.

3.2 John Deere’s “Certified Digital” Control

John Deere has implemented a similar mechanism through its “Certified Digital Program” and “Digital Health Checks”.17 While participation is technically voluntary, the financial incentives—specifically co-op funds—are tied to compliance.

The Mechanism of Control:

Dealers are scored on their digital engagement and customer connectivity. “Certified” products and services are billed directly to the dealer’s statement.17 This standardization forces dealers to adopt Deere’s preferred tech stack. For a large dealer group, this is an efficiency play. For a small dealer, it is a loss of autonomy and a significant cost burden. This effectively creates a two-tier system where only the digitally mature (read: large and consolidated) can maximize profitability and access the full range of OEM support.

3.3 The “Agency Model” Threat

Looming over all dealer strategy sessions is the “Agency Model”—a direct-to-consumer sales model where the dealer acts merely as a commission-based agent for delivery and service, while the OEM sets the price and owns the inventory.

The European Precedent:

Volvo Construction Equipment has already begun piloting agency models and direct sales approaches for its electric machines.18 The “zero-emission only” lineup at Bauma 2025 and pilot programs in North America suggest a future where the machine is sold digitally, potentially bypassing the traditional dealer sales floor.

The Electric Wedge:

Electrification provides the Trojan Horse for this model. Electric machines require less maintenance (threatening the dealer’s absorption rate) and are often sold with bundled “energy subscriptions” that are managed directly by the OEM. As OEMs like Cat and Deere invest billions in R&D19, they want to capture the full margin of the sale to recoup those investments.

Dealers know that if the Agency Model arrives in force, their business valuation changes from “Entrepreneurial Enterprise” to “Fixed-Fee Service Provider.” This fear drives owners to sell now while valuations are based on the traditional model, or to get big enough (Consolidate) to have leverage against the OEM in contract negotiations.

Part IV: The Technician Crisis as a Catalyst

Labor is no longer just a cost center; it is the primary constraint on growth. The shortage of skilled heavy equipment technicians is accelerating consolidation because only the largest entities can afford to solve it.

4.1 Quantifying the Shortage

The numbers for 2025 are stark:

  • Vacancy Rate: The industry average vacancy rate for technician positions hit 19.3% in 2025.20
  • Job Opening Rate: The equipment industry has a job opening rate three times higher than the national average.21
  • Projected Need: The industry needs to fill 73,500 heavy equipment technician roles over the next five years.21

This shortage is an existential threat to the dealership model, which relies on service revenue to survive cyclical downturns in sales.

4.2 The Wage War and the “University” Strategy

Wages for heavy equipment technicians rose approximately 2.8% in 2025, reaching a national average base salary of $47,265.22 However, in competitive markets, skilled master technicians are commanding hourly rates significantly higher, with top earners making over $76,000 annually.23

The Consolidation Link:

Large dealer groups (Alta, United Rentals, Rush) have established internal “Universities.” They recruit directly from high schools, offer tuition reimbursement, and provide defined career paths. They can offer a signing bonus and a guaranteed path to management. A small, independent dealer simply cannot compete with this capital-intensive recruitment machinery.

Consequently, small dealers are losing their best technicians to the large consolidators. When a dealership loses its service capability, it loses its absorption rate. When it loses its absorption rate, it becomes unprofitable. When it becomes unprofitable, it is sold. The technician shortage is effectively an M&A funnel, driving talent—and the businesses that depend on it—toward the largest players.

Part V: Sector Deep Dive — Ag, Construction, and Rental

The consolidation trends manifest differently across the three main pillars of the heavy equipment economy.

5.1 Agriculture: The Survival Merger

The agricultural equipment sector is in a “survival merger” phase. The 12% sales decline forecast for 20253 has put immense pressure on cash flows.

Case Study: Titan Machinery

Titan Machinery’s acquisition strategy in 2025 focused on “tuck-in” acquisitions like Farmers Implement & Irrigation.4 By acquiring smaller dealers in their existing footprint, they gain density. They can close redundant locations, consolidate parts inventories, and reduce overhead while keeping the territory. This is a defensive consolidation, designed to maintain profitability in a shrinking market.

5.2 Construction: The Infrastructure Boom

The construction sector is consolidating for growth. The demand for infrastructure equipment remains high, supported by the long tail of federal funding.

The Rental Shift:

The most significant trend in construction is the shift to rental. The global construction equipment rental market was valued at $213 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow significantly.24 This growth is driving the “Mega-Rental” deals like Herc/H&E.12

Why Rental Drives Consolidation:

Rental is a capital-intensive game. You need a massive balance sheet to refresh the fleet. The average age of rental fleets is a critical metric for profitability. Large public companies can access debt at cheaper rates to buy new machines, keeping their fleets younger and more attractive to contractors. Smaller rental houses, facing higher interest rates, struggle to refresh their fleets, leading to higher maintenance costs and lower utilization. Eventually, they sell to the giants.

5.3 Trucking and On-Highway: The Aftermarket Model

The Platinum Equity merger of FleetPride and TruckPro10 signals the direction of the on-highway sector. Here, the consolidation is entirely about the supply chain. By controlling the distribution of parts for heavy-duty trucks, this new entity can exert pricing pressure on suppliers and offer national fleets a single point of contact for parts. This model is likely to be replicated in the off-highway yellow iron market, where “mixed fleet” parts suppliers are gaining ground against OEM dealers.

Part VI: The Customer View — Impact on Fleets

What does this boardroom shuffling mean for the fleet manager trying to keep a spread of scrapers running in 2026? The impact is threefold: Pricing, Service, and Technology.

6.1 Pricing: The End of the “Sweetheart Deal”

Consolidation reduces competition. In a fragmented market, a fleet manager could play three local dealers against each other to get a 5% discount on a wheel loader. In a consolidated market where one entity owns the Case, New Holland, and rental franchises for the entire state, pricing power shifts to the seller.

New Equipment: Prices have stabilized but remain high. Tractors saw a 16% increase heading into 2025.25 The “blowout” deals of the past are gone because large dealer groups have the discipline to hold price or move inventory to other regions rather than discount it.

Rental Rates: Despite some softening in growth forecasts, rental rates are holding steady. The American Rental Association trimmed its 2025 growth forecast, but utilization rates remain high, supporting pricing.26

Parts Pricing: The “Commercial Excellence” strategies of OEMs mean parts pricing is being optimized by algorithms. Captive parts (those only available from the OEM) will see aggressive price increases as dealers look to maximize margin.

6.2 Service Lead Times and Quality

The Bull Case: Consolidation brings efficiency. Large groups can load-balance work. If the branch in Town A is backed up, they can truck the machine to Town B. They also have better parts availability due to centralized warehousing.

The Bear Case: Corporate bureaucracy. The “Service Manager” is now answering to a Regional VP who is answering to a PE Board. Decisions on warranty work or “goodwill” adjustments move from a handshake to a formal approval process.

The Reality: Lead times are stabilizing27, but they are not returning to pre-2019 levels. The technician shortage prevents it. The “Stabilization” is simply the market accepting 2-3 weeks as the new normal for major repairs.

6.3 Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

TCO is rising.

  • Depreciation: Used equipment values are normalizing (falling) from their pandemic peaks.7 This means the residual value calculation in TCO models needs to be adjusted downward, increasing the net cost of ownership.
  • Maintenance Costs: Labor rates are up, and parts inflation continues.
  • Technology Fees: Fleets are increasingly paying “subscription” fees for telematics and data integrations that were previously bundled or ignored.

Part VII: Technology and the “Digital Twin”

The future of the dealership is digital. In 2026, the competitive advantage of a dealer is not their parts counter, but their data center.

7.1 Predictive Maintenance as a Product

OEMs like Cat and Deere are pushing “Predictive Maintenance” as a standard offering. By analyzing data from thousands of machines, they can predict when a turbocharger will fail and schedule the repair before it happens. This reduces downtime for the fleet but increases reliance on the dealer.

The Data Lock-In:

To access these predictive insights, fleets must agree to share their data. This creates a “data lock-in” where the fleet becomes operationally dependent on the dealer’s software stack. Changing equipment brands becomes harder because it means losing the historical data and predictive models.

7.2 The Rise of Autonomous Equipment

As autonomy moves from pilot to production (Komatsu’s Smart Construction, Cat’s Command), the role of the dealer changes. Autonomous machines require “mission control” support, not just mechanical repair. Dealers must become IT support centers. This shift heavily favors large, consolidated groups that can afford to hire software engineers alongside diesel mechanics.28

Part VIII: Signals to Watch for Late 2026

As we look toward the latter half of 2026, fleet owners and industry stakeholders should monitor these specific indicators.

Signal 1: The “Right to Repair” Legislation Cliff (Jan 1, 2026)

Colorado’s Right to Repair law for digital electronic equipment fully kicks in on January 1, 2026.29 Other states are considering similar legislation.

The Signal: Watch for the first major lawsuit or enforcement action against an OEM in early 2026. If the courts uphold broad access to proprietary diagnostic software, the “dealer moat” on service evaporates. This could devalue dealerships and pause consolidation as buyers wait to see if the service monopoly is broken. Conversely, if OEMs successfully use “parts pairing” or safety arguments to limit access, the dealer monopoly will be solidified.

Signal 2: The “Electric Inventory” Stagnation

OEMs are pushing electric machines aggressively. Volvo has a full zero-emission lineup.18

The Signal: Watch the “Days Sales of Inventory” (DSI) for electric units on dealer lots in Q1/Q2 2026. If dealers are forced to hold expensive electric inventory that fleets aren’t buying (due to grid constraints or cost), it will cause a liquidity crisis for mid-sized dealers. This “green iron” could become an anchor that drags smaller dealers into distressed sales.

Signal 3: The “Mega-Rental” Divestitures

The Herc/H&E deal12 created a giant.

The Signal: Watch for forced divestitures required by the FTC or DOJ for antitrust reasons in specific regions. These spun-off branches could be seed corn for new, smaller regional players or taken up by the next tier of consolidators (Alta, etc.). A regulatory crackdown on rental consolidation would signal that a ceiling has been reached.

Signal 4: The Direct-to-Consumer Service Pivot

Watch for a major OEM (like Cat or Deere) to acquire a technology or service-only company that bypasses dealers entirely (similar to a “Geotab” or a specialized AI maintenance firm).

The Signal: If an OEM buys a direct-to-customer service platform, it confirms the “Agency Model” is moving from pilot to policy. This would be the death knell for the traditional dealer model.

Conclusion: The Industrialist’s Dilemma

For the fleet owner, the 2026 landscape is one of standardization over personalization.

The local dealer who opened the shop on Sunday because he knew your father is being replaced by a corporate entity with a 24/7 call center and an AI-dispatched service truck. The efficiency will be higher; the “uptime” (theoretically) better. But the cost of that efficiency is baked into the labor rate and the parts margin.

The consolidation of heavy equipment dealers is not a temporary trend; it is the industrialization of the distribution channel. It is the final maturation of the industry, bringing it in line with automotive and industrial supply chains.

Why This Matters:

  • To the CEO: Your balance sheet is about to get heavier. The “asset-light” strategy of relying on cheap rental and on-demand dealer service is being repriced by consolidated giants who have the leverage. You need to decide: build your own internal maintenance capability (CapEx heavy) or sign long-term service agreements (Opex heavy) before rates climb further.

  • To the Fleet Manager: The “buddy system” is over. Your relationship with the dealer is now a data relationship. If your telematics aren’t integrated with theirs, you are a second-tier customer. Prepare for longer lead times on non-critical repairs and fight tooth and nail to retain your best mechanics, because the dealer down the street just got a PE cash injection to hire them away.

  • To the Investor: The “Metal” is a distraction; the “Service” is the product. Look for dealer groups with high absorption rates (>100%) and strong technician retention programs. Avoid those heavy on Ag wholegoods inventory until the commodity cycle turns. The smart money is on the “Industrialization of Service.”

The heavy equipment industry has reset. The players are fewer, the stakes are higher, and the game is no longer about who has the best tractor, but who has the best algorithm.

Works Cited

Footnotes

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  2. 2026 Engineering and Construction Industry Outlook | Deloitte Insights, accessed January 13, 2026, https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html ↩

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  4. Titan Machinery Completes Acquisition of Farmers Implement & Irrigation, accessed January 13, 2026, https://ir.titanmachinery.com/Titan-Machinery-Completes-Acquisition-of-Farmers-Implement-amp—Irrigation-5-16-2025 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

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  19. Caterpillar Inc. Releases 2024 Annual, Sustainability Reports Highlighting Customer-Focused and Sustainability Strategies, accessed January 13, 2026, https://investors.caterpillar.com/news/news-details/2025/Caterpillar-Inc—Releases-2024-Annual-Sustainability-Reports-Highlighting-Customer-Focused-and-Sustainability-Strategies/default.aspx ↩

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