About

About AED

The Association of Leaders in Equipment Distribution

Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) is an international trade association representing companies involved in the sale, rental, and support of equipment used in agriculture, construction, outdoor power, forestry, mining, cranes, power generation, material handling, and equipment rentals. AED serves:

• Independent dealers that sell, rent, and provide aftermarket support for industrial equipment and related products
• Manufacturers of industrial equipment and related products
• Suppliers of business services, including finance, insurance, business systems/ERP and other services

AED has many core strengths, but most notably, it’s our ability to speak with one unified voice as an industry. The organization finds success in many ways; mainly, it’s through our ability to maintain excellent relationships with dealer principals and professionals in manufacturing through understanding the challenges that they face in their specific business operations. There are not very many members of AED who are not active in AED. Primarily, that is due to the fact that you can’t fully recognize the value of your membership unless you’re participating in the association, in taking advantage of the programs and services that your dues dollars have gone to support.

Your company can take advantage of a wide variety of opportunities as an AED member:

Professional Development & Education

We offer a series of live and on-demand webinars, online self-study courses, in-person professional development sessions and other tools and resources to boost your organization’s industry knowledge. These offerings cover a broad range of industry-specific topics encompassing areas such as parts, sales, service, finance and human resources.

Techncal Tests

Through The AED Foundation, you’ll have access to online technical tests to assist you when hiring and evaluating service technicians. Use them to ascertain the skill levels of job applicants and determine their suitability for the position. You can also identify additional training opportunities for your current employees. Benchmarking reports are available so you can compare testing results with those throughout your industry.

Publications

With your AED membership, you’ll receive an informative magazine that will keep you abreast of the latest developments in your industry, as well as the equipment distribution industry in general. This must-have resource is AED Magazine, the only award-winning magazine dedicated to the equipment distribution industry. Other available resources include the D.C. Debrief and Ottawa Briefing to keep you in the loop about changes in government regulations that could impact your business, as well as a variety of reports and research on industry-related topics.

Events

Attend events like the AED Summit to participate in dealer-specific education sessions, view new product lines and network with other professionals in your industry. Other opportunities include the AED Leadership Conference, the Executive Conclave, Financial/HR Symposium, Small Dealer Conference and the Washington Fly-In event.

Reports and Publications

As an AED member, you can access benchmarking reports that summarize the feedback that you and other members provide in industry surveys as well as legal and regulatory reports along with market analysis reports.

Advocacy

AED serves as an advocate for the equipment distribution industry. As your voice in the U.S. and Canada, we provide public and private advocacy services that enable you to meet directly with your elected representatives and their senior staff. Getting to know your representative can help you affect legislative changes that can benefit your business.