April 2 (Reuters) - A lawsuit filed in Chicago federal

court claims that construction equipment giant United Rentals ( URI )

and four rivals conspired with a data services platform

to fix prices, causing thousands of businesses to overpay for

excavators, cranes and other vehicles.

Illinois-based small business Zags Roofing filed the proposed

class action on Tuesday, accusing United Rentals ( URI ), Sunbelt

Rentals and others of forming an illegal price-fixing cartel.

The lawsuit alleged the equipment rental companies violated

antitrust law by collectively sharing competitive, nonpublic

inventory and pricing data with analytics company Rouse

Services, which provides revenue management software used to set

rate benchmarks in the industry.

United Rentals ( URI ) and the other defendants were able to raise

prices without fear of being undercut, according to the lawsuit,

filed by plaintiffs' firms Berger Montague; Hausfeld and

Edelson.

The victims are "those companies shouldered with the

responsibility of building our nation's housing, commercial

centers, and infrastructure," said Hausfeld's Gary Smith Jr in a

statement.

United Rentals ( URI ), Sunbelt Rentals, Rouse Services and its

parent RB Global ( RBA ), which is also a defendant, did not immediately

respond to requests for comment.

Stamford, Connecticut-based United Rentals ( URI ), the country's

largest construction rental equipment provider, reported $15

billion in total revenue last year.

The lawsuit said demand for construction rental equipment

was "significant and continuous." Renting equipment is more

affordable, especially for smaller companies that might need a

dozer or lift only for a short amount of time, according to the

lawsuit.

The plaintiffs' lawyers estimated potentially hundreds of

thousands of members of the proposed class.

The rental market has become increasingly concentrated over

20 years based on hundreds of acquisitions by the leading

companies, according to the lawsuit.

Before Rouse's data services came to dominate the industry,

the lawsuit said, rental companies independently set rental

pricing based on their own cost and demand factors.

Revenue management platforms have come into focus in other

lawsuits targeting hotels and rental markets such as multifamily

residential housing.

The construction equipment lawsuit is seeking unspecified

monetary damages under antitrust law, and a court order to break

up the alleged price-fixing conspiracy.

The case is AXG Roofing LLC v. RB Global Inc ( RBA ) et al, U.S.

District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No.

1:25-cv-03487.

For plaintiffs: Eric Cramer and Michaela Wallin of Berger

Montague; Gary Smith and Swathi Bojedla of Hausfeld; and Natasha

Fernández-Silber and Abby Lemert of Edelson

For defendants: No appearances yet