Condensed Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantor Subsidiaries - CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Revenues:
Equipment rentals										$ 4,949	$ 4,819	$ 4,196
Sales of rental equipment										538	544	490
Sales of new equipment										157	149	104
Contractor supplies sales										79	85	87
Service and other revenues										94	88	78
Total revenues		$ 1,523	$ 1,550	$ 1,429	$ 1,315	$ 1,564	$ 1,544	$ 1,399	$ 1,178	5,817	5,685	4,955
Cost of revenues:
Cost of equipment rentals, excluding depreciation										1,826	1,806	1,634
Depreciation of rental equipment										976	921	852
Cost of rental equipment sales										311	315	314
Cost of new equipment sales										131	120	84
Cost of contractor supplies sales										55	59	59
Cost of service and other revenues										38	32	25
Total cost of revenues										3,337	3,253	2,968
Gross profit		648	690	618	524	707	688	589	448	2,480	2,432	1,987
Selling, general and administrative expenses										714	758	642
Merger related costs										(26)	11	9
Restructuring charge										6	(1)	12
Non-rental depreciation and amortization										268	273	246
Operating income		397	446	375	300	426	422	325	218	1,518	1,391	1,078
Interest (income) expense, net										567	555	475
Interest expense—subordinated convertible debentures										0	0	3
Other (income) expense, net										(12)	(14)	(5)
Income before provision for income taxes										963	850	605
Provision for income taxes										378	310	218
Income (loss) before equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										585	540	387
Equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										0	0	0
Net income		$ 169	$ 215	$ 86	$ 115	$ 194	$ 192	$ 94	$ 60	585	540	387
Other comprehensive (loss) income	[1]									(176)	(93)	(65)
Comprehensive income										409	447	322
Eliminations
Revenues:
Equipment rentals										0	0	0
Sales of rental equipment										0	0	0
Sales of new equipment										0	0	0
Contractor supplies sales										0	0	0
Service and other revenues										0	0	0
Total revenues										0	0	0
Cost of revenues:
Cost of equipment rentals, excluding depreciation										0	0	0
Depreciation of rental equipment										0	0	0
Cost of rental equipment sales										0	0	0
Cost of new equipment sales										0	0	0
Cost of contractor supplies sales										0	0	0
Cost of service and other revenues										0	0	0
Total cost of revenues										0	0	0
Gross profit										0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses										0	0	0
Merger related costs										0	0	0
Restructuring charge										0	0	0
Non-rental depreciation and amortization										0	0	0
Operating income										0	0	0
Interest (income) expense, net										(5)	(6)	(7)
Interest expense—subordinated convertible debentures												0
Other (income) expense, net										0	0	0
Income before provision for income taxes										5	6	7
Provision for income taxes										0	0	0
Income (loss) before equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										5	6	7
Equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										(473)	(770)	(604)
Net income										(468)	(764)	(597)
Other comprehensive (loss) income										490	255	180
Comprehensive income										22	(509)	(417)
Parent
Revenues:
Equipment rentals										0	0	0
Sales of rental equipment										0	0	0
Sales of new equipment										0	0	0
Contractor supplies sales										0	0	0
Service and other revenues										0	0	0
Total revenues										0	0	0
Cost of revenues:
Cost of equipment rentals, excluding depreciation										0	0	0
Depreciation of rental equipment										0	0	0
Cost of rental equipment sales										0	0	0
Cost of new equipment sales										0	0	0
Cost of contractor supplies sales										0	0	0
Cost of service and other revenues										0	0	0
Total cost of revenues										0	0	0
Gross profit										0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses										5	55	8
Merger related costs										0	0	0
Restructuring charge										0	0	0
Non-rental depreciation and amortization										15	17	17
Operating income										(20)	(72)	(25)
Interest (income) expense, net										(3)	9	12
Interest expense—subordinated convertible debentures												3
Other (income) expense, net										(471)	(149)	(132)
Income before provision for income taxes										454	68	92
Provision for income taxes										201	1	38
Income (loss) before equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										253	67	54
Equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										332	473	333
Net income										585	540	387
Other comprehensive (loss) income										(176)	(93)	(65)
Comprehensive income										409	447	322
URNA
Revenues:
Equipment rentals										4,452	4,217	3,612
Sales of rental equipment										480	478	438
Sales of new equipment										137	124	82
Contractor supplies sales										69	70	70
Service and other revenues										80	73	62
Total revenues										5,218	4,962	4,264
Cost of revenues:
Cost of equipment rentals, excluding depreciation										1,603	1,558	1,391
Depreciation of rental equipment										881	820	752
Cost of rental equipment sales										279	277	283
Cost of new equipment sales										115	101	67
Cost of contractor supplies sales										48	49	48
Cost of service and other revenues										33	27	19
Total cost of revenues										2,959	2,832	2,560
Gross profit										2,259	2,130	1,704
Selling, general and administrative expenses										596	607	541
Merger related costs										(26)	11	9
Restructuring charge										5	(1)	12
Non-rental depreciation and amortization										228	226	210
Operating income										1,456	1,287	932
Interest (income) expense, net										559	538	454
Interest expense—subordinated convertible debentures												0
Other (income) expense, net										513	212	191
Income before provision for income taxes										384	537	287
Provision for income taxes										141	236	113
Income (loss) before equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										243	301	174
Equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										89	172	159
Net income										332	473	333
Other comprehensive (loss) income										(176)	(93)	(65)
Comprehensive income										156	380	268
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Revenues:
Equipment rentals										0	0	0
Sales of rental equipment										0	0	0
Sales of new equipment										0	0	0
Contractor supplies sales										0	0	0
Service and other revenues										0	0	0
Total revenues										0	0	0
Cost of revenues:
Cost of equipment rentals, excluding depreciation										0	0	0
Depreciation of rental equipment										0	0	0
Cost of rental equipment sales										0	0	0
Cost of new equipment sales										0	0	0
Cost of contractor supplies sales										0	0	0
Cost of service and other revenues										0	0	0
Total cost of revenues										0	0	0
Gross profit										0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses										1	3	0
Merger related costs										0	0	0
Restructuring charge										0	0	0
Non-rental depreciation and amortization										1	1	0
Operating income										(2)	(4)	0
Interest (income) expense, net										8	5	6
Interest expense—subordinated convertible debentures												0
Other (income) expense, net										0	(3)	0
Income before provision for income taxes										(10)	(6)	(6)
Provision for income taxes										(5)	0	(2)
Income (loss) before equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										(5)	(6)	(4)
Equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										52	125	112
Net income										47	119	108
Other comprehensive (loss) income										(175)	(90)	(65)
Comprehensive income										(128)	29	43
Non Guarantor Subsidiaries - Foreign
Revenues:
Equipment rentals										497	602	584
Sales of rental equipment										58	66	52
Sales of new equipment										20	25	22
Contractor supplies sales										10	15	17
Service and other revenues										14	15	16
Total revenues										599	723	691
Cost of revenues:
Cost of equipment rentals, excluding depreciation										223	248	243
Depreciation of rental equipment										95	101	100
Cost of rental equipment sales										32	38	31
Cost of new equipment sales										16	19	17
Cost of contractor supplies sales										7	10	11
Cost of service and other revenues										5	5	6
Total cost of revenues										378	421	408
Gross profit										221	302	283
Selling, general and administrative expenses										79	84	88
Merger related costs										0	0	0
Restructuring charge										1	0	0
Non-rental depreciation and amortization										24	29	19
Operating income										117	189	176
Interest (income) expense, net										3	4	5
Interest expense—subordinated convertible debentures												0
Other (income) expense, net										44	17	18
Income before provision for income taxes										70	168	153
Provision for income taxes										18	43	41
Income (loss) before equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										52	125	112
Equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										0	0	0
Net income										52	125	112
Other comprehensive (loss) income										(139)	(72)	(50)
Comprehensive income										(87)	53	62
Non Guarantor Subsidiaries - SPV
Revenues:
Equipment rentals										0	0	0
Sales of rental equipment										0	0	0
Sales of new equipment										0	0	0
Contractor supplies sales										0	0	0
Service and other revenues										0	0	0
Total revenues										0	0	0
Cost of revenues:
Cost of equipment rentals, excluding depreciation										0	0	0
Depreciation of rental equipment										0	0	0
Cost of rental equipment sales										0	0	0
Cost of new equipment sales										0	0	0
Cost of contractor supplies sales										0	0	0
Cost of service and other revenues										0	0	0
Total cost of revenues										0	0	0
Gross profit										0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses										33	9	5
Merger related costs										0	0	0
Restructuring charge										0	0	0
Non-rental depreciation and amortization										0	0	0
Operating income										(33)	(9)	(5)
Interest (income) expense, net										5	5	5
Interest expense—subordinated convertible debentures												0
Other (income) expense, net										(98)	(91)	(82)
Income before provision for income taxes										60	77	72
Provision for income taxes										23	30	28
Income (loss) before equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										37	47	44
Equity in net earnings (loss) of subsidiaries										0	0	0
Net income										37	47	44
Other comprehensive (loss) income										0	0	0
Comprehensive income										$ 37	$ 47	$ 44

[1] There were no material reclassifications from accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income reflected in other comprehensive loss during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 or 2013. There is no tax impact related to the foreign currency translation adjustments, as the earnings are considered permanently reinvested. There were no material taxes associated with other comprehensive loss during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 or 2013.