Condensed Consolidating Financial Information of Guarantor Subsidiaries CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING BALANCE SHEETS (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2008
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 36	$ 203	$ 169	$ 77
Accounts receivable, net	464	377
Intercompany receivable (payable)	0	0
Inventory	44	39
Prepaid expenses and other assets	75	37
Deferred taxes	104	69
Total current assets	723	725
Rental equipment, net	2,617	2,280
Property and equipment, net	366	393
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	372	227
Other long-term assets	65	68
Total assets	4,143	3,693
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	395	229
Accounts payable	206	132
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	263	208
Total current liabilities	864	569
Long-term debt	2,592	2,576
Subordinated convertible debentures	55	124
Deferred taxes	470	385
Other long-term liabilities	59	59
Total liabilities	4,040	3,713
Temporary equity (note 12)	39	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	64	(20)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	4,143	3,693
Parent Company [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Intercompany receivable (payable)	114	115
Inventory	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other assets	0	0
Deferred taxes	0	0
Total current assets	114	115
Rental equipment, net	0	0
Property and equipment, net	41	43
Investment in subsidiaries	227	173
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Other long-term assets	4	8
Total assets	386	339
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	129	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	31	37
Total current liabilities	160	37
Long-term debt	0	124
Subordinated convertible debentures	55	124
Deferred taxes	16	17
Other long-term liabilities	52	57
Total liabilities	283	359
Temporary equity (note 12)	39
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	64	(20)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	386	339
URNA [Member]
Condensed Financial Information Other Details [Abstract]
Ownership Percentage In Subsidiaries	100.00%
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	6	4	5	0
Accounts receivable, net	19	5
Intercompany receivable (payable)	(876)	(837)
Inventory	21	19
Prepaid expenses and other assets	55	31
Deferred taxes	100	65
Total current assets	(675)	(713)
Rental equipment, net	1,345	1,243
Property and equipment, net	177	186
Investment in subsidiaries	2,144	2,018
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	130	99
Other long-term assets	60	60
Total assets	3,181	2,893
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	8	8
Accounts payable	120	83
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	139	146
Total current liabilities	267	237
Long-term debt	2,444	2,306
Subordinated convertible debentures	0	0
Deferred taxes	241	175
Other long-term liabilities	2	2
Total liabilities	2,954	2,720
Temporary equity (note 12)	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	227	173
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	3,181	2,893
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Information Other Details [Abstract]
Ownership Percentage In Subsidiaries	100.00%
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	3	4
Accounts receivable, net	9	6
Intercompany receivable (payable)	772	735
Inventory	15	13
Prepaid expenses and other assets	1	4
Deferred taxes	3	3
Total current assets	800	761
Rental equipment, net	836	742
Property and equipment, net	120	136
Investment in subsidiaries	462	414
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	102	83
Other long-term assets	1	0
Total assets	2,321	2,136
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	47	26
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	48	0
Total current liabilities	95	26
Long-term debt	142	146
Subordinated convertible debentures	0	0
Deferred taxes	165	160
Other long-term liabilities	2	0
Total liabilities	404	332
Temporary equity (note 12)	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	1,917	1,804
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	2,321	2,136
Non Guarantor Subsidiaries Foreign [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	30	199	161	73
Accounts receivable, net	98	73
Intercompany receivable (payable)	(154)	(155)
Inventory	8	7
Prepaid expenses and other assets	19	2
Deferred taxes	1	1
Total current assets	2	127
Rental equipment, net	436	295
Property and equipment, net	28	28
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	140	45
Other long-term assets	0	0
Total assets	606	495
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	3	0
Accounts payable	39	23
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	45	25
Total current liabilities	87	48
Long-term debt	6	0
Subordinated convertible debentures	0	0
Deferred taxes	48	33
Other long-term liabilities	3	0
Total liabilities	144	81
Temporary equity (note 12)	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	462	414
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	606	495
Non Guarantor Subsidiaries SPV [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	338	293
Intercompany receivable (payable)	0	0
Inventory	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other assets	0	0
Deferred taxes	0	0
Total current assets	338	293
Rental equipment, net	0	0
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Other long-term assets	0	0
Total assets	338	293
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	255	221
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	255	221
Long-term debt	0	0
Subordinated convertible debentures	0	0
Deferred taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	255	221
Temporary equity (note 12)	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	83	72
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	338	293
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Intercompany receivable (payable)	144	142
Inventory	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other assets	0	0
Deferred taxes	0	0
Total current assets	144	142
Rental equipment, net	0	0
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(2,833)	(2,605)
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Other long-term assets	0	0
Total assets	(2,689)	(2,463)
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
Subordinated convertible debentures	0	0
Deferred taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	0	0
Temporary equity (note 12)	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	(2,689)	(2,463)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	$ (2,689)	$ (2,463)