Ritchie Bros. holds largest ever auction
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers conducted the largest auction in its 50-year history in February, selling almost 6,200 lots over five days for total gross auction proceeds in excess of US$190 million. The company sold more than US$51 million of trucks and heavy equipment on Day 3 of the auction: the most equipment ever sold at a Ritchie Bros. auction in one day. Ritchie Bros., the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, conducted the unreserved public auction at its permanent auction site in Orlando, Florida on February 19-23. The previous largest auction totalling US$172 million was conducted at the same site in February 2007.
More than 6,000 people from 71 countries, including all 50 U.S. states and all 13 Canadian provinces and territories, registered to bid in the auction either on site or online. Almost US$159 million of equipment (representing 83 percent of the total gross auction proceeds) was sold to buyers from outside the state of Florida, including more than US$68 million of equipment (36 percent of the total) that was sold to out-of-country bidders. The auction also set new company Internet bidding records. More than 2,000 of the registered bidders participated online using the Ritchie Bros. real-time internet bidding service, rbauctionBid-Live, purchasing close to US$30 million of equipment. Internet bidders were winner or runner-up on 30 percent of the lots available online.
Sullair joins SmartEquip
SmartEquip is pleased to announce that Sullair Corporation, one of the world’s leading compressor manufacturers, has joined the SmartEquip network. Sullair is a subsidiary of Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation, a United Technologies Company.
Sullair, a major supplier of portable air compressors and contractor tools to the rental industry, including a host of the world’s premier rental companies, has selected SmartEquip’s SE Parts and Service application to enhance its aftermarket product support offerings to these customers. The application will be integrated to the JD Edwards enterprise resource planning system, providing Sullair users the ability to query part availability and pricing, and to place orders with Sullair directly from their own fleet management systems quickly and accurately. “SmartEquip’s technology will enable us to upgrade the level of product support we can provide to our clients, while eliminating costly, inefficient internal processes,” said John Thompson, Sullair vice president and general manager of customer care. “We look forward to a great partnership.”
Dräger Safety expands in Kingston
Dräger Safety Canada Ltd. opened a new office for its Dräger Safety Solutions division. The Kingston office specializes in providing propane-fuelled and safely controlled training environments with props for the fire service and military applications to allow safe fire training in realistic atmospheres. The newly opened office is 9,000 square feet, triple the size of the former office, which was located in Napanee, Ontario and will hold twice as many employees.Today, Dräger employs 15 people in Napanee. “Capacity and staffing for company growth have been paramount for 2008,” said John Tully, director of Dräger Safety Solutions.
Daimler launches Light Commercial Vehicle Team
Daimler Trucks North America has established a new Light Commercial Vehicle Team, combining the resources of Sterling Truck Corporation’s Class 3-5 lines and Mitsubishi Fuso brand low cab-over engine (LCOE) operations in North America. The operation will be based in Redford, Mich. and will focus on the sales, marketing, product strategy and distribution of the Sterling 360, the Sterling Bullet and Mitsubishi Fuso Class 3-7 LCOE trucks. “This business model, which leverages DTNA’s extensive capabilities and expertise, is consistent with other Daimler units globally,” said Chris Patterson, chief executive officer of Daimler Trucks North America.“With its considerable resources and expanded coverage, this new team-will strengthen DTNA’s presence in the growing light commercial vehicle market in North America.”
North American rental market tops $40 billion
The value of the North American rental market reached $42.3 billion in 2007, according to the American Rental Association’s 2007 State of the Industry report, released in February at The Rental Show in Las Vegas. The $42.3 billion figure included $36.5 billion in the United States and $5.8 billion in Canada.
The comprehensive report was produced by Global Insight, a Lexington, Mass.-based economic forecasting and consulting firm. This is the third year ARA and Global Insight have joined forces to produce the industry research study, which includes updated revenue estimates for 2006 and 2007, and looks forward with a five-year forecast through 2012. “The North American equipment rental industry is the largest in the world, and is a significant contributor to the gross national product of both countries,” said ARA CEO Christine Wehrman.
Global Insight forecasts a continued growth trend, projecting North American rental revenues to exceed $52 billion in 2012. According to the study, the U.S. rental market has had a compound annual growth rate of 7.9 percent, signifi-cantly outpacing overall economic activity. Although the study predicts continued growth, it expects the compound annual growth rate to slow to 4.1 percent in the years 2007 through 2012.
General tool rental has been the fastest-growing U.S. market segment during the past decade, the study said, with 11.6 percent compound annual growth from 1998 to 2007. The segment accounted for $8.5 billion in rental revenue in 2007.
Canada shows the strongest growth during this period, particularly in the Western provinces. The construction and industrial equipment rental category makes up the largest share of the Canadian rental market with US$4.3 billion in rental revenue in 2007. Canada’s general tool segment produced US$4.1 billion in 2007 revenue, with party and event rental revenue totaling $157 million in 2007.
Husqvarna inks deal with Taiwanese company
Husqvarna has signed an agreement with Jenn Feng Co., Ltd. for acquisition of the company’s operation in outdoor products.
Jenn Feng, a listed Taiwanese company, is a leading producer of chainsaws and trimmers for the consumer market. The product offering also comprises lawn mowers, high-pressure washers and generators.
In 2007 the operation to be acquired reported sales of approximately US 120 million, of which more than half referred to Europe. Chainsaws accounted for 50 percent of sales. The company has about 1,250 employees, and production is mainly based in China. The acquisition gives the Husqvarna Group a greater presence as well as a wider manufacturing base in Asia. It also gives Husqvarna access to the McCulloch brand in the North American market. Husqvarna already owns the rights to this brand in the rest of the world. The deal is scheduled to complete in the second quarter of 2008.
U.S. construction machinery exports to Canada showing modest growth
The market for exports of U.S.-made construction machinery closed out 2007 with a gain of more than 26 percent compared to the previous year, for a total of $17.2 billion worth of equipment sold worldwide, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).
Africa, Asia and Europe showed the most growth in their export purchases, and Canada recorded the smallest gains for year-end 2007.
Africa led the way in 2007 with a 67-percent gain in export purchases, for a total of $1.1 billion. Exports to Asia grew 57 percent and totalled $2.4 billion, while Europe took delivery of $2.8 billion of U.S.-made equipment, a 50-percent gain compared to 2007.
Export business to Canada showed the smallest growth – an increase of 8.5 percent totalling $5.5 billion.
Hobart Welding Products improves online presence
To improve site navigation and offer visitors enhanced product information, Hobart Welding Products launched a redesign of its website, HobartWelders.com. Among the new features is an easy-to-use navigation menu with process-specific icons that direct visitors to welding, cutting and accessory product pages.The re-design also enables viewing on screen resolutions of 1024 x 768, presenting more information with less scrolling. Hobart’s website offers a collection of tips and guides to help users hone their welding techniques.
Skid steers the most popular target of thieves, study finds
LoJack Corporation announced the results of its seventh annual Construction Equipment Theft Study in a report that provides information on the growing problem of equipment theft – a problem that costs construction companies up to $1 billion per year in lost assets. According to the U.S. study, which analyzed LoJack stolen vehicle recovery reports for the calendar year 2007, construction theft continued at a steady clip with professional theft rings fuelling the crimes and skid steers being the number one theft target. For 2007, LoJack recovered more than $18 million in stolen construction equipment assets.
The study also revealed that newer equipment on the job site is the most common theft target because of higher resale value. The types of equipment most frequently stolen are (in order): skid steers; backhoe loaders/skip loaders/ wheel loaders/track loaders; generators/ air compressors/welders; light utility/work trucks and trailers; forklifts/scissor lifts; dump trucks; light towers; mini excavators. Just over 74 percent of the equipment stolen and recovered was five years old or less.
