3-2-1…Lift-off for “Mister Maquinaria”

July 1969 – Apollo 11 ready on Launch-Pad 39A

As a “Space Race Brat” born to Parents who lived in Brevard County, Florida & were employed in the Space Industry fresh out of high school (late-1950’s), those insightful parental tech nerds made it my business to engage and leverage technology from an early age (see photo at Pad 39A and Apollo 11, I’m in red). In hindsight, the habitual application of technology has been a fruitful gift.

While Technology, the Digital Age & Social Media have changed most aspects of life as we know it, the construction equipment industry is a prime example of “old habits dying hard”, when secondary markets and participant behavior are considered.  The current landscape is painted with auction houses, dealer-to-dealer networks, antiquated websites, poor marketing platforms and even locals attempting to DIY on Craigslist – as with the “late adopters” of the Space Race, the current state of our equipment industry demonstrates collectively we are some of the last to understand it and use it to it’s full potential.

The fact is, most equipment owners/users are not equipped to manage the marketing and sale of their used iron – they wisely invest their time in estimating, bidding, winning and executing projects, as it should be: but something is missing.  At the end of the efficient life of machinery it is common to accept low trade values, sell machines to intermediaries and auctions: all paying/netting typically 65-80 cents on the retail dollar.  The lack of in-house staff and supporting network charged with creating increased net worth for machinery assets affects competitiveness for contractors and other owners/end-users.

Mister Maquinaria has now “gone live” with our website and set to leverage the power of our global database for email marketing, extensive use of digital and social media platforms & iPhones that have more computer power than Apollo 11 when it launched in July 1969.

Contact us at your convenience to discuss your specific needs – let’s launch a partnership to increase returns on your equipment!

Ritchie Bros Orlando sets records across the board in February

The final result: US$278 Million in gross auction sales, all unreserved – Ritchie Bros Auctioneers did it again and set market values across 12,500 lots of construction equipment over six days.

As expected late-model, low-hour gear was in high demand for domestic end-user’s as the US Economy remains strong – sellers have the advantage in the marketplace on all platforms as supply is squeezed.

Latin American, Caribbean and other International players showed a resurgence of this buyer-base, swarming the Tier III gear, rarely being outbid during the week.

Ritchie Bros has some tweaks to make – it comes with the territory – but considering the impact last year’s acquisition of Iron Planet had on sale volume they pulled it off well, congratulations on a great event!

Mister Maquinaria is ready to assist international buyers in locating and purchasing the machinery from reliable sources in the USA – contact us and let’s talk machinery and exporting!

February 2018 – Mister Maquinaria on Day 4 of the Ritchie Bros Orlando Sale, a great event!

Ritchie Bros Orlando taking it to the next level after IronPlanet acquisition

Three weeks ago we were onsite checking out the iron and the gross sale estimate was $195MM, now that’s been obliterated with the latest estimate rolling in above $275MM – apparently RBA & IronPlanet are “Better Together” as the early media tagline suggested. If the primary goal is volume then this should be no surprise, be ready to reset your marks as the previous high was $203MM in 2012.

Who will be there and what should we monitor to better understand our market?

Late-model, low-hour gear will serve to quench the domestic end-user’s appetite as the US Economy remains hot, providing sellers the power position in the marketplace. We believe prices will be retail (as is typical) and the spectacle of the environment will certainly provide some bidding behavior of note.

Expect to see Latin American, Caribbean and other International Buyers swarming the pre-Tier IV gear, rarely being outbid: a resurgence of this buyer-base.

During the sale and after the dust settles a hot topic will be the simultaneous sale of iron sold “as-is” with descriptions on the RBA Orlando Yard versus the online offerings of remote equipment complete with IP-style inspections. Suffice to say Ritchie Bros will intensely monitor the results, attitude of their clients and trends – as will we.

Look for Mister Maquinaria staff all week and let’s talk machinery and exporting!

January 2018 – Mister Maquinaria on the RBA Orlando site, inspecting machinery

Mining Rebuilds: CAT 789 Trucks – Chile to Tampa to Australia

Securing the deal to rebuild 6 x CAT 789, 240-Ton Capacity Mining Trucks several years ago was a satisfying professional experience – to date these remain the largest machines ever rebuilt by Ring Power CAT. Freight from the BHP Mine in Chile was expertly handled by an experienced logistics group, leaving the beds behind – rebuilds from the frame-up across all units were complete in about five months after some change orders – they sold to Queensland, Australia in Q2/2012 – let’s do that again starting with mining components!