Devoted To Truck Trailers

Exclusively for www.willgo.com

Trailer Auctions:  Can They Work for You?
    Some people are just addicted auction shoppers.  They love the excitement of a bidding battle, the call of the auctioneer, and the feeling that they just “stole” something at a heavy discount.     On the other side, auction sellers often carry the stigma of failure, bankruptcy, and personal inadequacy.
    But are the stereotypes true?  As a buyer are you likely to get the deal of a lifetime?  As a seller will you always take a bath?
    According to Paul Wachtel, president of Taylor & Martin Auctions (T&M) in Freemont , Nebraska , T&M sellers never “take a bath” and are virtually never disappointed at the auction results.  “We appraise every item well before the auction and tell the seller what pricing to expect.  Our accuracy on these appraisals compared to auction results runs at about 103%.  We tell the seller that if they don’t like the appraised value, they shouldn’t include the item at the auction.”
    As far as buyers are concerned,  Mr.Wachtel explains, “Over 70% of T&M auction buyers are end users who are “retail” buyers.  We have a high percentage of repeat participants.  Buyers have got to feel good about their purchases or they don’t come back.”  Regarding pricing he says, “We estimate that most truck and trailers are sold at T&M auctions for somewhere between wholesale and retail prices…normally about 20% below retail” making both buyers and sellers very happy.
    T&M is one of two US auction houses specializing exclusively in trucking company fleet reductions and liquidations.  They do about 50 auctions per year and estimate to have sold over 10,000 trailers in the last year.  The other auction company specializing in tractors and trailers is US Auctioneers, Inc. ( USA ) in Rock Island , IL .  As of press-time we did not have accurate information on the number of USA auctions for the last year, but based on a review of trade journal ads and announcements over the last twelve months we estimate that USA and T&M are comparable in size and market share.
    At least two other, more general market auction houses have done trucking equipment auctions in recent years.  The first, Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers (RBA), a NYSE company based in Vancouver , BC , held a total of 141 multi-industry auctions in 10 countries in 2002.  Included in these, they say they sold over
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New Seller Listing Services Now Available!
Listing WillGo sellers can now review, modify and delete their listings on-line through our website.  Registered users can select “Listing Services” at the www.willgo.com home page and enter their User ID and Password on the log-in page to retrieve a complete summary of their listings.  Users who have selected Auto Rec (Automatic Recognition) at the registration page will skip the Listing Services log-in page and go directly to their listings.  Changes made by sellers on-line through Listing Services are normally processed and posted into the WillGo database within one business day.  Until processed, listings will appear unchanged on-line.

“Trailers For Sale” Database Updated Routinely! 
WillGo’s “Trailer For Sale” database (also know as the “National Trailer Inventory”) is updated several times a day.  Listers are asked to update their listings at least every 90 days to avoid automatic deletion.  WillGo provides every lister with a complete summary of their listings for updating once a month by e-mail and/or fax.  Listers who are slow to respond are often reminded again before a listing is deleted.  The result is the largest, most up-to-date database of trailers for sale in the universe!

July ’03 “Trailer Traffic” – “State-of-the-Art: Trailer Tracking”
Check out last month’s feature story on the current state of wireless satellite and cellular trailer tracking.

Trailer News Briefs
     As a reader service, WillGo's monthly on-line newsletter, "Trailer Traffic" scans multiple industry news sources to consolidate trailer industry news links in one executive summary list:

Wabash Sells Rental/ Lease Fleet and Aftermarket Parts:
Wabash announced its intention to sell its trailer rental and lease fleet (formerly known as Apex Leasing) and its wholesale aftermarket parts operation to Jefferies Capital Partners.  The new company will be names Aurora Trailer Holdings and led by former Fruehauf/Wabash executive, Derek Nagel.

Chinese Container Maker CIMC Buys HPA Monon to Start Building US Trailers:  Located in downtown Monon, IN the complex of 10 buildings has been used for building truck trailers under a variety of brand names for over 20 years.  Unfortunately for the local townspeople and employees, each of these previous efforts has ultimately ended in bankruptcy.  Now, with investment by the Chinese and leadership provided by former Wabash executive, Rich Dessimoz, there is a renewed optimism.

NHTSA Warns of Cracking in 1991-92 Monon Trailers:  National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation has issued a warning to owners of 1991-1992 28’ pups.

Manac Introduces New Aluminum Dump Trailer – Manac has an all new design for aluminum dumps to be built at their Trois-Rivieres plant in Quebec.

Heil to Close Lancaster , PA Factory – Heil Trailer International has decided to consolidate manufacturing of its high cube pneumatic trailer products into its Rhome, TX plant.

Wabash National Sells 7,000 to US Express – US Express has signed a 3 year order with Wabash National for 7,000 53’ DuraPlates.

Great Dane Consolidates Its Sales/Marketing Departments – The Pines/Great Dane organi- zations have been operated as semi-autonomous groups since the companies were combined by the Crown family in 1997.  Now, a re-structuring and consolidation is beginning to take shape.

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