This week in interesting industry headlines:

Team picked to build LaGuardia Airport's new main terminal [The Kansas City Star]

"The project includes developer Skanska USA Inc., architecture and engineering company HOK and financial firms Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. The work is expected to be completed by 2021 at a cost of $3.6 billion, according to the Port Authority's capital plan." Read more

Cash rebates boost grass removal frenzy in drought-plagued California [The Hamilton Spectator]

"The rebates have helped longtime landscapers and also drawn newcomers to the industry." Read more

Stakes are high for surplus equipment inspection reports, and all the work that goes into them at IronPlanet is paying off: the IronClad Assurance® program is proving to be a huge differentiator for the company. The Assurance guarantees that the inspection report is an accurate representation of the equipment for sale. If a buyer has a dispute, IronPlanet promises through this guarantee that the company will work with the buyer directly for resolution. 

The IronClad designation represents rigorous inspector training through an internal online education tool, standardized and extremely detailed inspection checklists, a team of over 200 experienced inspectors with a commitment to thorough reporting, and quality control of every report for accuracy. What does the IronClad Assurance® mean for buyers and sellers? 

On Thursday, we are hosting a big auction featuring thousands of low-hour, late-model equipment from featured sellers including Ring Power, one of the largest Caterpillar equipment dealers in the world. IronPlanet and Ring Power work together on an ongoing basis to help Ring Power’s surplus equipment reach a global buyer base.

“They're a pleasure to do business with,” says Darrin Hogeboom, Vice President of Sales at IronPlanet. “They have an outstanding reputation, and it's an honor to be a business partner of theirs.”  

If you’re jonesing to bring home a big, bold, beautiful military Humvee to join your family of vehicles, GovPlanet is the place to go for your purchase. Beginning in December of 2014, IronPlanet has made it easy to find, compare and bid on government surplus Humvees from the Defense Logistics Agency.

GovPlanet has weekly auctions, and there’s a particularly big Humvee sale coming up on June 24. Here’s what to expect when you begin your journey to ownership of a government surplus Humvee through GovPlanet:

IronPlanet's huge May auction is coming up this week, on May 28 and 29, featuring equipment from Ring Power, Mustang, Yancey, MacAllister, Philips & Jordan and more! With thousands of items for sale, many late-model, low miles, buyers from across industries and the world can find equipment that meets their needs.

Items are ready to preview and bid!

Here are more select items for you to explore (See Part 1 here): 

Caterpillar 180H Motor Grader
Item #581508, 16,949 hours. Enclosed Cab, A/C, Heater, Pre-Wired for Grade Control, Top Con Grade System Monitor, Caterpillar 3306 Engine, 14.00R24 Tires, Scarifier, 14'' Moldboard. See more

This week in interesting industry headlines:

Agriculture: Job growth to boom over next five years [CNBC]

"Dire news about drought in the West and avian flu in the Midwest may lead Americans to believe farming is struggling. They'd be wrong. The industry is thriving—and hiring college grads." Read more

'Insane schedule' begins for WWI memorial design, construction [Stars and Stripes]

"Officials with the WWI Centennial Commission overseeing the project plan to have the monument completed by Nov. 11, 2018. That date will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, which initially marked the close of WWI but now is referred to as Veterans Day in the United States." Read more

As we previewed yesterday, IronPlanet has a big auction coming up next week. Read more about featured equipment items here, and see the press release about the auction below: 

PLEASANTON, Calif. – May 21, 2015

What:

IronPlanet and Cat Auction Services’ end of May online auction, in association with Ring Power Corporation and other key dealers and contractors. Items are available for preview online today at www.ironplanet.com and at www.catauctions.com.

IronPlanet's huge May auction is coming up on May 28 and 29 featuring equipment from Ring Power, Mustang, Yancey, MacAllister, Philips & Jordan and more! With thousands of items for sale, many late-model, low miles, buyers from across industries and the world can find equipment that meets their needs.

Items are ready to preview and bid!

Here are select items that you can bid on today! 

IronPlanet has always sold trucks. But until a couple years ago, many would-be truck buyers and sellers had no idea. Since its launch in 1999, IronPlanet had mostly been known for surplus construction equipment sales: Cranes, tractors, oil and mining equipment. Paul Blalock, IronPlanet’s Vice President of Sales, TruckPlanet, set out to add to IronPlanet’s reputation. “We wanted to let the buying audience and the selling audience know that we are squarely in the truck business,” he says.

To broadcast that loud and clear, in early spring of 2013, he and a team of experts launched a specialized site,TruckPlanet.com, focused solely on connecting IronPlanet’s truck fleet sellers with potential buyers.

More than 25,000 people attended the auctions online and onsite, buying more than 2,750 lots of equipment for $33.7 million in gross merchandise value (GMV). IronPlanet’s Kruse Energy & Equipment Auctioneers saw strong pricing across its oil and gas offerings, including 20-plus well service rigs, nine drilling rigs and a full fracking fleet package that brought a record price at auction.

Interested in participating in one of our auctions? Take these five steps now to make your auction day used heavy equipment purchase as easy and streamlined as possible.

1. Sign up with IronPlanet and get pre-qualified to bid

First things first: Set up your IronPlanet account. Once you're a registered user, you can then apply for approval to bid at varying levels. You’ll also get access to our Practice Auction, where you can experience what an auction will look like ahead of time, and to the Watch List tool, where you can save items to look at later and get email updates on items you've saved.

Now that you have your account set up, use our search and browse tools to find the equipment that meets your needs. Each piece of equipment has an inspection report from one of our professional inspection team members, and the reports are guaranteed with our IronClad Assurance®: What you see in the report is what you’ll get when the equipment is delivered.

This week in interesting industry headlines:

Amtrak Crash and America's Declining Construction Spending [The New York Times]

"One of the reasons that American trains should not travel 100 miles and hour in many places in that the state of our rail system-- like the state of our bridges, highways and airports-- is not good." Read more

Revenue for U.S. Trucking Companies Reaches Record $700 Billion [Wall Street Journal]

"A shortage of drivers and persistently low fuel charges are driving greenbacks to the pockets of trucking companies, as the industry reported a record $700.4 billion in revenue in 2014." Read more

Now that spring has arrived, it's time to prepare your fleet for the hot summer months. Here are 7 tips for keeping your heavy equipment in the best shape possible during the year's most sweltering temperatures:

• Check your equipment engines' cooling systems. What coolant-to-water ratio does your manufacturer recommend for each item to protect against boilover in hot weather? Make sure you're at the recommended ratios by using test strips or other methods, then adjust as needed.

Take a look behind the scenes with this story from IronPlanet EU about successfully navigating an equipment sales partnership based in Gabon, a small country on the west coast of Africa:

At our onsite and online unreserved auction on Wednesday, May 13, you'll be able to bid on hundreds of pieces of late-model, low-hour heavy equipment, including construction, pipeline, oil and gas, mining and agricultural equipment. Here are a handful of items that stand out:

2012 Komatsu PC490LC-10 Track Excavator

Lot #243; 3,990 hours. Features an enclosed cab, A/C and heater, control pattern changer, 11' stick, 36" track shoes, and a 66' tooth bucket.

Get the details on this Komatsu track excavator

This week in interesting industry headlines:

With Urban Water Use in California Cut, Agriculture Regulations Scrutinized [ABC News]

"Agricultural water use continues to be largely exempt from recent regulations, amid criticism from water experts and environmentalists." Read more

Puerto Rico is sowing a new generation of small farmers [NPR]

"Puerto Rico's government provided farmers some $13 million in subsidies in the past two years, paying for everything from equipment to hourly wages. Comas says it's creating jobs and bringing new income to the island's economy." Read more

Global oil prices are plummeting, causing the Canadian economy to struggle and the Canadian dollar to weaken. Today, 1 Canadian dollar translates to about 82 cents in U.S. currency. The trend seems to be holding for now. (Check today’s U.S./Canadian exchange rate here.)

While Canada works to diversify its economy away from oil and to recuperate in the short term from this heavy blow, the time is ripe for U.S. buyers to take advantage of the favorable exchange rate and get even better value on Canadian used heavy equipment in online auctions. 

PLEASANTON, Calif. – May 06, 2015395 lots featuring late-model, low-hour equipment from Cleveland Brothers, Laurita and more 

What: 

IronPlanet’s Cat Auction Services’ unreserved public auction will be hosted by Cleveland Brothers, onsite in Morgantown, WVand online at www.ironplanet.com and at www.catauctions.com. Items are available for preview onsite at the Mylan Park Lane location and online today.