Check out some interesting headlines around the industry from the past week.

Convergence Impact on Oilfield Services - Disrupting a $250 Billion Market (PR Newswire)
"As low oil prices give way to dwindling profit margins, strategies dictate organizations to curb inefficient practices and replace them with technologically advanced smart solutions. Connected oilfield services facilitate reduced drill time and increased productivity. The digital transformation has shifted focus to chasing efficiencies from the traditional one of chasing barrels. Business model disruptions to sell performance instead of equipment have taken over, as analytics becomes a strong part of the automation portfolio. The ICT industry has taken a leap of faith with the introduction of cognitive technologies through virtual assistants in oilfield services, taking artificial intelligence applications to a higher level." Read more

Welcome to Canadian Perspectives, a weekly IronPlanet blog post from the Great White North that will provide you with the inside scoop on the Canadian used equipment marketplace.

Every week, we’ll feature Canadian voices on things like fleet management, exchange rates and economic trends. We’ll sprinkle in distinctly Canadian phenomena like Maple Syrup, our urge to constantly apologize and a conflicting tendency to riot at hockey games.

Here are three more reasons you’ll want to tune in regularly to the Canadian Perspectives blog:

1. What happens in Canada has a direct impact on, say, Kentucky: So far, Cat Auction Services has held two live auctions in Edmonton, Alberta, stocked with lots of low-hour, late model used equipment. While the majority of the inventory stays in Canada, a bunch of it goes around the world or south to US bidders who know great deals are available north of the 49th. Our last Edmonton used equipment auction attracted bidders from 17 countries and 34 U.S. states.
2. We’ve got lots of great equipment for sale: Canada is a hotbed not just for hockey players, but for surplus heavy equipment thanks to our robust natural resource sector. It’s what happens when you’ve got just 35 million people living in a country that’s just a bit larger than the U.S. In world resource sector rankings for production, we rank 5th in natural gas and petroleum; first in potash and newsprint; second in softwood lumber, wood pulp and uranium; and third in aluminum, platinum, and hydroelectricity. So it’s really no accident, that we’re also home to the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer, Finning.
3. We’re easy to do business with: We’re a polite group and somewhat self-deprecating. We smiled when Conan O’Brien described us as “a giant piece of white chocolate that sits atop America.” And sorry to brag, but we get along well with our North American trading partners. So much so that the U.S. and Canada enjoy the world’s largest and most comprehensive trading relationship, which covers the cross-border shopping for used equipment that IronPlanet encourages.

Save the date! On May 25, IronPlanet is selling specialized pipeline equipment located in Ballard, Utah, and Goodland, Kansas. This is a one-owner complete dispersal sale for R.J. Taylor-Wyatt. View all 500+ items for sale and their inspection reports. Look for items specific to pipeline projects such as: Cat® Pipelayers from D7Gs to 561s, Komatsu Excavators from PC290LC-10s to a PC200LC, Tesmec Trenchers from a TRS1475 to a Vermeer T850, plus trucks and trailers, and hundreds of miscellaneous shop tools and accessories.

EVENT DETAILS 

Complete Dispersal for R.J. Taylor-Wyatt with more than 1,000 items, including 500 Pipeline Industry-related trucks & equipment plus hundreds of shop tools, accessories and other miscellaneous items 

Sue McGregor, managing director of Canada, IronPlanet, shares a few important things to keep in mind when making vehicle purchases across the border in the May 9 Issue of Equipment Journal, page A17.

As online auctions of used heavy equipment continue to increase in popularity as a preferred method for purchasing equipment, you want to stay on top of the requirements related to registration documents – especially if you are buying or selling across a border. Each country has different requirements. For example, if you’ve purchased a piece of used, on-road equipment outside of Canada, you understand the importance of a registration document, also known as a certificate of title or vehicle title in the U.S. This is a legal form that establishes a person or business as the owner of an item and accompanies the item as it transfers from the current owner to the new buyer. Here are a few important things to keep in mind when making vehicle purchases across the border.

This week, we kick off a new weekly blog feature, "Canadian Perspectives" from our team at IronPlanet, Canada.

Most people know that Canada’s a big place, 2nd only to Russia in land mass (the U.S. ranks 3rd). So not having to drag the equipment you want to sell to an auction site hundreds of miles away is a real bonus. Some Albertan equipment owners, who were in attendance at a recent Cat Auction Services auction in Edmonton, wholeheartedly agree. The equipment management team from a Calgary-based operation with nearly 200 pieces of used heavy equipment scattered from coast to coast made the difficult decision to trim the fleet. A sizeable portion was parked against a fence due to a sputtering economy. The equipment director’s thinking was this - as inactive units age, potential repair and maintenance bills could potentially balloon. 

Join us Thursday, May 12th with over 1,000 items up for auction including articulated dump trucks, track excavators, wheel loaders, crawler tractors and more. We are also featuring 17 professionally-maintained trucks from Walmart, including Freightliner, Cascadia, Peterbilt, Kenworth and International ProStar Conventional with Sleepers. 

Last month, IronPlanet held it's very first Cat Auction Services Unreserved Public Auction in the UK at Rockingham Motor Speedway. Hosted by Finning, this landmark auction featured high-quality Cat equipment and machinery from other dealers, rental customers and construction companies in the UK and from across the continent. Click here to view a video of the auction, including interviews with customers and the IronPlanet executive team. Interested in learning more about auctions in Europe? Preview featured items in IronPlanet's upcoming European auction on May 25, 2016.

Coming up next week on May 11-12, 2016. A huge two-day onsite Kruse Energy and Equipment Auction, hosted in Odessa,Texas. Look for a great selection of drilling rigs, well service rigs, frac pumps, drilling components, vacuum trucks, vacuum/kill trailers, heavy haul trucks/trailers and construction equipment! Bid online or onsite. Click HERE for directions and details. Registration begins Thursday, May 5, 2016 at Kruse Energy’s Odessa Yard.