PLEASANTON, Calif. – 

IronPlanet, the leading online marketplace for buying and selling used heavy equipment and trucks, marked one year since the launch of its GovPlanet marketplace by holding the first two-day auction on GovPlanet.com at the end of September. Gross merchandise value (GMV) of the combined sale was $9.25 million, which drew more than 25,000 unique auction day attendees and nearly 1,000 unique bidders over the two days. All equipment on the first day of the sale, Tuesday, September 22, 2015, was from the U.S. Marine Corps, and the second day, Wednesday, September 23^, 2015, was GovPlanet’s second all-Humvee sale.

The sale was also a first as GovPlanet added the U.S. Marine Corps to its list of sellers. The U.S. Marine Corps is the latest seller to take advantage of IronPlanet’s dedicated government surplus marketplace, GovPlanet. IronPlanet launched GovPlanet in 2014 to address the specialized needs of federal, state and local entities and in November 2014 held its first auction of surplus rolling stock for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). Since that time, more than 12,000 items have sold on GovPlanet, including more than 2,000 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs), or Humvees, that have proven to be popular sellers.

This was GovPlanet’s second all-Humvee auction; the first was held at the end of June 2015. Combined, the two all-Humvee auctions alone have sold more than 520 vehicles with some prices reaching as high as $20,000 to $30,000. During the past year, IronPlanet worked with the DLA to allow Humvee buyers to acquire a Form SF97, the U.S. government-issued certificate that proves ownership and enables vehicle buyers to procure titles in states that allow it.

Based on the success of the DLA items selling on GovPlanet in the U.S., IronPlanet proposed selling rolling stock based in Europe to a broader audience of buyers closer to the equipment. On July 29, 2015, IronPlanet held its first auction of DLA items based in Europe to resounding success: all 108 lots sold to bidders from 115 countries, and 52% of people registered for the sale were new to IronPlanet and GovPlanet.

Sue McGregor, Managing Director of Canada, IronPlanet, discusses what to look for in a selling platform on Page 21 of Supply Post.  Read the article here.

Sue McGregor, Managing Director of Canada, IronPlanet, discusses which kind of marketplace to use for purchasing used heavy equipment on Page A20 of Equipment Journal here.  

PLEASANTON, Calif. – 

IronPlanet, the leading online marketplace for buying and selling used heavy equipment and trucks, announced today that it has been selected by the Zachry-Odebrecht Parkway Builders to help manage and sell surplus equipment related to the SH99 Grand Parkway Project in Houston, Texas, as it gets closer to completion.

This week in interesting industry headlines:

Use of Unmanned Aircraft System in agriculture continues to expand [Farm & Ranch Guide]

"These larger unmanned aircraft will be used in precision agriculture and some of the first things farmers will be willing to pay for is the ability to make yield predictions. In addition, Nowatzki predicts farmers will use large UAS to track insect and disease movements. Accurate elevation data, he feels, is also something growers will be willing to pay for." Read more

Exuberance and Disappointment at Shell's About-Face in the Arctic [NYTimes.com]

"The economies and cultures of Alaska and Washington have long been intertwined and dependent. Many Alaskan fishing fleets today are based in Seattle and pay their wages here; in decades past, gold miners disembarked from Puget Sound for the gold fields of Alaska and Canada. The result is akind of mutual orbit with each side circling the other, in mutual benefit or frustration. On Monday, the glaring differences were everywhere." Read more

Timing is important when disposing equipment at auction [American City & County]

"Tractor-loader-backhoes in the North American markets are following seasonal trends in auction and private retail valuations, according to a new EquipmentWatch Intelligence report. The valuations, say EquipmentWatch analysts, vary based on model age and month of sale." Read more

Volkswagen's Biggest Challenge Right Now: Fixing the Cars [Fox Business]

"It's believed that VW's engineers, under intense pressure to meet mileage and performance targets, chose to rig the software because they couldn't hit those targets while keeping the emissions below legal levels. Certain types of emission controls impede both performance and fuel economy. One of the challenges facing new VW CEO Matthias Mueller is that all of those cars must now be fixed." Read more

On Wednesday, IronPlanet marketplace Cat Auction Services hosts its first event of the fall: a live, unreserved public auction in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by Ziegler Cat. This exciting auction features over 430 low-hour, late-model items with attractive starting bid price points. If you're attending in person, be sure to register ahead of time and preview equipment onsite over the next few days if interested. If you're planning to bid online, all items are now available to view on IronPlanet.com along with our guaranteed inspection reports. (Plus, don't miss the 9/30 sale on GovPlanet!)

Some of the items up for auction at the sale:

2013 John Deere 824K Wheel Loader
Lot #274, 1,933 Hours. Enclosed Cab, Air Conditioner, Heater, Tilt Steering, Autoshift, Ride Control, Rear View Camera, 26.5R25 Tires, Fenders, 127" Wide General Purpose Bucket, Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel. See more

This week in interesting industry headlines:

PLEASANTON, Calif. – 

Ahead of the all-Humvee auction on Wednesday, browse details and inspection reports for the 300 Humvees available on GovPlanet! All vehicles are priced with a $7,500 opening bid; HMMWVs are great for off-roading, hunting, camping, and more, and these are in excellent condition. 

Curious about what will happen after you win a Humvee at auction? Read our guide to buying a demilitarized Humvee online. As part of our exclusive contract with the Defense Logistics Agency and the Department of Defense, GovPlanet is now able to offer Form SF97s for Humvee sales, which means buyers will be able to get a vehicle title for off-road driving. Previously, Humvees were sold with a bill of sale only. Learn more about SF97s here.

Tomorrow's U.S. Marine Corps surplus equipment auction, the first of its kind at IronPlanet, is packed with items our equipment analyst Paul Hendrix is calling "in pristine condition," including "Cat D7G’s that are literally time capsules from the mid-1980’s, no electronics, just bares bones cable and linkage controls, Cat 3306 engines; arguably one of the best diesel engines ever produced." 

The impressive package's numbers back up Hendrix' high praise:

• 1982: Year the oldest Cat D7G for sale was made
• 83: Hours the 1982 Cat D7G crawler tractor has on the meter
• 167: Number of items for sale made before 1990