Essex to auction a portion of crawler fleet

Surplus crawler crane inventory will be sold off by Essex Rental at a sealed bid auction in the USA.

“In an effort to accelerate the sale of currently underutilized cranes, we have engaged Hunyady Auction Company to manage the sale of certain of our crawler cranes in a sealed bid auction,” said Ron Schad, president and CEO of Essex, in a press release. “The assets being offered represent approximately 6 percent of our crawler crane fleet. Over 80 percent of the crawler cranes that will be listed for sale are traditional cranes whose utilization and return on capital have been unsatisfactory.”

Unlike a live auction where equipment is sold to the highest bidder, in a sealed bid auction potential buyers propose a price and Essex determines whether the offered price is acceptable, Schad said. The bidding period ends on March 18, 2014 at 5 p.m. eastern US time.

“As with prior sales, we will use the proceeds from the sale of excess equipment to repay debt and to improve our fleet,” Schad explained. The company said it is continually evaluating its rental assets to ensure they meet the needs of customers and provide the highest possible return for shareholders.

Essex is one of North America's largest providers of rental and distribution for crawler and wheeled mobile cranes, tower cranes, elevators and hoists, and other lifting equipment.

In late 2013 Schad tendered his resignation as president and CEO of Essex Rental Corp. He said he would stay on in his capacity until a replacement was named.