30 DC VELOCITY MAY 2014 www.dcvelocity.com
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Companies that require specialized equipment on an intermittent
but regular basis should look at
buying used lift trucks, says Gary
Hansen, vice president and owner
of Capital Equipment & Handling,
a Milwaukee-area dealer with
locations throughout Wisconsin.
Capital represents Nissan by
Unicarriers and Clark lift trucks.
“Instead of purchasing a specialty
machine that could potentially cost
$250,000 or higher, a company that
only needs a specific piece of equip-
ment to do a certain task, like lifting
very high or lifting very heavy loads,
[might] look for something used
that may cost half that amount,”
Hansen says. Many companies rent
specialty trucks, but buying used has
advantages, he says. For one thing, a
specific piece of rental equipment
won’t always be available when you
want it. And even if you choose
to buy new, the leadtime for some
heavy equipment orders can be six
months or more. Buyers of special-
ty trucks sometimes can find what
they need faster in the used market.
BUYER BEWARE
There are several different sources of used trucks for sale, some
of them riskier than others. It’s
no surprise that manufacturers and dealers recommend
buying directly from them.
They have a vested interest
in the matter, of course,
but they also have
some critical ele-
ments working in
their favor. Most
of the used trucks
that dealers sell
are former rentals or lease equip-
ment that they purchased new and
have been servicing all along. In
addition, the manufacturers they
represent usually have mandatory
protocols for reconditioning and certifying
used vehicles. As a result, dealers know the
history of each of the used trucks they sell,
have the parts and the expertise to repair
them if needed, and will stand behind the
truck and their work if there’s a problem.
“It’s important for us to make that ‘used’
experience as good as the new truck expe-
rience,” Rawson says.
Dealers aren’t the only ones selling
used equipment. There are plenty
of independent equipment brokers,
wholesalers, and auction houses,
as well as owners who want
to sell directly to a buyer.
You can also find used lift
trucks through a number
of online markets. One
example is Australia-based Forkliftaction.com,
There are even listings for used equipment
on Craigslist.
“If a buyer is looking for a specific brand,
they will go to an OEM dealer, but if they’re
just looking at price, then they might go to
an independent [dealer or broker],” says
Rawson. Price-conscious buyers may also
seek out auctions, which are usually advertised online and in weekly “for sale” flyers
and newspapers.
But there are drawbacks to buying
through such venues, the dealers say.
Auctions sell “as is, where is,” so it’s hard
to know whether a truck meets safety
standards or has some other major flaw,
Rawson says. “You don’t know where that
truck has been or what its history is. And
once you leave with it, there’s no going
back or recourse or guarantee.” For that
reason, he says, buying at auction “is probably the riskiest thing for an end user to
do.” Furthermore, as Sponza points out,
you may end up having to bring the truck
to a dealer for unanticipated but costly
repairs.
The Internet has certainly made locating
well-priced used equipment faster and easier. “An individual buyer can literally scan
the globe online,” says Hansen. “They can
potentially buy the same piece of equipment as we can for the same wholesale
price.” But that approach also has greatly
raised the risk level for buyers, he cautions.
One concern is that very rarely, if ever, do
