Heavy Equipment

Spring Cleaning & Site Updates

equipment — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:11:36 +0000

Spring is always
especially busy for us in the technology group. While we deal with
increasing amounts of website traffic, we also work to upgrade critical systems
while building new products for our future. Our Architecture group has
moved our webserver traffic onto a smaller cluster of much more powerful
computers. This makes us much greener in the amount of energy we burn as
well as improving our website’s performance. This new infrastructure also
makes us much more “cloud compatible”, should we ever need to scale
up or down depending on how slow or fast website responsiveness is.

Meanwhile, the
software team is working new tablet-optimized versions of CommercialTruckTrader and EquipmentTraderOnline. We’ve noticed that nearly 10% of our traffic
now comes from mobile devices, and the majority of that traffic is from
iPads. Knowing that this traffic is only going to grow, we want to make
sure we have a great experience for all of our tablet users!

A few of you may have
also seen a glimpse of our new iPad-based IMT, also known as Project
Quantum. It’s in a very early stage, what we call an “alpha”,
and being tested by our field representatives at some dealerships. As we
move ahead with squashing bugs and optimizing it, we’ll start to distribute
this to some test dealers to gather more user experience feedback.

In between all of this
work, we’ve been working to increase how findable ads are in our search.
This is an ever-evolving process. These latest updates have added
Installed Options for EquipmentTraderOnline in the IMT, which are included in
the Keyword search, and we’ve added Special Features to our Keyword
search. While it’s not perfect yet, it is a step in the right direction.

Soon, we’ll start
offering suggested Categories & Classes to minimize the time it takes to
enter ad data, as well as allow ads to be mapped to multiple Categories.
This will help deal with situations similar to where you want your ad seen under
both “Pickup Truck” and “Pickup Truck – Crewcab”.
There’s more coming on this topic, but I can’t talk about any of that just yet.

As always, you can
send us feedback and thoughts at: snfeedback@traderonline.com

~ Ryan

John Deere Displaying World’s First Walking Forest Machine Prototype

equipment — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:21:24 +0000

We are fans of robots here at MetalMiner. From the nimble small ones to the sizeable giants, we appreciate the skill – and metal – it takes to create these sci-fi creatures.

That being said, when we stumbled upon this blast-from-the-past machine from John Deere, we were a little excited:

Source: Deere.com

Manufactured back in 1994 by John Deere’s research and development
unit in Finland, this walking forest machine was the first prototype of
its kind – and quite a fearsome thing to behold. According to a recent John Deere news release,
the machine was “the first to be equipped with a harvesting head and
accumulated approximately 2,000 working hours during testing. Sensors in
the machine’s legs reacted automatically to soft, sloping, or uneven
terrain, while a computer control system distributed weight and support
equally to all six legs. The machine simply walked over obstacles that
crossed its path, and the machine operator was able to adjust the ground
clearance and height of every step.”

To celebrate John Deere’s 175^th anniversary and the John Deere Pavilion’s 15^th anniversary, a new exhibit was installed at the Pavilion on Feb. 15 displaying the spidery machine.

Did the creepy, walking coach in Beauty
and the Beast inspire the John Deere Team?

Image source:
where-there-had-been-darkness.blogspot.com

Why is it so important to the company?

More than just being the first of its kind, the machine “[paved] the
way for future developments in productive and environmentally friendly
machines.” In a few examples given by the release, “the automation and
stability system technology used in developing the concept underwent
further development and is now applied in all of John Deere’s forest
equipment. Due to progressive development work on the control systems,
hydraulics and transmission, modern John Deere harvesters cause less
burden on the terrain.”

If you are interested in viewing this lean, green, fighting machine,
feel free to visit the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, IL. Also on
display is the John Deere 643K Wheeled Feller Buncher (pictured below).

Source: Deere.com

Source: http://agmetalminer.com/2012/04/27/john-deere-displaying-worlds-first-walking-forest-machine-prototype/

From Our Perspective

equipment — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 07:01:21 +0000

Congress’s passage last week of a
90-day extension to the funding of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will allow for the continuing operations of existing
projects; however, it will keep the construction industry in limbo. Without a long-term funding plan in
place, investments in new equipment are unlikely to take place, thereby perpetuating sluggish domestic
construction equipment sales. Coupling that with the continuing decline in home prices and housing
starts makes it unlikely that we will see a significant rebound in domestic equipment sales in 2012.

EquipmentTraderOnline.com is seeing a large increase in the volume of trailers
for sale on the site. And, it’s not one type – it’s many different categories of trailers. We’re
observing a ramping up in the manufacturing of trailers (based on the volume of 2012 models), which portends
good things for the economy as a whole.

–Charles Bowles is the general sales manager for Commercial Truck Trader and
Equipment Trader. You can reach him at Charles.Bowles@DominionEnterprises.com or by phone at 757-351-7289.

From Our Perspective…

equipment — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:01:12 +0000

Equipment

The end of stimulus funding for
transportation and the overall malaise of the economy are taking their toll on
construction equipment sales. When you add to that the pull-back of
construction spending by state governments, the short-term sales outlook for
construction equipment is not so great. A bright spot in the construction
industry is the rental segment. More businesses are turning to renting rather
than buying, as more companies and municipalities are increasingly hesitant
about committing to major capital purchases. We are seeing rental rates inch
up, which may have the effect of moving some potential renters to buyers. We’ll
see how this plays out over the coming months.

An interesting fact that we have
observed on EquipmentTraderOnline.com is that buyers have begun to search
farther away to locate the piece of equipment that they need. In fact, 60% are
searching within a radius of between 100 – 250 miles from their home ZIP code.
Contrast this to the fact that only 3% of all searchers are limiting their radius
to 50 miles or less. What this tells us is that price and unit scarcity are
forcing potential buyers to search greater distances to find the piece of
equipment that they need, at a price they can afford.

Commercial Trucks

Domestic commercial truck sales,
particularly in the heavier classes, are showing significant growth over last
year. It appears that this trend will continue throughout 2012, as replacement
demand is driving these results. Light-duty is still making headway over last
year, but the growth is not as pronounced as it is in heavy-duty. The ties that
medium-duty sales have to the housing market are still hampering sales, and it
is unlikely that we will see a big spike in medium-duty until housing gets back
into high gear.

We are seeing a large increase
in the number of units for sale on CommercialTruckTrader.com. Although we
normally begin to see unit growth on the site in the spring, we are seeing
greater volume than we have in several years.
We are also noticing unit growth on our private dealer network,
WholesaleIndustrialNetwork.com. From our perspective, it appears that this will
be a good spring and summer for commercial truck sales.

–Charles Bowles is the
Sales Development Manager for Commercial Truck Trader and Equipment Trader. You
can reach him at Charles.Bowles@DominionEnterprises.com or by phone at 757-351-7289.

Nothing Like Word of Concrete…

equipment — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:35:46 +0000

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The 37^th Annual World of Concrete
Show happened in Las Vegas in January 23^rd- 27^th. Since 1975, this
show has been the industry’s ONLY annual international event dedicated to the
commercial concrete and masonry construction industries. One word to simply describe this show is
massive – indoor and outdoor exhibits, leading suppliers showcasing innovative
products and technologies, exciting demonstrations and competitions. There was something going on every minute we
were there – we defiantly started off 2012 strong at World of Concrete! Plans for next years’ show are already in
progress… We hope to meet so many more
of our loyal fans and readers so make your plans now!

Don’t take my word for it; here are some
reviews from some of our participants:

With 55,000+
visitors, the World of Concrete convention was larger than initially
anticipated. PayloadGlobal had a fantastic initial debut. Visitors to the booth
were captivated by this unique offering. Interest in the world’s first search engine
for the industrial was great and many people came to the stand after hearing
about the product from other attendees through word of mouth. We had a great show and look forward to next
year’s attendance.

Mitch Cristow – Director of Global Business
Development

World
of Concrete was the perfect venue to showcase the Dominion Industrial suite of
marketing and advertising solutions! We spoke to hundreds of attendees about
our international search engine, our wholesale platform, and about our two
highly recognized industrial portals. My favorite part of the show was the CAT
simulator, and seeing all of the 2012 models debuted from Peterbilt, Dodge,
Case, CAT, Bobcat / Doosan and others.

Nadene Evans – Industrial Marketing Manager

I had such great time at the
World of Concrete in Las Vegas. I was very proud to represent our company
at this event! I especially enjoyed when Nadene and I ventured off to
visit booths to ask questions to other exhibitors. It was great how
engaged they were and very interested in hearing all about what we have to
offer including our EquipmentTraderOnline, WIN, PayloadGlobal, and
CommercialTruckTrader. The World of Concrete was a great way for me to see all
the new equipment and share with everyone what great websites we have! It
was my first time in Las Vegas and it definitely won’t be the last!

Lyn Pelletier – Sales Manager

I attended World of
Concrete for my first time in 2012. One major thing that hit me as I
walked the floor was sheer size of the industry; both physically in the
type/size of equipment being displayed, and the number of exhibitors with
similar/competitive products to each other. It struck me that this
industry has a strong “cutting edge” to it, inspired by the
contractor’s desire to find a better way to do things. And it appears to
be a loyal group of purchasers, doing business with people they’ve done
business with before, or with people they have been referred to from a peer. The attendees were always friendly, and
always willing to talk. People from all
over the world were represented at WOC 2012.

Carl Arnold – WIN General
Manager

The World of Concrete proved, once again, to be the
most unique equipment show of the year. Attendees came from all over the
planet, providing a wealth of diversity. We made a number of interesting
contacts that are likely to provide terrific joint opportunities. Our launch of
PayloadGlobal proved to be a real crowd-pleaser. Mitch
Cristow had a lot of traffic at his booth, and many of the people were from
other countries.
The show is so big that it really takes an attendee several days to see
everything. It felt to me that the number of vendors providing
seminars/instruction at their booths increased this year. I saw a lot of live
demonstrations that were well-attended.

Charles Bowles – Sales Development Manager

Nothing Like Word of Concrete…

equipment — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:35:46 +0000

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Don’t take my word for it; here are some
reviews from some of our participants:

Mitch Cristow – Director of Global Business
Development

Nadene Evans – Industrial Marketing Manager

Lyn Pelletier – Sales Manager

Carl Arnold – WIN General
Manager

Charles Bowles – Sales Development Manager

More Site Updates

equipment — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:11:26 +0000

Hello again, everyone. It’s another week and we’ve launched more updates to the sites, CommercialTruckTrader and EquipmentTraderOnline.
Some of these updates were directly related to feedback we’ve received
from the site, so I’m sure there’s a few people out there who will
appreciate them!

Inventory Management Tool.
The
overhauled Inventory tab in the web IMT has generated lots of
feedback. Some good, some bad. We’ve been working to address the “bad”
elements in as a measured, thoughtful process as possible. With that
said, you can now:

Edit stock number directly on the Inventory tab as you used to be able to on the old version of the page.
Filter by Attachments on the Inventory tab.

A couple weeks ago we also added the Featured Dealer Inventory
section into our Search Results. This week we’re including additional
reporting in the IMT to show the results from this new segment.

We
will be watching these numbers closely since we are considering
relaxing the restrictions on this new section to increase impressions.
What changes we implement have to balance what the user is looking for
against optimal impression rates for the Dealer. This can be difficult
to maintain, so we will be doing this in increments based upon the
available reporting data.

Progressive Sponsorship.
We’ve had a long relationship with Progressive Insurance and we are now expanding that relationship. On our Insurance pages,
you can now get a quote, find an agent, or just get the phone number to
call if you want to learn more about insuring your Truck with
Progressive. We hope to find more sponsorships like this in the future
for out other Research pages.

On another note…. feedback.
I
read every piece of feedback that is sent either from the Inventory
Management Tool or from our other links in Search Results and elsewhere
on the site. I try to respond to all of them, but even if I don’t, know
that I am reading what you send.

So that’s it – another week, more updates, and keep the feedback coming. Don’t forget to download the IMT Mobile,
too, from the App Store or Android Market. An update is coming out for
that in the next week or so once approvals from Apple and Android are
complete.

Press Release from Our Friends at IronPlanet

equipment — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:46:42 +0000

IronPlanet to host February 2012 auction in Florida
Leader in online auctions brings global marketplace to winter Florida auctions

PLEASANTON, Calif. (Nov. 8, 2011) – IronPlanet® (www.ironplanet.com),
a leading online marketplace for used heavy equipment, will host its
first onsite and online auction from February 21 – 24, 2012, at the
Fantasy of Flight attraction near Orlando.

“Each year, the February auctions attract buyers and sellers of
equipment to Florida,” said Greg Owens, Chairman and CEO of IronPlanet.
“We’re very excited to give our customers the opportunity to
participate in the Florida winter auctions with the same convenience and
confidence they’ve come to know and trust at IronPlanet.”

Featuring equipment from Ring Power and other sellers, items can be
previewed starting February 14 both in person at Fantasy of Flight and,
just as with every IronPlanet auction, online through detailed
inspection reports that come with the IronClad Assurance® guarantee.
Buyers can place bids online in advance of the sale using IronPlanet’s
PriorityBid service. During the four-day auctions, bids may be placed
live at Fantasy of Flight or online through a computer, tablet, or
mobile device.

“We’re bringing the world of IronPlanet to Florida in February,” said
Owens. “With equipment onsite, both our global bidders as well as the
buyers located in Florida will be able to take advantage of our online
auctions and exclusive IronClad Assurance, resulting in better prices
for the equipment we sell.”

Consignments for the February auction in Florida are now being
accepted. Sellers can auction equipment from their location or Fantasy
of Flight. To learn how to add your equipment to this sale, please
contact IronPlanet at 888-433-5426.

Fantasy of Flight, Central Florida’s Premiere Aviation Attraction, is
conveniently located off I-4 at exit 44 in Polk City, southwest of the
Orlando International Airport.

Press Release from Our Friends at IronPlanet

equipment — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:46:42 +0000

IronPlanet to host February 2012 auction in Florida
Leader in online auctions brings global marketplace to winter Florida auctions

Fantasy of Flight, Central Florida’s Premiere Aviation Attraction, is
conveniently located off I-4 at exit 44 in Polk City, southwest of the
Orlando International Airport.

Mahindra Max is Coming Out

equipment — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:15:06 +0000

Moments ago we received an exciting email from one of our manufacturers, Mahindra, about their newest product launch. After looking into it, we decided it was a “must-share”… Mahindra is coming out with a line that is called Mahindra Max. This line will showcase revolutionary sub-compact tractors and focus on “Max Value, Max Performance, Max Maneuverability and Max Versatility”. Equipment Trader Online would like to wish them much luck and success on their endeavor that will launch in a few short days.

Below was quoted and taken directly from their website, Mahindra Max:

“You’re an early observer. You’re about to get a glimpse of the most

revolutionary sub-compact tractor introduced into market. Stay tuned as

each day we are gradually releasing more details, videos, content and

features about the newest member of the World’s #1 Selling Tractor.”