Auction Adventure: What to know about modern truck auctions

In this article, you'll learn:

• How auctions can help fleets cut their procurement costs
• Where fleets can find light-duty trucks, tractors, and more at auction
• What maintenance might be required for trucks purchased from auction

When you think of auctions, your mind may conjure a scene where a fast-talking auctioneer in a Stetson, suit, and bolo tie chants to a crowded sale barn, spitting out numbers so quickly it’s hard to keep up: “Fifty dollar bid, now fiddy, now fiddy, can I get 60, now 60, now sixty over here, can I get 70, 70 once, twice…sold!”

Or perhaps you think of a more elegant affair at Sotheby’s, where fancy folks dressed to the nines bid on some rare luxury items, politely holding up paddles in the hopes of winning some rare, coveted antique.

But if you’re in the trucking industry, you should be picturing a lot full of used tractors, trailers, and other commercial vehicles unwanted by their previous owners but still full of potential and available for you to bid on through one of many truck auctioneers.

And it’s likely that if you’re a regular buyer of used equipment from a dealer, some previously went through an auction.

“When you look at the cost of a new vehicle today and the interest rates, it’s a major component of your total cost of ownership,” noted Todd Knutsen, VP of remarketing, pricing, and asset management for Penske Truck Leasing.

Last year, Knutsen spearheaded the launch of a Penske Used Truck channel called Penske Auction. This provides Penske customers with one more option to consider along with buying new or used, leasing, and renting. Going through auction, especially to obtain older assets, does have its risks.

“The trade-off as you’re running that vehicle through the back half of its life is the maintenance generally will be higher, but [used trucks] offset those higher truck payments and the interest costs,” Knutsen said.

He added prime auction candidates include owner-operators and small fleets who may have limited credit and time in the business and difficulty getting loans. That doesn’t mean medium and large fleets shouldn’t also take a look. Knutsen said fleets and owner-operators who know their way around an inspection report and can work on the trucks themselves can also stand to benefit. If a fleet wants to add some units and sell them off shortly after, they take less of a loss re-selling the auctioned asset versus a new one, Knutsen said.

In general, the auction route is similar to the traditional used, except with a few extra stops in the bay and body shop.

There are also some tax benefits, as well. Scherkenbach noted the benefits of buying an asset through auction and refurbishing it has advantages over depreciating a new asset.

“If you buy a used piece of equipment and put money into it, those expenses are an immediate write-off for that year, so there are a lot of tax benefits to purchasing used equipment and fixing it up,” Scherkenbach said.

Benefits aside, it must be said that this type of truck bargain hunting is not for faint-of-heart fleets. At a minimum, you need to have a rock solid in-house maintenance team or third-party provider, and just as importantly, the time to research the various auctioneer sites, calculate the TCO versus other procurement options, and quickly ascertain if what you’re looking at is someone else’s trash or your new treasure.

And even if the numbers point to traditional new or used channels, the time spent on researching the auction market is not wasted.

“Auction data is an important tool that tells you spot on where the market is and what you should be paying for something,” said Scherkenbach, who has more than 24 years as an auction hero.

Where to get equipment

Penske’s the newest auctioneer in trucking, but not the only one. A few of the larger ones include Copart, Ritchie Bros., and Taylor and Martin. These three altogether had more than 10,000 trucks available on their sites in late February. These cover the full spectrum of makes, models, years, and condition.

On Purple Wave, an online auctioneer of construction, ag, and fleet equipment that Copart acquired in 2023, there was an orange 1956 Chevrolet 4403 flatbed available, while on Taylor and Martin, there were a few MY2024 Mack Anthem day cabs in the pre-bidding phase. And if you’re literally looking for junk, Copart also offers salvages involved in accidents.

You can find all sorts of vehicles and even shop equipment on the government’s GSA Auctions site as well. We found everything from power tools and lathes to Bobcats and filing cabinets available. Oftentimes the equipment comes from U.S. Department of Agriculture offices. Fleets on the lookout for an extra pickup truck should routinely check the site for new inventory.