Equipment Appraisal Blog | Understanding Machinery Appraisals

What Type of Commercial Trailer Fleet Appraisal is Available?

Posted by Equipment Appraisal Services on Mon, Feb 17, 2020 @ 08:00 AM

fleet trailer valuation

Whether you're in logistics, manufacturing, shipping, construction, agriculture or some other industry that requires the movement of large equipment and quantities of material, the assets that you use to move those items are of paramount importance to your business. What would you do if those vital resources weren't available? If you think that your business insurance would cover losses, you're right, but at what cost? By knowing the value of your trailer fleet, you can improve your chances of getting a fast, favorable resolution to a number of potential issues. A commercial trailer fleet appraisal provides you with the information you need to leverage those assets to your company's benefit. Here's more about the different types of commercial trailers available on the market and how they're appraised.

What Type of Commercial Trailer Fleet Appraisal is Available?

Let's start by looking at some of the differences between commonly-available types of commercial trailers:

  • Box trailers are one of the most common types of trailers, consisting of a box that is permanently affixed to the base. This type of trailer provides protection to the materials or goods being transported.
  • Grain trailers contain special valves underneath the trailer that can be opened to allow grain or other dry food materials such as soybeans, to flow out at the grain mill, allowing for easy unloading.
  • Tanker trailers carry a wide range of liquids and gasses, such as diesel fuel, milk, anhydrous ammonia and similar materials. They must maintain a strong, sealed compartment to avoid contamination.
  • Livestock trailers allow stock to be moved from the farm to the feedlot to the processing center. They are ventilated to allow for fresh air to be circulated to the livestock and are often sized to specific species of animals.
  • Refrigerated trailers are insulated and have separate climate control systems and on-board fuel supplies for those systems. This allows refrigerated or frozen food to be safely transported between locations.
  • Flatbed trailers provide easy options for loading and unloading, as forklifts can simply place or remove pallets of material from the trailer. They do not provide a great deal of protection to the materials they are hauling.
  • Vehicle trailers are designed to allow a number of vehicles to be hauled by a single semi, with an assortment of hydraulic rams in place to raise and lower different decks during loading and unloading.
  • Equipment trailers are specifically created to carry heavy machinery, such as backhoes, bulldozers and other equipment. It's designed both for the heavy weight of the equipment as well as the bulky size of the machinery.
  • Cargo trailers are designed to be fitted with cargo containers from shipping, whether by ship or rail. This type of trailer allows goods to be transported without additional handling of the material inside, lowering overall logistics costs.

By having a commercial trailer fleet appraisal performed on your company's assets, you'll have documentation of value for a wide range of purposes. However, to gain the most benefit from your appraisal, you'll want to make sure that the process is carried out by an accredited equipment appraisal specialist. The methodologies used by accredited appraisers have been tested over and over again in legal, financial, insurance and tax circles, providing you with a solid estimate of value that is free from outside influences.

Tags: Commercial Trailer Fleet Valuation

What Equipment is Evaluated in a Recycling Facility Asset Appraisal?

Posted by Equipment Appraisal Services on Mon, Feb 03, 2020 @ 08:00 AM

Recycling Facility

With the changes in today's culture to focus on sustainability, recycling has become a hot business. From LEED construction credits for materials that contain recycled content in them to initiatives to reduce waste in municipalities, recycling businesses are seeing significant growth. But what is the value of that recycling company? A recycling facility asset appraisal can help your business flourish, providing you with information on the value of your equipment. But what equipment is evaluated during the appraisal process and how is it valued? Here's a quick look at the equipment and process involved.

 

What Equipment is Evaluated in a Recycling Facility Asset Appraisal?

  • Conveyance equipment: To move your recyclables from one location to another within your facility and to make it easier to load these items for shipping or processing, the equipment that conveys your items around is of vital importance to your business' success. Conveyor belts, hoppers and similar equipment are appraised based on its condition, demand for that equipment in the market and similar aspects that will impact the equipment's value in the market. 
  • Material handling equipment: Beyond simple conveyance, some material must be handled with other equipment. This can include a range of items, such as pallet jacks, forklifts, loaders and similar machinery, which is used to haul and load bales, hoppers, pallets and other types of storage for the material you're recycling. This type of machinery can often be used in other industries, therefore the equipment's value can be influenced by its popularity in those industries, so understanding the factors that can influence that value is of vital importance to the financial health of your business.
  • Sorting equipment: To keep your operation running efficiently, you need sorting equipment that will quickly and effectively sort one type of recyclable from another, which can happen based on weight, type of content and similar properties so that you can get those recyclables to market with very little contamination in your batches. The accuracy with which this type of equipment can sort materials, the condition of the equipment and the amount of material it can handle within a set period of time can all impact the overall appraised value of the equipment as demand for that machinery and the recyclables it sorts rises and falls.
  • Packaging equipment: The machinery that packages your equipment into larger quantities and makes it easier to handle, load and transport helps keep recyclables moving throughout your facility. Balers, compactors and related machinery are a vital part of your business, the loss of which can create serious problems for your company. Though these pieces of equipment can be used in other industries, some are too specialized for use outside the recycling industry, so understanding which types of equipment can be used in which situations is important to determining the value of the machinery.

By having a recycling facility asset appraisal performed, it provides you with solid information about the value of your business' equipment assets. However, it's of vital importance that the valuation is performed by an accredited equipment appraiser, because doing so ensures that the valuation that is calculated is free of other influences. An accredited equipment appraiser is able to provide you with an independent third-party opinion on the value of your equipment, without being interested in the outcome of that valuation.

Tags: Recycling Facility Equipment Appraisal