Equipment Appraisal Blog | Understanding Machinery Appraisals

Infrastructure Upgrades: How a Paving Equipment Appraisal Helps

Posted by Equipment Appraisal Services on Tue, Jul 04, 2017 @ 05:02 PM

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As President Trump has come into office, he's made some promises to America. Part of those promises includes a proposal for spending $1 trillion to update the US infrastructure to help boost jobs, businesses and trade. But how will this proposal impact your business? How can a paving equipment appraisal help ensure you're in a good position to take advantage of the potential growth that may come out of this initiative? Here are a few areas to consider that can help you get your business off on the right foot with these prospective spending proposals.

Infrastructure Upgrades: How a Paving Equipment Appraisal Helps

What shape is your equipment in? What is it worth? Are there better options you should be considering? What will it cost to replace that equipment? As infrastructure plans begin rolling forward, whether it's originating from President Trump's $1 trillion initiative or smaller projects, this information is vital to the success or failure of your business. Why?

If you're considering splitting your crew and building your business through multiple highway contracts, you'll need equity to secure loans for additional equipment. Your financial institution will need assurances that the machinery you're using for collateral is really worth the money they're loaning out against it. An equipment appraisal report prepared by a certified machinery appraiser uses methodologies that have been tested in the court system for decades, so they are viewed as accurate in financial circles.

What if you have an equipment failure while traffic is backed up through a construction zone or you're required to meet particular time constraints for the contract? Because an equipment appraiser spends significant amounts of time combing through paving equipment, they often recognize signs of trouble well before they would otherwise become apparent. This allows you to undertake repairs or replace the equipment before it turns into a logistical nightmare on the side of a highway.

Have there been issues of equipment theft or vandalism in your area? When you receive a paving equipment valuation, you have documentation that holds up well against scrutiny, making it ideal when you need to quickly settle an insurance claim. But what about if the vandalism or theft has already taken place? Many equipment appraisers are able to retroactively value machinery to help businesses settle an insurance claim, even without a prior record of valuation.

But what if you already have a machinery valuation in place? Though it may reflect the equipment values of the past few years, there's a good chance it won't reflect current market conditions. As infrastructure jobs become more common, that equipment's value will rise. A piece of machinery that was worth $35,000 last year may be worth $50,000 next year as scarcity and demand increases its value significantly. Wouldn't you rather know what your machinery is really worth now than what it was worth during the worst parts of the recession?

Spending $1 trillion on infrastructure may seem like a large amount, but when it comes to winning highway contracts, you know that every penny counts. Every difference in supply prices, every minute spent waiting for your crew to get in gear and every penny spent on rental equipment because you've had a break down can quickly eat into your profits, turning a highly profitable highway job into a nightmare that sinks your business. Having a paving equipment appraisal performed on your machinery can make all the difference between these two states.

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