The April report from Rouse Asset Services shows that for the month ending Mar. 31, 2013, the Rouse Index of Orderly Liquidation Values (OLV) increased 0.3% from February. For the six months ending Mar. 31, average index values rose 0.9%.
The Rouse Report measures key information about 14 kinds of major rental equipment, four of which are covered by Lift and Access: articulating boom lifts, telescopic boom lifts, scissor lifts, and high-reach forklifts.
Rouse’s April report also showed that March auction sales of the equipment it tracks averaged 3.9% higher than in February. The survey included 3,443 units worth a total of $82.9 million, sold at 27 auctions across North America. The auctioned equipment brought $86.1 million in gross sales.
The report tracks rental rates, but from two months back. The April report showed that January rental rates dropped 0.4% compared to December 2012 rates, but were 6.8% higher than those of a year ago (January 2012).
Liquidation values varied by equipment type
Rouse expresses OLV as a percentage of replacement cost (average cost paid for new equipment by large rental companies and dealers) for the average age of equipment sold in a category.
During March, the OLV for articulating boom lifts rose 1.1%, compared to February, and 7.5%, compared to six months before. The average age of articulating boom lifts sold during the period was 89 months.
The OLV of telescopic boom lifts rose 0.6% in March, compared to February, and were also up 1.8% compared to six months ago. The sold boom lifts had an average age of 102 months.
March’s scissor-lift OLVs rose 2.0% from February’s and was up 4.6%, compared to six months earlier. These machines averaged 84 months old.
High-reach forklift OLV was up 0.3% for the month, and also stood 1.4% higher than six months back. The sold forklifts were an average of 79 months old.
The average age (weighted by cost) for all the equipment in the rental industry, not just units sold in the last month, stood at 51.8 months for articulating boom lifts, 55.2 months for telescopic boom lifts, 56.8 months for scissor lifts, and 55.1 months for high-reach forklifts.
Of the 14 kinds of equipment covered by Rouse, aerial work platforms represented 33% of the new machines that rental companies and dealers bought in March. High-reach forklifts made up 25% of the purchases. Dissecting that same purchased-equipment pie by manufacturer, JLG accounted for 23%, Genie 12%, Sky Trak 10%, and Skyjack 7%.
Looking at used equipment sold by major rental fleets in March, Rouse again tracked 14 kinds of equipment. Aerial work platforms represented 29% of the sold equipment, while high-reach forklifts made up 17%. Looking at the sold equipment by manufacturer, JLG made up 18%, Genie 10%, Skyjack 4%, Sky Trak 3%, and Snorkel 3%.
Utilization down
Rouse tracks rental equipment utilization by equipment type, with a cost weighting. Utilization is the percentage of fleet cost on-rent during the reporting period, based on seven days a week, 365 days a year.
From July 2012 to January 2013, articulating boom lift utilization dropped by 5.3%, ending at 63.2%.
During the same time, telescopic-boom utilization dropped 2.7%, ending at 65.6%.
Scissor-lift use fell by 1.1%, ending at 63.1%.
High-reach forklift use dropped 1.8%, finishing the period at 73.0%.
Rental rates up slightly
For three of the four types of equipment, rental rates also dropped during the six months ending in January 2013. The rates for articulating boom lifts and scissor lifts both dropped 0.2%. Telescopic-boom rates went down 0.1% percent. In contrast, high-reach forklift rental rates went up 0.3%.
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
