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ABERDEEN, Md. — Two days of downpour have turned much of the ground under Andy Zorn Jr.’s feet into a cold, soupy mixture of mud and gravel, but it doesn’t slow him down.

	Michael James - Transport Topics
	Most auction-goers are looking for a bargain that still has a lot of life in it. Andy Zorn Jr., owner of Meredith Paving, considers the merits of a Kenworth tractor.

The president of Meredith Paving Corp., based in Riverton, N.J., races around the nearly four-acre site leased in northern Maryland by Ritchie Bros. He joins other auctioneers who are inspecting a variety of trucks and construction equipment in search of a deal.

“I’m really just looking for a [road] paver, but I’ll see if I can get a tractor-trailer for a bargain,” he said, slowing down for only a minute of two to chat. Zorn added that, for him, buying equipment or a vehicle at an auction is much cheaper than leasing or purchasing something brand new.

“We had a tough year, so money’s tight,” he explained. “That’s why I’m combing auctions for equipment. I’m looking for a tractor with 500,000 miles on it that I can pick up cheap and see if I can get another 500,000 miles out of it.”

That philosophy of equipment acquisition and management is one reason why there has been a boom in auctions over the past 20 years.

In that time, auctions have gone from being viewed as a “last resort” to dispose of goods to the primary method for selling large numbers of items in a short time. In trucking, auctions have become an integral part of the way small fleets and owner-operators obtain and sell equipment.

For the full story, see the Feb. 21 print edition of Transport Topics. .

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