Looking Back at 2010
By Bob Martin - General Manager - December 29, 2010
2010 was a year of hope for most people. The previous two years of steady economic hardship had steadily worn away at many people's lives, and the first glimmers of stabilization began to emerge.
Upon review, we here at HDD Broker find that we were fortunate enough to have weathered the global economic crisis in exceptionally good shape. That's not to say that we were unaffected, but due to the fact that we have such a worldwide reach, our company managed to maintain a very stable level of business throughout the recession.
I am also glad to report that the expected avalanche of bank repossessions and company bankruptcies just did not seem to happen. While our customers definitely went through lean times, the huge US-based HDD recession in 2001 has taught many domestic contractors a hard and valuable lesson about weathering the storm. Many made very proactive decisions to liquidate unnecessary equipment and operate lean, allowing them to emerge into 2011 bruised but intact.
The last three months of 2010 were extremely busy (actually record-breaking for HDD Broker!), and the general sense in the industry is one of optimism for 2011. Many of the promised infrastructure projects are now beginning work in earnest, not only in the US but all across the world.
2011 will see very interesting changes in new equipment as I've heard rumors of new suppliers emerging and existing ones being forced to deal with upcoming changes to diesel engine regulations. Prices are expected to increase and demand for used equipment skyrocket.
HDD Broker has many plans for the future. We'll be at the UCT Exhibition in Houston Texas at the end of January, the No-Dig International Trade Show in Washington, DC in March, and more upcoming trade shows in the months following. We are working diligently to strengthen our existing partnerships with trade partners all over the world, build new ones to help bring our services into new territories, and further develop our own proprietary technologies and personnel to help our customers buy and sell their equipment through us.
We recently celebrated our 10,000th listing here at HDD Broker! Its hard to comprehend over ten thousand individual pieces running through our company, but its true. We held a contest with the winner receiving a great prize package. In this case, the winner graciously decided to have us donate the cash equivalent of his prize to a local children's charity. We are very thankful for his generosity and the recipient's were very grateful.
We're hoping to expand our staff and move our company into new territories, particularly South America where we've seen a huge amount of demand for our services.
2011 is going to be a great year!
I, on behalf of everyone here at HDD Broker, would like to personally thank each and every one of our customers for making us everything that we are today. Thanks to your trust and patronage, HDD Broker is the world's largest used HDD entity. We promise to continue to strive for excellence in all that we do.
This commentary is presented for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or detailed statement on any subject and no representations or warranties, express or implied, are made as to its accuracy, timeliness or completeness. Nothing in this commentary is intended to provide financial, legal, accounting or tax advice nor should it be relied upon. Neither HDD Broker LLC nor the author is liable whatsoever for any loss or damage caused by, or resulting from, any use of or any inaccuracies, errors or omissions in the information provided.