Florida Equipment Appraisal

Jacksonville Equipment Appraisal

Certified heavy equipment valuation for Jacksonville port, trucking and construction fleets. Starting at $295.

Roughly how many pieces of equipment?

Four quick questions. No obligation.

Info never shared.

How should the appraisal be done?

Desktop fits most files. On-site is for when a lender, court or insurer requires a physical inspection.

When do you need the finished report?
Where should the quote go?

Four semi trucks lined up in front of a blue JAXPORT container crane in Jacksonville, Florida, with stacked shipping containers behind them.
Image credit: Mark Rankin of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Jacksonville equipment appraisal is a written, certified opinion of what heavy equipment in Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau and Baker counties is worth on a stated date: cranes, forklifts, semi trucks, excavators and bulldozers. A Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser (CMEA) examines the machines or the records behind them, researches the market and writes the report. Port operators, trucking companies and contractors need one for a loan, attorneys for a case, and owners for a sale or a storm claim.

The federal district court, the bankruptcy court and the SBA’s North Florida main office all sit in Jacksonville and cover all five counties, so a Jacksonville equipment appraiser’s report can go before the same three offices whether the fleet sits in Duval County or in Baker County.

  • One report can cover a fleet spread over Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau and Baker counties, with a separate value for each machine.
  • A crane or forklift behind a terminal gate at Blount Island or the Port of Fernandina can be appraised by desktop, meaning from its serial number, records and photos.
  • On-site inspections are quoted when the lender, the court or the insurer wants the equipment seen in person.
  • Each value is tied to a stated date, which the lender, court or insurer can name.
  • One CMEA does the work from start to finish and answers for the value if a reviewer questions it.
An American 9310 crawler crane and a tracked excavator working from a timber-matted barge on the Trout River in Jacksonville, Florida.
Boom length, rated capacity and the hours on the engine and hoist move a crawler crane’s price, and so does corrosion on a crane that has worked over water.Image credit: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Himes via DVIDS, public domain

How does a Jacksonville appraisal start?

  1. Four questions, nothing to upload

    Give a rough machine count and a line on what they are, pick desktop or on-site and name the city (Yulee or Green Cove Springs is enough), say when the report is due, and leave a name and an email address.

  2. A fixed fee by email

    The quote arrives with one fixed fee and the date the report will be delivered, so you can weigh both against a closing or a hearing before you agree.

  3. Your records, then the report

    Once you accept, you send what you have on each machine: serial numbers, the hours or miles, and photos. The report then describes every machine and states its value, and its detail follows what you supplied.

What should Jacksonville owners and lenders know first?

Values in the report
Fair market value is the figure at which a machine would change hands when neither side is forced and both are free to walk away. Orderly liquidation value is what it would sell for in a forced sale where the seller still has a reasonable time to find buyers. Your lender, attorney or insurer says which one the report should state.
Fee
Starting at $295. The fee rises with the machine count, with on-site work and with a rush date. What the equipment is worth has no effect on it.
Turnaround
Same day quotes, sent by email. A rush is possible for a single machine or a small group.
Appraisal standard
The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, USPAP for short, are the national rules for how appraisals are developed and reported. Every report follows them.
SBA loans
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) covers all five counties from Jacksonville, where its North Florida District Office has its main office. The lender decides whether an inspection in person is needed. SBA North Florida District Office
County tax on equipment
Florida taxes business equipment as tangible personal property, which means movable property a business uses to earn income. Each year the owner reports it to the property appraiser for the county it sits in: the Duval County Property Appraiser for Jacksonville, and a separate office in each of Clay, St. Johns, Nassau and Baker counties. Duval County Property Appraiser
A dump truck, a Cat excavator, a wood grinder and a bulldozer working a storm debris staging site in Duval County, Jacksonville, Florida.
On a Cat excavator like this one, the hours on the meter, the wear on the tracks and rollers, and whether the bucket, thumb or grapple stays with the machine move the price.Image credit: FEMA photo by George Armstrong via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

What is worth asking an equipment appraiser in Jacksonville?

Do they ask who owns each machine at the port?
JAXPORT owns and manages Jacksonville’s public ship terminals, and Relay Terminals runs the Port of Fernandina under a long-term contract. A machine inside either gate could belong to the port, the operator or your business, so an appraiser should ask for the title, lease or bill of sale first.
Will the report show the county for each machine?
A fleet here can answer to five county property appraisers and three state judicial circuits. A report can group the machines by county when your list shows where each one sits.
Do they ask how close to salt water a machine has worked?
Blount Island, Mayport and Fernandina Beach all put equipment on the water, and salt air can work on wire rope, pins and wiring whatever the hour meter reads. Close photos of those parts belong in the file.

From clients

I will come back to you with my next equipment project as your reports are one of the best I’ve seen and we’d like to continue using your very professional services.

Max M., Bank Lender

Rated 5.0 on Google

What equipment is appraised around Jacksonville?

A Jacksonville appraisal can cover port and warehouse equipment, road and site fleets, trucks, and tractors from St. Johns County’s vegetable and potato farms, whether that is one machine or a whole fleet.

Cranes, forklifts, earthmoving machines and trucks are each priced on different details, and the sections below take them in turn. A farm tractor is priced partly on the implements sold with it.

What affects the value of equipment in Jacksonville?

How much do hours and model year change what a telehandler is worth?

A telehandler is a telescopic forklift: a forklift with a boom that reaches out as well as up. The table shows four lines of a single desktop report prepared for lending purposes, and each value in it is an orderly liquidation value.

Caterpillar telehandlers as one delivered report lists them. The report is a desktop appraisal, so each hours figure is the one the client supplied.
MachineHoursOrderly liquidation value
2007 Caterpillar TL10553,103$50,000
2007 Caterpillar TL10556,525$46,000
2006 Caterpillar TH460B3,615$38,500
2005 Caterpillar TH460B3,615$36,000

The two TL1055 units share a model year, and the one with 3,422 more hours is $4,000 lower. The two TH460B units show the same hours, and the one a model year newer is $2,500 higher.

Who uses an equipment appraisal in Jacksonville?

Lenders. A bank lending against used equipment wants a certified value for the collateral, the machines pledged for the loan. SBA loans in all five counties come under the North Florida District Office in Jacksonville.

Trustees and bankruptcy counsel. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida puts all five counties in its Jacksonville Division and holds the hearings in Jacksonville.

Litigators and family law attorneys. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida hears federal cases from these counties at the Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse. State cases split three ways: the Fourth Judicial Circuit takes Duval, Clay and Nassau counties, the Seventh takes St. Johns and the Eighth takes Baker.

Owners. The Duval County Property Appraiser expects equipment that is still in use to be reported even after it is written off the books. An appraisal gives an owner a market value for those machines, a figure that also helps with a sale, a buyout or a claim to an insurer.

Where these rules come from

What goes into a Jacksonville appraisal file?

A quote needs none of it. The report is as detailed as what you send.

What to send for the equipment Jacksonville fleets run
EquipmentWhat to sendWhat it does to the value
CranesThe make, model and serial number, how much the crane is rated to lift, how long the boom is, and its most recent inspection certificate and load test.A crane is compared with sales of cranes of like capacity and reach, and a buyer pays more for one whose inspections are up to date.
Forklifts and telehandlersRated capacity, mast height or boom reach, fuel type, the hour meter reading and a photo of the data plate.Two units of one model can sit thousands of dollars apart, and these details show where yours falls.
Excavators, bulldozers and loadersHours, photos of the undercarriage or tires, and a list of the buckets and attachments that go with the machine.Undercarriage wear and the attachments included each move the price, on top of what the hour meter shows.
Semi trucks and trailersThe VIN, the odometer reading, engine hours on a yard tractor, and the service records you have.Miles and a documented service history separate two trucks of the same model.

Which counties and cities around Jacksonville are covered?

Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau and Baker counties, including:

Cities and towns

  • Jacksonville
  • Jacksonville Beach
  • Atlantic Beach
  • Neptune Beach
  • Baldwin
  • Orange Park
  • Green Cove Springs
  • Keystone Heights
  • Penney Farms
  • Middleburg
  • Fleming Island
  • Oakleaf Plantation
  • Asbury Lake
  • Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace
  • Lakeside
  • St. Augustine
  • St. Augustine Beach
  • Marineland
  • Hastings
  • Nocatee
  • Palm Valley
  • Fruit Cove
  • World Golf Village
  • Vilano Beach
  • Sawgrass
  • Butler Beach
  • Crescent Beach
  • St. Augustine Shores
  • St. Augustine South
  • Flagler Estates
  • Fernandina Beach
  • Yulee
  • Callahan
  • Hilliard
  • Nassau Village-Ratliff
  • Macclenny
  • Glen St. Mary

Counties

  • Duval County
  • Clay County
  • St. Johns County
  • Nassau County
  • Baker County

Questions about equipment appraisal in Jacksonville

My machines are split between Duval and Nassau counties. Does one report cover both?

Yes. One report covers the whole fleet. Mark the county on your list, because each county’s property appraiser taxes only the equipment located in that county.

Can a crane or forklift inside a port terminal be appraised without a visit?

Yes, by desktop, from the serial number, records and photos you send. Pick on-site in the quote form when your lender, the court or your insurer requires an inspection, and name the terminal.

The yard is in Duval County but the divorce is filed in St. Johns County. Does that change the appraisal?

It changes which court reads the report, not what the machines are worth. Duval County cases go to the Fourth Judicial Circuit and St. Johns County cases to the Seventh. The values are stated as of the date your attorney names.

The county still taxes a loader we wrote off years ago. Can that be right?

It can. In Duval County, equipment still in use is reported after it has been written off the books, and in Nassau County equipment used to earn income never depreciates to zero for tax. An appraisal gives the loader’s market value, which is a separate figure from the county’s.

Does a truck with a crane mounted on it go on the county equipment return?

Florida’s return leaves off most licensed trucks but takes in a crane mounted on one, because the crane works as a tool. Where a particular truck belongs is the county property appraiser’s call.

Get a quote for equipment in Jacksonville

Cranes, forklifts, trucks and earthmoving fleets across the five counties, valued for a loan, a case, a sale or a claim. Answer the four questions and the quote reaches you by email.

Roughly how many pieces of equipment?

Four quick questions. No obligation.

Info never shared.

How should the appraisal be done?

Desktop fits most files. On-site is for when a lender, court or insurer requires a physical inspection.

When do you need the finished report?
Where should the quote go?