Liquidation of electrical contracting giant begins; auction co. still rounding up fleet

The liquidation of assets owned by bankrupt electrical contractor Truland Systems is under way with the first online auction of trucks, trailers, vans, bucket trucks and other vehicles.

Online bidding began Aug. 23 for 37 of the vehicles, with more auctions planned in the coming weeks, according to Stephen Karbelk, of Auction Markets LLC and David Fiegel of Blackbird Asset Services LLC, who are selling the assets for the estate.

But first, the auction company faces the challenge of getting possession of more than half of the vehicles, according to Karbelk.

“Truland had more than 250 active construction projects at the time of their filing, and approximately 300 vehicles were allocated to those projects and assigned to various offices and employees. With the employees now terminated, there was no provision for turning these vehicles in, so we have to locate them and prepare them for auction,” says Karbelk. “We’ll be selling vehicles in groups as we recover them and are able to get them ready for sale.”

The auction company is contacting former employees to locate and recover vehicles. “We don’t anticipate major problems, but it’s a significant administrative task with so many vehicles. We expect that everyone will cooperate. After all, the company’s creditors include employees, contractors and others, so recovering and selling these vehicles will help get them paid,” Karlbeck says.

Bidding on the first group of vehicles is scheduled to end on Friday, Sept. 5, at 3 p.m. Eastern (subject to a court hearing to approve this and future sales, which will be held three days earlier on Sept. 2). Individuals seeking to bid may view the inventory, register and bid online at auctionmarkets.com. 

Vehicles in this first sale include vans, trucks and bucket trucks.

“We have quite a few Chevy G3500 vans, several Silverado pickups, some Chevy Colorado pickups and various other pieces, most of which are 2008 models or newer,” says Karbelk. “A bankruptcy like Truland is so unfortunate to those affected, and our group is focused on helping the estate recover as much as possible for creditors.”

Prior to filing bankruptcy on July 23, the Reston-based Truland Group of companies was one of the largest electrical contractors in the U.S.  At the time of their filing, they were working on high-profile construction projects such as buildings for Marriott, NASA and George Washington University.