Iron Planet

IronPlanet is a commercial online marketplace for used heavy equipment and vehicles, operated by IronPlanet (a Ritchie Bros. company). It is not a U.S. Government system, but it is listed here because IronPlanet's sister marketplace, GovPlanet, is the contracted online sales channel through which the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) sells surplus military rolling stock — including HMMWVs ("Humvees") — to the public.

What it is

IronPlanet is a private online auction marketplace for used heavy equipment, trucks, and other durable assets, founded in 1999 and acquired by Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in a deal that closed May 31, 2017. Government and military surplus vehicles — most visibly ex-military AM General HMMWVs — are listed through IronPlanet's government-focused sister site, GovPlanet, which is also part of the Ritchie Bros. family of businesses.

Who operates it

IronPlanet and GovPlanet are operated by Ritchie Bros. (publicly traded as RB Global). They are commercial marketplaces, not federal agencies or DoD components. Ritchie Bros./GovPlanet has held DLA surplus rolling-stock sales contracts for several years, including separate East and West region term-sale contracts covering both rolling stock (trucks, trailers, generators, and similar wheeled/tracked equipment) and non-rolling stock (industrial machinery, electrical equipment, spare parts) surplus.

Access

IronPlanet/GovPlanet is publicly reachable, but bidding requires creating a free account and, for military HMMWVs specifically, completing an End-User Certificate (EUC) process using DoD Form SF-97 before purchase — a documentation requirement tied to controlling where surplus military vehicles can be exported or used. There is no CAC or federal credential requirement; this is a commercial registration process, not a government access-control system. Buyers interested specifically in DLA surplus vehicle listings can register for inventory alerts through GovPlanet's DLA sign-up page.

How logisticians use it

Federal and military logisticians are more likely to encounter IronPlanet/GovPlanet as the disposal endpoint for DoD rolling stock than as a sourcing tool for active-duty logistics. Property managers and disposal officers working with DLA Disposition Services rely on DLA's own reutilization/transfer/donation (RTD) screening process first; only property that clears RTD and is approved for public sale moves to a public sales channel, which for DoD rolling stock and non-rolling stock surplus has been GovPlanet/Ritchie Bros. under term contract. For most working logisticians, IronPlanet itself is more relevant as a commercial equipment marketplace than as a government system of record.

Related systems

For the authoritative federal process governing how DoD property becomes eligible for public sale, see DLA Disposition Services. GovPlanet is the commercial marketplace DLA has contracted with to conduct those public sales; IronPlanet is GovPlanet's parent commercial platform.