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Riverhead, state selling surplus vehicles in auctions

Interested in fixing up an old truck or maybe just looking to scavenge for parts? 

The Riverhead Highway Department and the New York State Office of General Services are both holding auctions on Long Island over the next two weeks to sell off surplus vehicles.

At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the state will auction off more than two-dozen outdated vehicles, many of which are trucks, at the Department of Environmental Conservation in Ridge.

Meanwhile, the Riverhead Highway Department is conducting an ongoing sale of 11 vehicles, including larger dump and tractor trucks. Those listed are being phased out because they no longer pass state inspection or because they need parts that are no longer available for purchase.

“They’ve served their lives here,” said Highway Department Superintendent Gio Woodson. “It takes up a lot of space in the yard we can use to store other equipment. It’s time for it to go, so hopefully it all goes and will make more space — no sense holding on to it.”

Bids must be submitted before 11 a.m. on Oct. 15, and those interested can contact the department to examine the vehicles.

In the past, the town sold surplus items from a variety of sections all at once, so Mr. Woodson said this is the first time the Highway Department is conducting its own auction.

He hopes to make about $20,000 — about 10 percent of his department’s equipment budget — if all the vehicles sell.

“A majority of them have been replaced, and the money that we get back goes back into our account for new vehicles,” he said. “Some of them can be taken out on the road. Some of them need work. Probably a majority of them will be used for parts.”

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