Essex Rental Corp. (Nasdaq: ESSX) ("Essex") today announced it will be offering a portion of its surplus crawler crane inventory in a sealed bid auction.

Ron Schad, President and CEO of Essex stated, "Essex Rental Corp. is continually evaluating the rental assets we own to ensure that they meet the needs of our customers and provide the highest possible return for our shareholders. In an effort to accelerate the sale of currently underutilized cranes, we have engaged Hunyady Auction Company to manage the sale of certain of our crawler cranes in a sealed bid auction. The assets being offered represent approximately 6% of our crawler crane fleet. Over 80% of the crawler cranes that will be listed for sale are traditional cranes whose utilization and return on capital have been unsatisfactory. Unlike a live auction where equipment is sold to the highest bidder, in a sealed bid auction potential buyers propose a price they are willing to pay for a particular crane and we have the ability to determine whether the offered price is acceptable. As with prior sales, we will use the proceeds from the sale of excess equipment to repay debt and to improve our fleet."

The bidding period on the assets offered in the sealed bid auction is scheduled to end on March 18, 2014 at 5 PM eastern.

About Essex Rental Corp.

Essex, through its subsidiaries, is one of North America's largest providers of rental and distribution for mobile cranes (including lattice-boom crawler cranes, truck cranes and rough terrain cranes), self-erecting cranes, stationary tower cranes, elevators and hoists, and other lifting equipment used in a wide array of construction projects. In addition, the Company provides product support including installation, maintenance, repair, and parts and services for equipment provided and other equipment used by its construction industry customers. With a large fleet, consisting primarily of cranes, as well as other construction equipment and unparalleled customer service and support, Essex supplies a wide variety of innovative lifting solutions for construction projects related to power generation, petro-chemical, refineries, water treatment and purification, bridges, highways, hospitals, shipbuilding, offshore oil fabrication and industrial plants, and commercial and residential construction.

Some of the statements in this press release and other written and oral statements made from time to time by Essex and its representatives are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include statements regarding the intent and belief or current expectations of Essex and its management team and may be identified by the use of words like "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "will," "should," "seek," the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Essex's expectations include, without limitation, the continued ability of Essex to successfully execute its business plan, the possibility of a change in demand for the products and services that Essex provides, intense competition which may require us to lower prices or offer more favorable terms of sale, our reliance on third party suppliers, our indebtedness which could limit our operational and financial flexibility, global economic factors including interest rates, general economic conditions, geopolitical events and regulatory changes, our dependence on our management team and key personnel, as well as other relevant risks detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on our website, www.essexrentalcorp.com. The factors listed here are not exhaustive. Many of these uncertainties and risks are difficult to predict and beyond management's control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, results or events. Essex assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking information in this press release whether to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes in future operating results or financial conditions, or otherwise.

Essex Rental Corp.
Kory Glen
Chief Financial Officer
(847) 215-6522
kglen@essexrental.com
or
Patrick Merola
Manager of Investor Relations
(847) 215-6514
pmerola@essexcrane.com