LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA), the world's largest auctioneer of industrial equipment, will conduct a large unreserved industrial auction at its permanent auction site in Los Angeles (Perris), from February 26-27, 2008.
"We have a very good selection of late model equipment available at this auction," said Richard Aldersley, Regional Manager for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. "There are over 2,000 truck and equipment items being sold at the auction, including four 2007 Peterbilt 379 dump trucks with 2007 Superior RD500 transfers, more than 40 wheel loaders and over 50 truck tractors."
The auction is timely for owners of trucks and equipment who are required by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to meet prescribed emission standards. The upcoming auction gives them the opportunity to expose their assets to buyers from outside the state, where such emission standards are not in place. In 2007, buyers from outside the region of the sale purchased on average about 60% of the assets sold at Ritchie Bros. auctions. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers will also be conducting an auction in Sacramento March 4-5, 2008 to serve customers in that area looking for a way to respond to the CARB standards.
Mr. Aldersley added: "The regulations from CARB are designed to reduce emissions by taking older trucks and equipment out of circulation before the end of their useful life. One of the best ways for our customers to respond to these regulations is to sell their trucks and equipment to out of state buyers - where the items still meet emission requirements - in order to get fair market value. CARB regulations have resulted in non-compliant trucks and equipment being devalued in the local market, and have caused increased demand for late-model equipment in California," Mr. Aldersley said. "This has meant a tremendous upsurge in equipment leaving the state to bidders looking to buy useful but non-compliant equipment."
This upsurge was obvious at the Ritchie Bros. Los Angeles unreserved auction last November, where more than 2,600 items from 480 consignors were sold over two days. That US$45 million auction saw record participation, both on-site and online, with US$13 million in trucks and equipment selling to internet bidders. 64% of the equipment sold in that auction left California, while 29% of the equipment left the United States. More than 2,400 people from 35 countries, including 43 U.S. states and all 10 Canadian provinces registered to bid either in person or online.
"Our customers know that our auctions attract bidders from across the country and all over the world," said Mr. Aldersley. "Many equipment owners are choosing to sell with us rather than paying for expensive upgrades or scrapping their equipment. With the devaluation of non-compliant equipment in the California market, other disposal methods that do not access the global marketplace will not likely achieve world fair market value. Our auctions transcend those local market conditions and deliver global fair market value."
The legislation affects any equipment items with engines over 25 horsepower, including everything from crawler tractors to excavators and skid steers to backhoes. Every person or business that owns or operates off-road diesel equipment in California is required to comply and must either apply exhaust retrofits or accelerate the turnover of equipment to newer, cleaner engines. Owners are solely responsible for the cost of this compliance, which in some cases, will come as early as 2010.
Like all Ritchie Bros. auctions, this will be an unreserved auction, meaning there are no minimum bids or reserve prices and everything sells to the highest bidder on sale day, regardless of price. Everything is sold "as is, where is." Registration is free at the auction site, and starts mid-morning on Saturday.
The Los Angeles site is located at 765 W. Rider St, Perris, CA, while the Sacramento site is located at 5500 County Road 99W, Dunnigan, CA. Auction start time each day is 8 a.m. local time. Equipment pictures and more information are available at http://www.rbauction.com/
About Ritchie Bros.
Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. is the world's largest auctioneer of industrial equipment, operating through over 110 locations in more than 25 countries around the world. The Company sells, through unreserved public auctions, a broad range of used and unused industrial assets, including equipment, trucks and other assets utilized in the construction, transportation, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum, marine, real estate, and agricultural industries. The Company maintains a web site at http://www.rbauction.com/.
CONTACT: Kim Schulz, Corporate Communications Manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Head office tel: 1-800-663-8457 or email
