LOS ANGELES – Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, an auctioneer of industrial equipment, recently conducted a large unreserved industrial auction at its permanent auction site in Los Angeles (Perris), on Feb. 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 more than 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. 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.

In 2007, buyers from outside the region of the sale purchased on average about 60 percent of the assets sold at Ritchie Bros. auctions.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers will also be conducting an auction in Sacramento Mar. 4-5 to serve customers in that area looking for a way to respond to the CARB standards.

Like all Ritchie Bros. auctions that are unreserved, means 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.”

The Sacramento site is located at 5500 County Road 99W, Dunnigan, Calif. Auction start time each day is 8 a.m. local time. Equipment pictures and more information are available at www.rbauction.com.