Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers hosted an unreserved sale at the company’s Perris, Calif., location Feb. 26 and 27.

More than 2,500 people from 25 countries, including 40 U.S. states and 12 Canadian provinces and territories, registered for the two-day event.

The unreserved public auction featured more than 2,100 lots — including industrial and transportation equipment, heavy machinery, and real estate — and generated gross auction proceeds in excess of $24 million. More than $12 million of equipment went to out-of-state buyers.

More than 730 of the registered bidders participated online, live and in real time, using the Ritchie Bros. internet bidding service rbauctionBid-Live. Internet bidders were winners or runner-ups on almost one-third of the lots available online.

“Once again we noticed that the new CARB regulations covering off-road diesel equipment are influencing the buying and selling decisions of people in the California construction industry,” said Richard Aldersley, Ritchie Bros. regional manager. “Equipment users are accelerating the turnover of their fleets and our large unreserved auctions help them do so cost-effectively. Since interested buyers from around the world participate in our auctions both on-site and online, sellers can be confident that their equipment will be sold for global fair market value, regardless of what’s happening locally.”

El Cajon, Calif.-based Cass Construction Inc. was one of almost 430 consignors at the auction. The company sold more than 100 industrial and transportation equipment items as part of a major fleet realignment.

“Due to the California Air Resources Board regulations that are coming into play over the next couple of years, we need to replace some of our older machines with new equipment to reduce our average fleet emissions,” said Stephen Johnson, equipment manager of Cass Construction. “I’ve used Ritchie Bros. for over 30 years because I like the way they do business: their honesty, integrity, professionalism, and the exposure they generate for your equipment. Ritchie Bros. brings in buyers from all over the world, which is very important with these new regulations impacting equipment values in California.”