Ritchie Bros. is consolidating its two, industry-leading inspection service organizations — IronPlanet and Asset Appraisal Services— to formally launch Ritchie Bros. Inspection Services, available to customers as part of its Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions.

For years IronPlanet and Asset Appraisal Services have been leaders in the equipment inspection business. IronPlanet has continuously raised the bar by offering innovative inspection content and technology for customers of its online marketplaces, including its IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification, which ensures buyers receive the equipment they expect. Asset Appraisal Services has become the recognized leader in the commercial truck inspection market by leveraging targeted expertise and proprietary technology solutions. Since both were acquired by Ritchie Bros. in 2017, the company has continued to enhance its capabilities and the number of inspections has increased significantly.

“We inspect hundreds of thousands of items every year,” said Karl Werner, Interim Co-CEO and President, International, Ritchie Bros. “We believe we have the best inspection team and technology in the industry and are uniquely positioned to innovate and develop targeted solutions for our increasingly-sophisticated customer base.”

In 2016, prior to the acquisition, IronPlanet and Asset Appraisal Services inspected more than 100,000 items. In 2019, post-acquisition, the team will surpass 215,000 items, taking 7.5 million photos and analyzing approximately 30,000 oil samples. Today the company has more than 300 full-time and contract inspectors.

“We continue to enhance the capabilities of RB Asset Solutions and Ritchie Bros. Inspection Services is a key extension to these solutions,” said Randy Berry, who serves as Senior Vice President of Digital Operations and oversees the inspection team for Ritchie Bros. “We are privileged to already serve the inspection needs of many of the world’s largest fleets, and we are now positioned to better scale our inspection services offerings and help even more customers with inspections in support of lease returns, financing, trade-ins, repossessions, private sale, asset verification, and more.”

Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions is a complete end-to-end asset management and disposition solution. Its suite of tools includes an inventory management system, personalized web stores, data analytics, valuation tools and now Ritchie Bros. Inspection Services, giving customers the capabilities and insights to make better disposition decisions.

Ritchie Bros. Sells $77MM+ of Equipment in Record-Breaking Fort Worth Auction

Ritchie Bros. conducted 15 auctions last week, including its largest-ever Fort Worth, TX, auction, selling more than 5,850 equipment items and trucks for over $77 million. Approximately 62 percent of the assets were sold to online buyers.

More than 8,300 bidders from 62 countries registered to bid in the two-day Fort Worth auction, including in excess of 6,750 online bidders. Approximately 93 percent of the equipment in the auction was sold to US buyers, while international buyers from as far away as Australia, China, and Egypt purchased 7 percent.

“We had a great selection of equipment, resulting in huge crowds and aggressive bidding both days of the auction,” said Neal Black, Regional Sales Manager (Fort Worth), Ritchie Bros. “We set new Fort Worth records for GTV, number of consignors, and number of bidders. We also set a new company record for number of truck tractors sold in a single auction—on Day Two alone we sold 661 truck tractors for $15 million.”

Edmonton and Los Angeles Auctions

Later in the week, Ritchie Bros. held big auctions in Edmonton, AB, and Los Angeles, CA.

The Los Angeles auction was the company’s largest at the site in 12 years. More than 3,200 equipment items and trucks were sold in the two-day Los Angeles event for over $40 million. Approximately 95 percent of the equipment was sold to U.S. buyers, while international buyers from as far away as France, India, and Taiwan purchased 5 percent of the assets.

Closing out the week, with its sixth and final auction of 2019, Ritchie Bros.’ Edmonton team sold over 5,000 items for more than $52+ million. This brings Edmonton’s 2019 total to over 49,200 equipment items sold for $465 million. 

Online Auctions
Ritchie Bros. also held several strong online events, with its IronPlanet and GovPlanet auction attracting over 6,500 bidders from 45 countries, while the company’s Marketplace-E solution sold a 1999 Beechcraft B300 aircraft for $950,000 and a commercial property in Arizona for $7.6 million—a new record for the site.