ORLANDO, FL- Truck and equipment auctioneers Ritchie Bros. sold a record-breaking 10,500 equipment items and trucks at their premier global auction last week in Orlando, Florida.

The five-day unreserved public auction  attracted over 9,350 on-site and online bidders from 81 countries and generated over US$179-million in gross auction proceeds, including a record US$66 million sold to online buyers.

The company, headquartered in Burnaby, B.C., was originally founded in Kelowna, B.C., and currently has 110 locations in 25 countries and 44 auction sites worldwide.

“Our February Orlando auction is the largest auction we hold each year,” said Ravi Saligram, Chief Executive Officer, Ritchie Bros. “The record 10,500-plus industrial assets sold at this year’s sale, and the record number of worldwide bidders the auction attracted, demonstrates the global reach and cross-sector appeal of this multi-day event.”

“In fact, we sold more transportation sector assets at this sale than any of our previous Orlando auctions before, including a record 310 truck tractors on Friday,” Saligram said.

The auction attracted equipment buyers from across North America and around the world, in person and online. Close to US$144 million of equipment (or 80 percent) was sold to buyers located outside the state of Florida, including more than US$48 million (or 27 percent) sold to buyers outside the country. Buyers participated from as far away as Australia, Ecuador, Thailand, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

Record auction by the numbers:

• 179: U.S. million-dollars made in total at the auction (in-person and online);
• 66: U.S. million-dollars sold online;
• 9,350: number of unique registered bidders, from 81 countries, including all 50 U.S. states;
• 5,000+: number of unique registered online bidders;
• 1,300+: number of online buyers;
• 10,500+: total number of lots sold;
• 875: total number of sellers.