Auction firm sees heavy equipment slowdown

Texas-based equipment auction firm Ritchie Bros. says its tracking indicates median prices for large excavators in the United States are down 9 percent year over year, while mini excavator prices declined 5 percent in the last 90 days.

The overall Ritchie Bros. individual mix-adjusted industry indexes are still up over 2021, the firm says, but they are declining on a month-to-month basis since peak pricing achieved earlier this year. In the U.S., truck tractor pricing still leads the way, up 27 percent year over year, while vocational trucks, medium and large earthmoving prices are up 18 percent, 15 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, in Canada, the same August Market Trends Report tells a different story, with large excavator prices there up 12 percent year over year, while mini-excavator prices in the last 90 days have increased 31 percent. Truck tractor pricing is up 25 percent, while vocational trucks, medium and large earthmoving came in with 10 percent, 13 percent and 12 percent gains.

“We continue to experience year-over-year price inflation for equipment and trucks in the U.S. and Canada,” says Doug Olive, a senior vice president with Ritchie Bros. “However, as the transportation and logistics markets normalize, we have seen truck prices decline. We are seeing similar pricing trends across our other industry indexes as well, with year-over-year increases, but declining on a month-to-month basis.”

Doug Rusch, managing director of sister company Rouse Sales, adds, “Tight supply continues to be the story in the retail market, with lower-than-typical sales volumes driving strong pricing and retail values increasing 2 percent in July. Auction values for excavators have moderated a bit since June 2022. Since then, we have seen smaller class mini-excavator prices decline 6 percent to 7 percent at auction, while larger excavators have declined 2 percent.”