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Operators looking for desirable second-hand trucks
Page 68
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are willing to compromise on specification to avoid
paying too much. Steve Banner reports.
An acute shortage of the most desirable trucks means some customers are prepared to compromise. "People who have always bought 420hp tractor units will drop down to 380hp, or will take an R-cab Scania if they can't get a Topline," says Stuart Wolstenholme, used truck sales manager at the Middleton branch of Scania dealership West Pennine. "High-mileage trucks are proving easier to shift too, just as long as the mileage isn't silly."
Chris Camm, general manager of Volvo's used truck centres at Ely in Cambridgeshire, Coventry, Avonmouth, and Hayes in West London, agrees that hauliers will compromise if their need is urgent, keeping these 'secondchoice' vehicles for 12-18 months.
It also means people are willing to travel further for top-spec tractor units, says Anthony Wright of Doncaster-based dealership European Vehicle Sales.
Traders are paying more for stock so they have to charge more too. "Customers appreciate that we have to pay more, so we're managing to achieve higher retail prices as a result," says Wolstenholme.This is echoed by Paul Prewett, general manager,