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CI3 Indies fare better than thought
Page 48
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• Independent used truck dealers are happier than expected with current trading conditions.
"Enquiry levels are quite good, and we've been selling a bit of everything," comments Dave Morgan of West Midlands-based Dave Morgan Commercials.
"We've shifted quite a few 7,5tonners and, although people want curtainsiders rather than box-bodied chassis, we've moved one or two boxes too. We've also done well with 18-tonne curtainsiders, but they're not easy to get hold of," he continues. "You have to pay a premium for them." Morgan sells tractors too, but he remains wary of stocking too many. "You end up tying up a lot of money, and I'd rather have a few more bites of the cherry with other vehicles instead," he observes.
"Things have been better, but they've been a lot worse too," comments Steve Smith of Smith Brothers Services, based not far from Widnes.
"Tractors with big cabs and big engines keep on selling, and buyers aren't bothered if they're 4x25 or 6x2,s as long as the vehicle has the specification that they're after," he says. "One thing that's helping is the way that so much of the older stuff is going for export. If that wasn't the case, then yards all over the country would be awash with them."
"It's been a patchy year so far, but 7.5-tonne tippers are doing well— even the older ones—as are 6x4 and 8)4 tippers," observes David Price, disposal manager at Burnt Tree Fleet Sales.
It has a site in Manchester's Trafford Park.
"There's plenty of demand for dropside and curtainsider 7.5tonners too, but the market for boxbodied examples is a bit slack."