Sales and auctions do boom business
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• Saturday sales at haulage yards are still pulling in enthusiastic bidders willing to pay top dollar for trucks with the right specifications, according to Chris Wright, managing director of Commercial Vehicle Auctions.
At a recent sale at Howard Kent's depot at Wisbech, Cambs, a pair of 1998 R-reg Daf 95XF 430 Space Cab 4x2 tractors with r6-speed boxes fetched i31,000 and £31,500. A third 95XF, identical to its stablemates apart from the fact that it was 1998 on an S-plate, made £34,000.
At the same sale a trio of Volvo F1-112 380 6X2 mid-lift tractors, all T-plated 1999 vintage, went for 137,000 apiece. Five 1999 V-reg FH12s, identical to the trio apart from the plate, averaged 140,000 each.
"The registration letter clearly matters to some bidders, sometimes to the tune of several thousand pounds," says Wright.
A number of semi-trailers were disposed of too. Locally built year-old Lawrence David triaxle curtainsiders were going for around 115,00o. "1998 curtainsider trailers were being sold for 114,100 to 114400; examples dating back to 1997 were fetching £12,100 t0112.600, while 1996 curtainsiders were selling for 19,100 to £9,750." he says.
A well-known fleet operator from South Wales acquired some of the curtainsiders. "He had a new contract starting the following Monday and needed some decent trailers," Wright explains. "New trailers are on fairly long lead times."
The prices reflect the youth and desirability of the vehicles, and the fact that operators rather than traders were doing the bidding. "It's probably better to dispose of vehicles and trailers dating from the early eighties to the early nineties at mid-week sales because you need the trade there to bid for them," says Wright.
The auctions held at CVA's Doncaster site during the week are booming, despite the doom and gloom surrounding the haulage industry, says Wright. "We've never sold so much stuff as we are selling at present," he reports. "If it's clean, tidy, and well-presented, then it will find a buyer." But while volumes are up, prices aren't "They've been on the downward slide all year, there's no doubt about it," he says. "The money being bid isn't what it was 12 months ago."
More and more trade pundits are suggesting that older fleet-spec tractors with little appeal to buyers should be broken up for spares, but Wright points out that this is not always an option: "When the prices of older Daf 85s began to fall we looked at dismantling them for the parts, but on Dafs people only ever replace doors and front bumpers; and that will never add up to14,000."