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Hauliers travelling into London's Low Emission Zone will need to
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upgrade their vehicles to meet Euro-4 emissions Levels by 2012, which will create greater demands for compliant trucks from the used market.
Words: Steve Banner D mand for second-hand trucks that m-et Euro-4 emissions standards looks set to so r over the next two years as operators hunt fo vehicles that will comply with the tighter don Low Emission Zone rules scheduled to co e into force on 3 January 2012.
ter that date, all trucks entering the zone have to meet the Euro-4 benchmark for a *culates or attract penalty charges.
nfortunately, not enough Euro-4-compliant ve ides are coming onto the used market, says Ph 1 Holmes, used sales manager at Scania de ership Keltnick. Consequently, prices are lik ly to rise as dealers and customers fight for w at is available.
e impact of a likely shortage of Euro-4co pliant stock should not be exaggerated, caiitions Jonathan Bownes, sales executive at V lvo dealership Thomas Hardie's Middlewich, eshirc, used truck centre.
e adds: "It won't affect a lot of the northern op rators we sell to, because they wouldn't take a lad into London for all the gold clocks in the world. They know they'll have to deal with co lgestion on the M6, congestion on the M1 and general aggravation when they get there. They ad pt the view that it's not worth it."
H rdening prices
Wiile some dealers are reporting that trade is uiet in the run-up to Christmas, others are sa g that the phones are still ringing.
'We're still busy, even though a lot of hauliers ar probably too occupied delivering tinsel and f e reindeers to worry about buying vehicles at resent," Bownes quips.
'Business is improving steadily," says Holmes. verything is going in the right direction, an1 prices have been creeping upwards."
Nor is he finding that customers are facing major problems obtaining the funding they require. "We've only had the odd one or two w o've struggled, if that," he reveals.
'While I wouldn't say things are buoyant, w 're [still] getting a lot of people looking at t cks and asking about prices," reveals Lee S ith, a director of West Thurrock, Essex, ependent dealership Hanbury Riverside. Prices are hardening and will rise," he adds. e're not seeing any distress selling now."
ne trend Holmes has noticed, however, is that many budget-conscious operators in se rch of a Scania are asking for lower-height ca s rather than always opting for upmarket T•pline specs. "As a consequence, models with lo -height and Topline cabs are selling at almost th same price," he says.
With an eye to the export market, he would e to see more customers offering part e hanges. "We're just not getting enough," he lanients "I had a call from an exporter the other day. He asked if we had any vehicles suitable for export in stock and I had to admit we only had two or three."
Jamie McDonald, who runs Besthorpe, Norfolk-based independent dealership RIM Commercials, says: "Operators may be hanging on to their older part-exchanges because they believe they won't get that much for them. They're simply parking them in a corner of the yard and using them as spare vehicles."
No matter whether they are Euro-3 or Euro-4, getting stock for domestic sales can be as much of a challenge as finding chassis for export.
"It can be difficult to get hold of threeto fiveyear-old vehicles," says Bownes. "In many cases, the existing operators are hanging on to them.
"It's become especially hard to obtain decent Volvos and Scanias," he reveals.
As a result, prices are going up.
"Getting stock is a challenge," concurs Nigel Sharp, who is in charge of used sales at DAF dealership F&G Commercials, which has outlets in Huddersfield, Barnsley and Oldham, "We're finding that we're selling 430hp and 460hp units — 55-plate and younger — mainly to fleets with from eight to 20 trucks," he says. "Typically, they don't want to spend more than about £30,000."
Owner-driver increase
There is little demand for more powerful units, Sharp adds, probably because fewer owneroperators are buying trucks at present "If anything, they're disposing of them and that trend is likely to accelerate as we move into 2010," he continues.
"There just isn't the work out there for ownerdrivers," he believes, "Some major fleets are having to park up their own vehicles because they're not busy enough, and if they're in that position, they're not going to be putting work out to subcontractors."
Holmes, however, is noticing that there are a number of novice owner-drivers entering the market who have between £20,000 and £30,000 to spend on a vehicle.
RIM's McDonald is getting operators asking about Euro-4 vehicles with an eye to the LEZ changes. "I'm getting hauliers who say they intend to keep their existing Euro-3 trucks until 2012; and then see what happens," he says. •