1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198 
Pricey diesel boosts demand
Page 73
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
HIGH DIESEL prices could be good news for sellers of late-registered tractor units as operators hunt for newer trucks they hope will be more fuel efficient than their existing tackle, says Lee Smith, a director of West Thurrock, Essex-based independent dealership Han bury Riverside.
"Diesel prices used to come up halfway through every conversation we had with our customers," he explains. Now they're mentioned in the first two sentences and people are clearly very concerned.
"But if a customer can get an extra 2mpg, then that will pay for the cost of opting for a newer vehicle," he continues."His business will end up with a better image into the bargain, his drivers will he happier, and of course he'll also benefit from the balance of the manufacturer's warranty."
And. Smi th adds: "Why run an eight-year-old truck if you don't have to?"
Jim Warburton, of Staffordshire CV, says:"We're certainly seeing a lot of customers after tractor units that are no more than three or four years old."
While diesel prices remain high, money remains remarkably cheap thanks to low interest rates, Warburton points out. As a consequence. late-plate trucks are more affordable than they were at the start of the previous decade.
Unfortunately, there aren't that many late-registered units about, says Derek Lowis, used truck salesman at Hampshire Daf dealership Adams Morey. "It's certainly not easy to get hold of anything that's less than a year old," he warns, "and there aren't many ex-demonstrators around.
-Long lead times on new vehicles mean that operators are hanging on to their existing trucks until the replacements are delivered, although fortunately those lead times seem to be reducing."
One potential drawback of upgrading to a more modern, and hopefully more fuel efficient, truck is that the operator's older and less efficient truck will presumably be more difficult to part-exchange.
Not necessarily, says Mike Smith, of Widnes independent dealership Smith Brothers: -The export market remains strong.