Buying second-hand is a great way of acquiring trucks at
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a fraction of the cost of new ones, and provided you know what you're looking for,
you could end up a real winner.
Nobody could accuse Geoff Moore of being ageist. As operations manager of West Country fleet Thompson Transport he's more than happy to buy second-hand trucks.
Earlier this year the Moretonhampstead, Devon, based company acquired six unglamorous used Renault Manager tractor units, having bought 14 the previous autumn. "Recycling has become fashionable now, but we've been successfully running recycled trucks for a long time," he laughs.
Thompson isn't the only fleet taking the used route. Last year S Cooper & Sons, which runs more than 50 trucks, acquired 10 more Leyland Dais, a mixture of 65 Series, 1900s, and 2100s, through franchised dealer North West Truck Services.
"We've let the first owner absorb all the depreciation," says Richard Howarth, a director of the Winsford, Cheshire, warehousing and distribution firm.
Five were new, but the rest were secondhand. "More recently we've bought a threeyear-old 85 Series from the same source," Howarth adds.
Canny hauliers have spotted that the increased durability and reliability of modern trucks makes them sound second
hand buys if they've been regularly maintained. And although new chassis are heavily discounted, the prices are nowhere near as low as those commanded by, say, a 1993/94 model made by the same manufacturer and of near-equivalent specification; especially if the market sees the model concerned as in some way undesirable.
Value for money Not many hauliers would rush to snap up the used Manager G340s Geoff Moore currently favours; which makes them rattling good value for those who do, he says.
"Manager residual values used to be terribly poor, which meant we could pick them up extremely cheaply," he recalls. "Values aren't as low as they were, but it's still cheaper to buy a Manager than it is to buy a Scania, say, or an ERE" Thompson has been running Renaults since 1986 in a 60-strong mixed fleet which also includes Dafs, Fodens, and ERFs. Having run Manager G290s without too many traumas, Moore settled on its more powerful G340 stablemate.
"Manager's engine and gearbox are both very good, and aside from a few electrical problems, we've found it to be a dependable truck," he observes. And with RVI dealer Devon County Commercials based in nearby Exeter, aftermarket back-up is good, he reports.
"F and G-registered Managers tend to suffer from mh rot though, and some Renault parts can be expensive," he warns. As a consequence he parks up Managers that have reached the end of their working lives in preference to selling them third-hand, and cannibalises them for components.
The end can be a long time coming—one C-registered Renault has clocked up more than two million kilometres.
How do Thompson's drivers react to the prospect of settling down behind the wheel of a lowly Manager? "They're quite happy," Moore insists.
"They've got air suspension and an air seat, and at the end of the day, what do drivers work for? Do they work because they want to drive a flash truck, or do they work because they want to earn money?"
The Managers he buys are usually threeand-a-half to four years old, with around 400,000km on the clock. He sources them from franchised dealers—all his current G340s came through Renault Bristol—but
41 has also been known to buy used trucks from independent traders, and other hauliers. Not from auctions, though; bidding at auction doesn't appeal to him.
Once he has a truck it goes straight into Thompson's workshop for a thorough goingover, and will be serviced regularly thereafter. That's essential, says Moore. Skimp on a Manager's maintenance, and you're storing up trouble.
Each Manager is taken off the road once every 12 months for a mini-refurbishment; and that involves more than stripping down major components. "We repaint the chassis and wheels, and 1-cut the cab," Moore says.
"Anything that's damaged inside the cab is replaced," he adds. "We've even had seats reupholstered."
Familiarity with the model concerned and having your own workshop clearly helps if you pursue a used purchasing policy, as Howarth will testify S Cooper runs a 100% Leyland Daf fleet, and it too has its own maintenance facilities.
"Buying used has certainly helped our cashflow, and I'm glad we did it," Howarth states. "What's more, the trucks have been pretty reliable. We've only had one problem vehicle."
Assistance
But suppose you don't have your own workshop, and you're not confident about your ability to separate a quality secondhand vehicle from a disaster waiting to happen? The answer may be to buy one sold by a franchised dealer under a manufacturer's approved used trucks programme.
There are several schemes around. All are intended to help truck makers dispose of excontract trucks, often supplied to the first owner subject to a buy-back deal, in an orderly manner, thus supporting residuals.
MAN-Select approved vehicles, for example, are no more than four years old, and undergo a 101-point check before they are sold. Any faulty parts are replaced.
They are then retailed with a minimum three-month insurance-backed transferable warranty, administered by the RAC. The warranty covers up to the full purchase price of the truck, and offers new parts for old as well as a contribution to the cost of hiring a temporary replacement vehicle if the purchase breaks down.
Customers receive automatic membership of MAN-EuroService, the manufacturer's roadside. rescue and recovery scheme, and can pay to extend the warranty to 24 months.
S Cooper's vehicles were acquired under Leyland Daf's approved used programme, but none of Moore's acquisitions were protected by Renault's Diamond scheme. "A lot of operators still prefer to buy their used trucks without a warranty, and negotiate a discount with the dealer," says David Drake, MAN Truck & Bus UK's vehicle management centre manager.
The centre coordinates the running of MAN-Select, and retails some trucks itself.
Not all franchised dealers participate in these programmes. Thirteen of MAN's dealers have signed up to MAN-Select, says Drake, while 16 of Leyland Daf's sell its approved vehicles, says marketing manager, Tony Pain.
While agreeing that there are some marvellous used bargains around, Pain points out one potential pitfall. "A four-yearold truck may be as reliable as a new one, but you have to ask yourself if it is going to be as frugal," he remarks.
Greenness
Buying used could also become less appealing if the Government decided to offer really substantial incentives to hauliers to buy environmentally-friendly vehicles, he adds. The greenest truck is invariably going to be the one that's just rolled off the assembly line.
An unfashionable thirst for diesel has not proved a problem with the G340 Manager, says Geoff Moore. "Mpg is usually in the 85s, and we've got one that's doing 9.5mpg," he comments.
"Fuel consumption hasn't been a big difficulty for us, and I suspect Euro-2 engines use more diesel anyway," says Howarth.
The Renaults are equipped with air management kits, and tackle a mixture of work, covering an average 3,000km a week. Thompson is involved in general haulage, distribution and warehousing as well as specialist liquid and powder transport.
Hauliers who remain worried that they'll end up paying for their cheap truck with higher fuel bills will have to work out whether the bargain front-end price will really offset any inflation in diesel and parts invoices; older vehicles are bound
to consume more replacement components. "And while making their calculations they should bear in mind that there are some really cheap Mercedes 1834 and Iveco Ford Eumtech tractors around," an independent trader observes.
The fact that so many approved vehicles were supplied to the first owner in volume means that it may be possible to obtain, say, half-a-dozen of the same age with exactly the same specification, and even with consecutive number plates.
Dealers will know in advance when certain trucks are due to be de-fleeted and come onto the used market—although there's always the risk that the existing user will elect to hang on to them instead, says Pain—and will only be too pleased to have a prospective buyer lined up. And if they haven't got the exact truck you want either in stock or in the pipeline, then computerised used vehicle location schemes mean that they may be able to track it down at another dealership with the same franchise.
If you don't want to buy, then it should be possible either to contract hire it or take it on long-term rental.
Scania's approved trucks can be rented for 12 months. "It's a quick way to boost the size of your fleet without a big up-front capital investment," says Scania (Great Britain) director, Frank Andrew. "And for a lot of tasks, a three-year-old truck is more than adequate."
Last word to Geoff Moore. "I buy used because they're cheaper than new and it's so difficult to get decent haulage rates these days," he reflects. "And a brand-new truck will still only earn you the same money as a second-hand one."
O by Steve Banner