UKASTA tag sells
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• There is a widening gap between the prices realised by used alloybodied tipper trailers signed off as UKASTAfriendly (United Kingdom Agricultural Supply Trade Association) and those that are not.
"If you are looking at like-for-like trailers, one worth £20,000 will fetch only £17,000 if it is nonUKASTA," says Andrew Smith, managing director of trailer dealer Newton Commercial of Harlington, Bedfordshire. "UKASTA-friendly is what customers are after."
Trailers that might have carried glass or chicken waste should not be used for foodstuffs. Customers who wish to part-exchange trailers must sign a declaration of the trailer classification.
So why not simply clean the trailer throroughly? The problem is that there is no accepted standard to which a tipping trailer can be cleaned before it can be deemed UKASTAfriendly, says Smith.
Change the body? That is not acceptable because all the paperwork relates to the chassis number.
"At least you can charge more for a UKASTA trailer if you are hiring it out," Smith says. The premium is about £20 a week.
Aside from the UKASTA debate, Newton's sales are "reasonably buoyant", says Smith. "We have been selling 25 trailers a month since January, but it is hard work, and the market seems to be drifting.
"There is little demand for tandems, though. I have just sold two new ones on air with alloy bodies at £25,000 each, but they are exceptions to the rule."
Smith predicts a gradual move among many operators over the next five to six years towards walking floor and ejection trailers. "People do not want to go for tippers with a capacity of more than 911yd3 in case they topple over when the body is raised." he says.
However, many hauliers carrying light bulky loads could make good use of much more space. Smith has just sold a 1988 960 Wilcox triaxle walking floor trailer on mechanical suspension for what he terms "strong money".