Fleet s ec still la Es
Page 48
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The problem of disposing of lowpower fleet-spec tractors without taking a big loss will continue to plague manufacturers for the foreseeable future, forecasts George Alexander, commercial vehicles editor at Glass's Guide. And he believes he knows why: the manufacturers. despite their protestations, are supplying new vehicles to householdname operators in large numbers on short-term contracts.
"From what I've seen there is no change in the policies truck makers are adopting," says Alexander, "The customer is king, and if he wants low-powered tractive units then that is what the manufacturers give him. The big fleets have got it all—low prices, new trucks, and just enough horsepower for their needs."
More and more of these tractors will flood onto the used market over the next 12 months, Alexander predicts. The good news is that the export market is improving a little, so some of them will go overseas. "That will be of considerable help." he says. Overseas purchasers are also buying used trailers—"they'll take anything with twist-locks on," says Alexander—and that should help this sector.
"It took more of a hit in 1999 than any other,' Alexander says. "The way in which prices of new trailers fell last year drove down the values of late, used ones, and the sector just about hit rock bottom. Curtainsider prices are starting to improve though, and flats and skeletals are holding up."
At the lighter end of the rigid market, 7.5-tonners are finally starting to feel the impact of the change in driver licence entitlements, says Alexander: "Employers are hiring young drivers and finding they're not permitted to drive 7.5-tanners so they're having to get them trained. Then they might as well buy rotanners. As a result Mercedes-Benz's 814 may just be starting to lose its shine, but 13-tonne Mercs are holding up very well...they were doing well anyway."
The Internet will have a major impact on the way used trucks are sold, says Alexander. "And I think the independents will get into it too, as well as franchised dealers," he predicts.
The days when customers trudged from yard to yard will slowly vanish, he suggests. Volvo has already gone down this road with three Internet-based used truck schemes (CM 25 Nov-i Dec 1999).
"If the buyer is worried about purchasing a truck that's in a yard at the other end of the country, then he'll be able to get a consultant engineer to check it out for him," he says. "Increasingly you'll be able to download data from a truck such as full maintenance history, and there will always be insurancebacked guarantees on hand."