FRESH ORDERS
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A sign that the tide is beginning to turn in the UK container sector is when a major player comes back to the market. It has been more than a year since Collease placed an order for rolling stock of any kind, but now it has signed a hire-purchase deal with Dennison for 88 sliding and 14 tank skeletal trailers.
Duncan Scillitoe, general manager and director at Collease, says it suspended its renewal programme last year so it could reduce its debt. "We have a policy of buying equipment and paying for it really quickly, so our main strategy was to look after the assets we had, ensure it was all available for hire, and pay down the debt. We paid off a huge amount of hire-purchase during 2009," he explains.
Collease stocks 3,000 vehicles, of which 70% are geared towards the container market. The decision to renew its rolling stock comes Scillitoe sees some confidence returning to the sector.
"During the boom times, there was a lot of purchasing... then all tt collapsed [during the recession], so container hauliers are [now] ve hesitant in signing major long-term deals," he says.
Since many container operators have downsized, they find it mor attractive to take trailers when they need them, he explains. "If they have excessive demand for work, they are subcontracting it out, so are getting a lot of enquires from owner-drivers."
Some of the trailers are already on the road with oneand two-yei deals in place "We aren't asking people for longer because of the nature of the market," says Scillitoe.