THE NUMBERS GAME
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Perhaps the biggest barometer for the current used truck marketplace is the phone, and how often it rings.
“I am dealing with fewer people today than I was three years ago. I can write down more names of people finished than still running,” says Jonathan Bownes.
“In 2005, Thomas Hardie Commercials sold the thick end of 800 used trucks a year and last year we sold 360, that is less than half – you could mirror those figures across the country.” To make his point on the diminishing number of vehicles on the used market, Bownes fishes out a copy of Commercial Motor from 11 December 2008.
“There are 32 Volvo trucks in the private sale ads and classified ads from Volvo dealer Hartshorne, Crossroads, two pages from Thomas Hardie and four pages from the manufacturer,” he says.
He then turns to a recent CM (4 August 2011) and quietly counts out the trucks. “Two Volvos for private sale and two dealers’ ads from Volvo, the manufacturer and us.
“It is not a coincidence,” he says.