Lack of late-year, second hand trailers start to harden prices
Trailer dealers nationwide are complaining about an acute lack of second-hand stock, with three- to four-year-old semi-trailers a particularly rare sight, reports Steve Banner (Commercial Motor, 10 November 2011).
"The used semi-trailer market is good at the moment but only if you can find equipment to sell," says Rod Pybus, a consultant to Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire based SDC Northern
"My yard is practically empty and I'm not joking," says Brian Parkinson, used sales manager at Schmitz Cargobull. "It's the least amount of stock I've had in three years."
"One reason for the scarcity is that the price of new trailers has risen substantially thanks to the increasing cost of tyres, steel and other raw materials," observes Pete Nutkins of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham based South Durham Trailer Sales.
"The cost of timber has shot up, tyres have gone up a phenomenal amount too and we're now in a situation where trailer makers are sometimes finding it difficult to hold a quoted price for a day, never mind a week: and it's not as though they're looking to make a massive profit."
He believes that as a consequence some potential purchasers of new equipment are electing to hang on to the tackle they have already got: and that means it is not being released onto the second-hand market.
"Finance house repossessions are a traditional source of second-hand trailers, but as things stand we're seeing very few of them," says Brian Rossington, national hgv manager at auctioneer Manheim.
As a result used trailer prices are definitely hardening, says Parkinson.
Pybus agrees, adding: "Skeletals, curtainsiders and flats built to a decent specification and well looked after are all fetching decent money. However dealers are not seeing a big increase in their profit margins because they're having to pay more for the stock they buy in."
Some dealers are hanging on to trailers until they can get a price that gives them a decent margin because they know that replacement stock will be hard to come by," says Nutkins.
Obtaining finance to buy the trailers they need is an issue for some hauliers he says. "Finance houses that might have automatically offered them a deal in the past often want to check them out much more thoroughly these days."
A well-known figure in the trailer industry, Nutkins set up South Durham Trailer Sales in 2008. "Sometimes I think I'd be better off wringing out wash leathers for a one-armed window cleaner and it's true that as a business we have to pull hard to reach the finishing line each month - margins aren't terrific any more - but I still enjoy what I do," he says.
"I like working with hauliers and I think they deserve a lot more respect than they get," he adds. "The country would grind to a halt without them."
He believes that the condition a trailer is in matters just as much as its age. "Customers are often willing to take older trailers than they would ideally like if they are clean and straight because they recognise that in the current climate of shortages it's either that or nothing," he remarks.