Hi Wardy


you seem to have got it right , i know some one who is buying up second hand trucks and storing them to sell next year and year after. he say's it better than keeping his money sat in the bank

Interesting observation that poor sales over past 5-6 years has limited the supply of quality used units to market.
It was for this very reason that we created the strategy of an internal annual investment in new units for our STH fleet.- in effect to generate a pool of used units for INTERNAL offer to customers and in so doing corner the market with a quality supply source.
Having done this we can offer customers a varied solution with a new, 1year old, 2 year old, 3.4.5 year old unit and tailor the package to suit
Nice to know that the strategy had some foundation

80% of what we sell are refurbished trucks aged between 1990 & 2000. these are replacements for even older trucks or to first time buyers. there are no decent second hand trucks available to buy from end-users. trucks we purchase each year (that are re-used rather than broken for scrap) has gone down from 350-400 per year in 2007 down to about 190 last year.

Well if any one wants any Frer5's and Foer 15's let us know...lol

I totally agree. In NYC we are seeing a rise in used truck sales and rentals. Especially in this economy with the bank only financing companies with over 5 years and great credit the used truck sale and rentals are where its at. My company for one is pushing service over everything right now. Obviously all companies should be running off service we have definitly seen the decline in New truck sales, especially in smaller outfits

Hi bb forks i have been looking into this in the Middle east where price is king. They don't like the new technology because of the higher cost associated with this. Again they prefer to purchase but rental is now taking a bit more customers.


there seems to be a strong connection between the North american way and the Middle east one point of this is there is a lot of students who have studied in the US. So they would have picked up North american Ideas.

I think on a hole it all comes down to the end price Some times customers don't look at the life time cost of the truck but i think with the lack of good quality second hand trucks coming onto the market this might change.


Also finance for rental fleets is becoming hard to obtain this will have a effect on the rental markets as companies won't be able to finance new trucks so will keep older trucks for short term rental that will see growth as the economies pick up

I've had this conversation on other threads. I don't think one is better than the other. I believe that the tax structure of our different countries makes renting a better alternative in the UK, where buying is more advantageous in the US.

Even though the service costs pass to the provider in the UK, the provider is in the business of making money, so therefore, the cost is ultimately factored into the rental price which the customer pays. It would be interesting to compare rental costs between our 2 countries.

Being a small independent limits my access to international commerce, but the few customers & vendors I deal with that have done business in the UK all had the same underlying message- they found the business costs in the UK were more than the US. They felt that England had more technology, but at a much higher price.

The same seems to be here in the UK Older trucks are selling better than new , but with the shortage of older trucks coming and a new point that you have raised. These newer trucks are a lot more expensive to repair because of the electronic units there could be a market for even older trucks that have been reconditioned and don't have the expensive hydraulics.


In the UK rental is much more popular than in the US here the service cost pass to the service provider not the customer do you believe that this system is the way forward or is the US system of out right purchase better

As an independent in the US I can tell you that repairs to older lifts is where it's at right now. I'm not sure about large companies, but smaller ones are keeping their lifts longer, spending more on repairs before deciding to replace them.

The few that have updated to newer equipment are shell shocked at the costs of repairs with these newer electronic units. Between the sensors & ECUs, my customers wished they had kept their older units.