Reproduced with kind permission from COMMERCIAL MOTOR: Article printed 15th September 2005

MIXED VIEWS ON 6X2 TRACTORS

 Suggestions from Glass's Guide that alues of 6x2 tractor units may be starting to dip because there are more around than the market can happily absorb, have been greeted with raised eyebrows by some dealers.  While it's true that there are plenty about, they reckon that demand remains healthy.

Lee Smith of Hanbury Riverside reports that 6x2 units account for "about 95% of what we sell.  I try to persuade hauliers operating solely in the UK to take them because then they can run at 44 tonnes and take on a wider variety of work than if they had a 4x2".

"There are lots of 6x2 around - I could easily get you 25 or more if you needed them and had the money - but they're hugely popular and a good one will always sell".......  For Full story see Commercial Motor Thursday 15th September issue.

  Reproduced with kind permission from COMMERCIAL MOTOR: Article printed 14th July 2005

After a seemingly unending boom in truck sales some dealers are reporting a delcine in consumer confidence.  STEVE BANNER Reports.

Hanbury Riverside aims to boost sales with a revamped website offering a virtual tour of every truck on the forecourt.

Reproduced with kind permission from COMMERCIAL MOTOR: Article printed 12^th May 2005

FIRST HALF SALES BREAK RECORDS

Business is booming for most, but not all, used truck dealers.  Steve Banner reports.

Used Truck sales remain buoyant throughout most of the country. 

“I’m seeing no indication of a downturn” says Lee Smith, a director of West Thurrock Essex Independent dealership Hanbury Riverside.  “I can’t complain at all.  We’re still getting plenty of enquiries and they’re coming from all over the country.  They’re coming from the Republic of Ireland too”………….

For full story see Commercial Motor article

Reproduced with kind permission from COMMERCIAL MOTOR: Article printed 12^th May 2005

YOU COULD SNARE EXTRA BUYERS IN YOUR SALES WEB…….

Web sites have become a vitally important tool for independent dealers in their campaign to boost used truck sales, accordingly to Lee Smith of dealer Hanbury Riverside.

“We’re finding that people are visiting our site, seeing the truck they want and contacting us to buy it without bothering to come and look at it first” he says.

“Our site is so important to us that we’re going to be improving it in various ways over the next few months to make it more user friendly and attractive” he reports

“People want something interesting to look at” Smith points out “especially if they’re going on there at 11pm as often happens, after a hard day’s work”………….

For full story see Commercial Motor article

Reproduced with kind permission from COMMERCIAL MOTOR: Article printed 11^th November 2004.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM

Used truck sales are soaring, leaving dealers wondering whether to keep buying stock in the traditionally quiet run up to Christmas

Used truck sales are continuing to boom throughout much of the country, say dealers. 

Lee Smith, director of West Thurrock Essex based independent dealership HANBURY RIVERSIDE, says “Used business is buoyant and I think a lot of it is because hailers don’t want to wait three months or more for new vehicles to be built and delivered.  A lot can happen in three months and the last thing you want if the price of diesel suddenly goes through the roof, is to be sitting there with half a dozen new trucks on order.”……………………………………..

For full story see Commercial Motor article

Reproduced with kind permission from COMMERCIAL MOTOR: Article printed 11^th November 2004

PREMIUM STOCK

Best known for stocking used Volvos, Scanias and Dafs, almost to the exclusion of all other makes of truck, independent dealership HANBURY RIVERSIDE in West Thurrock Essex, has recently been dabbling in Renaults.

“There was a deal thee so we took it and we’ve taken in 5 premium 6x2s with privilege cabs” says director Lee Smith.  “They’ve got either 400hp or 420hp engines, and date back to either 2000 or 2002.

We’ve sold 2 so far and we’re happy with the price they fetched.  The customer concerned had a job coming up before Christmas and wanted something inexpensive that he could use on local work.  The equivalent Volvo or Scania would have been twice the money”.

So will Smith be buying any more Premiums?  “While I’m not afraid to speculate, I’m not in any great hurry to” he says “nor am I in any great hurry to buy an MAN TGAs – there are reather too many of them about at the moment”.

For full story see Commercial Motor article

Reproduced with kind permission from COMMERCIAL MOTOR: Article printed 9^th September 2004

FRANCHISED BOOST FOR INDEPENDENTS

Too many franchised dealers are failing to put sufficient effort into selling used trucks, claims independent dealer Lee Smith, director of HANBURY RIVERSIDE of West Thurrock, Essex.  And it’s independents such as him who are reaping the benefits.

“A number of customers have told us how they’ve repeatedly telephoned certain franchised dealers about trucks they’ve seen advertised, left messages, but have never received a reply” he says.

“If we get any enquiry, however, we jump on it and chase it up.  We know we’ve got to make that sale because, unlike a franchised dealership, we don’t have a parts department or a workshop earning revenue.  We don’t sell new truck either”.

Franchised outlets should also rethink the atmosphere they create at their premises he suggests, commenting “Some hauliers looking to buy a used truck find it a bit daunting.  That’s why they prefer to deal with an independent.”

Reproduced with kind permission from TRUCK MAGAZINE: Article printed 1^st March 2004

AS GOOD AS NEW

Thurrock dealer HANBURY RIVERSIDE specialises in clean recently registered premium tractor units that are ready for duty.  Steve Banner Reports.

If you are after an ex-Royal Mail 7.5 tonne box van, or a second hand Dennis Dustcart, do not call Lee Smith, director of Essex independent used truck dealership HANBURY RIVERSIDE.  He specialises in well-equipped, premium brand, late registered, low mileage tractor units with bog cabs and plenty of power.  The firm sells around 180 of them annually from its West Thurrock yard.

“They are usually less than three years old and a lot of them are mid-lift 6x2s” he says.  “I would say that 6x2s account for 85% of what we do, although we have recently done quite a few left hand drive 4x2s with large fuel tanks for continental work”.

CUSTOMERS’ FAVOURITES

Smith primarily stocks Scanias, Volvos and Dafs.  Typical price tag? £30,000, “Sometimes we dip below that figure, but you could be talking £50,000 if a truck is only three months old” he says.

“There is a big demand for Scania 4-series with V8 engines and Topline cabs, and volvo’s FH is another favourite because it has such a wide variety of uses”, he continues.  “It is popular with tipper owners and container hauliers as well as international operators”.

Is he likely to widen the choice of makes offered?  “We have just bought our first MAN TG-A – an absolutely immaculate 460hp XXL 6x2 mid lift dating back to 2000 and I am hearing some pretty good things about the latest Mercedes Actros, especially when it comes to fuel consumption” Smith replies.  But he has no plans to start selling Renaults or Ivecos.  Nor does he intend to mount a major onslaught on the rigid market, although he is perfectly happy to offer selected examples.  “They include some very late 4-Series Topline drawbars” he says.

He is also happy to sell specialist trailers such as powder tankers and has done so with some success.  So what constitutes a big engine these days?

“For somebody on general haulage work 420hp is the minimum” he reckons “But if they are constantly running at 44 tonnes they probably need 460hp because then the engine will not have to work as hard.  They will be able to maintain average speeds more effectively, fuel consumption will probably be better and they do not have to pay all that much more for the extra 40hp.”

Inevitably the part exchange price is a factor for many of Smith’s customers, but he has a way of handling them that suits both buyer and seller.  “If, say, we are painting a truck for a customer before he takes delivery, then we may suggest that he attempts to sell his part-exchange himself” Smith continues “if he does not mange to do so by the time the paint job is finished, we will take it at a pre-agreed price and get rid of it ourselves” 

Hanbury Riverside’s trucks are prepared to as high a standard as those retailed by franchised outlets, he contends.  “Each one carries a 3 month warranty and a current MoT and is serviced before the customer takes delivery” Smith says.

“We inspect and valet all of our trucks thoroughly and will even replace the number plates and tax disc holders.  We have an ex-owner driver in charge of preparation who will, for example, check that the night heater works; that is the sort of thing that is missed if you do not pay enough attention to detail.”

CONFIDENT CLIENTS

“I want customers to be confident that they can pick up a tractor from here on a Saturday safe in the knowledge that they can put it to work on Monday morning without any problems”.

While anybody retailing late-registered trucks always runs the risk that prospective buyers will opt for new ones instead, Smith contends that there is enough of a price gap to ensure that Hanbury Riverside’s vehicles still have an appeal.

“The initial depreciation on them has already been lost and we can offer immediate availability if that is what is required”, he says.  “Go for a new tractor unit and you may have to wait several months before it is delivered; and a lot can happen to a haulage business in the meantime.”

While smith counts small hauliers and one or two large fleets among his clients, what he has to offer seems especially popular with firms running from 15 to 40 vehicles.  “They seem to like our way of trading and come back year after year” he says. 

Smith’s customers have one thing in common.  As well established and reasonably profitable businesses, they usually have no problem raising the finance they need to acquire vehicles.

For their part, the finance houses are well aware that they will not have too much trouble disposing of a vehicle supplied by Hanbury Riverside should they need to reposes it from a stricken operator.

If he has a problem, it is hunting down the stock he needs.  “The sort of truck we deal in is getting harder and harder to find and I reckon prices have risen over the past 12 months”  he says.

“That given, we have already sourced a lot of the tractors we are going to require this year” he says.  “Either Volvos, Scanias or Dafs, they are all 6x2s, less than 18 months old and I am buying them direct from the operators.”

“We also buy from manufacturers and franchised dealers – if a Daf dealer has two or three Scanias he wants to get rid of , we will happily talk to him and occasionally at auctions” Smith says.

It is no secret that Hanbury Riverside comes under the Hanbury Davies umbrella or that its ultimate parent is Hanbury Holdings.  Started as a family business in 1982, the dealership was acquired by the group in 1995.  But the West Thurrock operation has to stand on its own two feet.  Smith stresses, it is not simply a mechanism for the dipsoal of time served Hanbury Davies Wagons.

BUYING IN BULK

“I can buy them if I wish, but at market value” he says.  “They don’t give them to us!”

What the backing of a substantial group does mean, however, is that Hanbury Riverside can purchase large numbers of vehicles at a time rather than having to restrict itself to twos or threes.

“We did a deal for 63 FHs in 2002; one of those deals we would love to have every year” he recalls. “Because deliveries to us were staggers and because of the interest we created among potential buyers – I sold 10 to one guy – we disposed of 40 before one stood for sale in the yard”.

Hanbury Riverside has its own web site at www.hanburyriverside.co.uk and it is proving remarkably effective.  “People are buying vehicles from us on the basis of seeing a picture on the site and without seeing the truck itself” he says.  “it is because they are aware of the strength of our reputation.

“One of the big things the web site and the way we have branded our business has done for us, is make us a UK wide rather than a South East of England company”  Smith says “We are selling far more vehicles in Scotland, for example, than we used to and we are pulling in customers from Ireland as well – so we must be doing something right!”