Curtainsiders fall off the rails
Page 47
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Prices for new curtainsider trailers are spiralling ever-downwards, according to industry insiders; and that is bad news for sellers of used ones. You can buy a new triaxle curtainsider for less than fr6,000 today," says one well-placed executive. "Two-and-a-half years ago you would have paid Li9,000 for the same trailer."
Desirable second-hand curtainsiders can still command a respectable price, however, says independent dealer Malcolm Harrison; a lot depends on the specification.
He has been disposing of 16o curtainsiders once operated by Brady, and now has just 35 left.
"They have got Boalloy bodies on either M&G or Crane Fruehauf chassis, they are well-equipped, and they are constructed to a high standard," he says. "We can offer a saving of L4,000-5,000 against new, and still make decent money; and we are talking immediate delivery."
Chris Wright, managing director of Commercial Vehicle Auctions, says: "There are plenty of used trailers on the market, but too many have the wrong sort of specifications.
"The 13.6m tandem-axle flats on air are good sellers, for example, but tilts are an absolute nightmare. Most are bought to be converted into flats or curtainsiders.
"And nobody seems to want Euroliners.
"Operators seem to have decided that a curtainsider with a sliding roof will do just as well without the need to carry the extra weight.
"Recently built 26-pallet fridge trailers sell well if they are a good quality make, and there is a shortage of late-nn odel, tidy, tipping trailers. There is such a shortage that people are buying tandem tippers with the intention of adding a third axle."