Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest industrial market in Scotland, and the fleet sales are sized to match. A distribution operator at Clydesmill hands back a depot with forty trailers. A motor trade group at Hillington closes a dealership and has recovery trucks, courtesy vans, demonstrator pickups and a workshop of vehicle mounted kit to move. Both sell the same way, in an online timed auction with a viewing day at the yard and collection in an agreed window after the sale. So does an engineering firm at Queenslie retiring with three vans and a flatbed.
The motorways widen the reach. The M8 and M74 put Paisley, Motherwell, East Kilbride and Cumbernauld well placed to attend the viewing, and the M74 south makes a Glasgow yard a straightforward collection from Carlisle and the north of England.
Bidding itself is online and open to the whole UK.
Recovery trucks and workshop vans from the motor trade
When a dealership or a vehicle workshop closes, the fleet is more varied than a haulier's. Recovery trucks with slide beds and spec lifts, tyre fitting vans with a compressor built in, courtesy vans, and pickups that were demonstrators all come out of the same site. Each of those is a different lot with a different market, which is why they are listed separately rather than sold as one line.
We catalogue vehicle mounted equipment properly. A slide bed wants its winch tested and its rating stated, and a compressor van wants the tank test date. Hillington Park has a strong automotive presence, so a viewing day there is an easy trip for people who know what they are looking at.
Dealer stock held on a stocking loan stays with the funder until the agreement is settled, so it is listed only with their consent.
Depot handbacks off the M74
A distribution depot at Clydesmill or Rutherglen is usually handed back on a date in the lease, and the trailers have to be off the yard before then. We plan the sale from that date backwards, so bidding closes far enough ahead for buyers to collect in the days after, with the exact gap set by how many lots there are and the access. Where it is agreed in advance, anything unsold can be moved rather than left for the landlord to find.
Tractor units and trailers from a big operator sell on paperwork. Plated test dates, tacho calibration, service history and the make of the fridge unit on a reefer trailer are what a haulier reads before bidding. We gather it with the transport office before the catalogue is written.
Junction 2A of the M74 reaches the yard without crossing the city, and the rail freight terminal at Mossend is ten minutes away.
What these sales can include
- Panel vans
- Long wheelbase vans
- Luton box vans with tail lifts
- Tippers and dropside trucks
- Refrigerated vans
- Rigid lorries
- Tractor units
- Curtainside trailers
- Flatbed and skeletal trailers
- Minibuses and welfare vehicles
- Pickups and 4x4s
- Car derived vans
- Plant trailers
- Vehicle mounted equipment
How the sale runs
We photograph and describe each vehicle, record the mileage and note known faults. The vehicles are listed in an online timed auction and the catalogue is marketed to trade buyers, hauliers, owner drivers and export buyers. Bidders can inspect on a viewing day, usually at your yard or ours, and lots close in sequence on the sale date.
Lots are offered as seen under the auction terms, and buyers are expected to inspect before bidding. The buyer pays the hammer price plus a buyer's premium, with VAT charged where it applies and shown separately on the buyer's invoice. Your charge is a separate commission, with any costs agreed in advance, deducted from the proceeds.
Reserves can be set on individual vehicles where there is a clear reason, such as a finance settlement figure.
The commercial vehicle and fleet auctions page covers when auction suits a fleet, paperwork that affects the price, livery and fleet kit, after the hammer.
Questions about selling in Glasgow
- Our haulage business at Cambuslang has stopped trading and the administrator wants the trailers sold. How fast can it go?
Three to four weeks from instruction to collection is a normal run, though the dates depend on the number of vehicles, the access and when the yard has to be clear. We visit within days, photograph and describe each trailer and unit, check what is on finance and list the sale. Bidding runs a week or two, then buyers pay us and collect in the window after. An administrator usually has a date set by the landlord, and we work back from that. Where the yard is already locked, the vehicles can be collected and sold from our own premises.
- Will hauliers from the north of England bid on a Glasgow fleet, or is it a Scottish market?
Both. The M74 makes a Glasgow yard a straightforward collection for a haulier from Carlisle or further south, and a fleet of tractor units at Clydesmill is marketed to the whole UK trade rather than to Scotland alone. Owner drivers from Hamilton and Paisley are close enough to attend a viewing day and bid alongside people who have only seen the photographs. What decides how far the interest reaches is the specification, the condition and the paperwork, and a catalogue that sets all three out plainly.
More questions about vehicles and fleets
Related services
Guides
- Selling a commercial vehicle fleet
Fleet sales turn on paperwork as much as on price. This guide covers the V5C, MOT and plating documents, clearing finance before listing, keys and livery, recording mileage and tachograph data, and how to defleet in batches while still trading.