Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Liverpool
The port drives the fleet trade in Liverpool. Container haulage out of Seaforth and Bootle runs on tractor units and skeletal trailers, and when a haulier loses a shipping line contract or a freight forwarder shuts a depot at Kirkby, those units and skellies need a buyer. Skeletal trailers have a narrow market compared with curtainsiders, and that is where an online auction helps, because the buyers who want them are spread across the UK's ports rather than sat in one town.
Away from the docks the fleets are ordinary. Pharmaceutical and food firms at Speke run temperature controlled vans, and car plant suppliers at Halewood run panel vans. Construction and waste firms across the city add tippers and skip loaders.
We sell all of it by online timed auction. Bidding is open to bidders well beyond the area, St Helens, Warrington, Birkenhead and Runcorn are a manageable drive from the viewing day, and buyers collect in an agreed window after the close.
Skeletal trailers and tractor units from port haulage
A skeletal trailer is worth what a container haulier will pay for it, and container hauliers are at the ports. The online catalogue reaches operators on the Mersey and at the east and south coast ports alike, so a skelly sold in Bootle is in front of all of them. Twist lock condition, whether the chassis slides, the tyres and the plated test date are what the bidding turns on, and we photograph the twist locks and the landing legs so buyers can judge them without visiting.
Tractor units from the same fleets have often done high mileage on short port runs, and buyers know that. A recent MOT, a current tachograph calibration and a service file that shows the clutch and the brakes have been looked after are what a bidder reads. The older end of a fleet is usually where export interest sits, and the port on the doorstep makes shipping a bought unit simple.
We hold keys and documents from the day the catalogue goes live.
Collecting from dockside roads and outer estates
Access differs a lot across this city, so we settle it on the first visit rather than reading it off the address. Vehicle access and turning space, the yard surface, the gateway and where a transporter can stand all go into the plan, and the findings go in the catalogue so buyers know what to send. Knowsley Industrial Park and the estates at Speke were laid out for artics. The older dockside roads at Bootle and Seaforth are tighter.
Where the yard is tight, viewing and collection run by appointment, one buyer at a time, and where a unit will not start the listing says so, so the buyer sends the right vehicle for it. Where the site will not take buyers at all, the vehicles can be brought to our own premises and sold from there.
The M57 and the M62 bring buyers in from St Helens and Warrington, and the tunnels bring them across from the Wirral.
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 Liverpool
- Do export buyers really bid on tractor units in Liverpool?
They can, and the port is the reason. Export buyers look for tractor units and rigid lorries that are past their best for UK operators but sound enough for another market, and they bid online like anyone else. A unit bought at auction here can be at the dock within a day. We do not promise an export bid arrives, but the catalogue is marketed where those buyers look, and it widens the market for the older end of a fleet. The buyer arranges the shipping.
- Our pharmaceutical delivery vans at Speke are temperature controlled. Who buys those?
Food distributors, caterers, butchers and other pharmaceutical suppliers. The refrigeration unit is the expensive part, so buyers want to know its age and whether it holds temperature. We run the unit before the sale where it is safe to do so and describe what we find. Vans from a pharmaceutical fleet usually come with a full service file, and that is worth having in the listing because it answers questions a bidder would otherwise ask. Strip any customer branding first and hand the service history over with the V5C.
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.