Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in London
A van that no longer pays its way inside the Low Emission Zone is still a useful van somewhere else, and that is the first thing to know about selling a fleet in London. Operators at Park Royal, Dagenham Dock and Purley Way replace vehicles for the zone and for the Direct Vision Standard sooner than operators elsewhere, and the older vehicles they take off the road are ordinary working vehicles to an operator outside those rules.
An online timed auction puts them in front of that wider market. We catalogue at your depot or collect the vehicles, bidding runs a week or two, and buyers pay us before collecting in an agreed window. Romford, Croydon, Watford and Slough are well placed to attend the viewing, and the M25 brings transporters from further out.
Food producers and printers at Park Royal, recycling yards at Barking, and builders and vehicle workshops in the outer boroughs are the common sources.
Vehicles that no longer suit the zone
The Low Emission Zone and the Direct Vision Standard set a clock on a London fleet that does not exist elsewhere. A tipper that needs a safe system fitted, or a van that now pays a daily charge, is worth less to a London operator than to a builder in Dartford or a haulier in the north who will never bring it inside the M25. An auction open to the whole of the UK puts it in front of buyers who are not paying for the zone.
We say in the catalogue what the vehicle's status is, because buyers ask and a straight answer saves time. The rest of the description is the usual, mileage, MOT date, service record and the faults we found.
Vehicles that do meet the standards are wanted by London operators too, and those buyers are close enough to come to the viewing day.
Getting a fleet out of a tight London yard
Park Royal is the largest industrial area in the capital and among the slowest to move a transporter through, so the access at your unit in particular is what we check on the first visit. Yard space, the shared approach road, turning room and the hours traffic allows all decide how the days are set, and what we find goes in the catalogue so buyers know before they bid. Where space is short, collection runs by appointment over a few days. Where the site cannot take that, the fleet can be brought out to our own premises and sold from there.
The yards off the A13 at Dagenham Dock were built for lorries, and where the approach and the standing suit it, a fleet there is viewed and collected where it stands.
Purley Way in the south is somewhere between, and we judge it when we walk the site like anywhere else.
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 London
- Our lorries do not meet the Direct Vision Standard. Are they still worth selling?
Yes. The standard is a London rule, and a lorry that would need a safe system fitted to work here is an ordinary lorry to an operator in the rest of the UK. We market the catalogue to hauliers and builders across the country, and bidding is online, so a buyer who never sees the yard can still bid and send a transporter. We state the position plainly in the listing. What sets the price is the condition and the paperwork, and the London rules count for less to a buyer outside the zone than they do to you.
- Do buyers drive into London to collect, or do you take the vehicles out?
Both happen, and the site decides after we have seen it. Where the yard has room for a transporter to enter, turn and load, buyers drive in and collect, and the M25 and the A13 make that straightforward. Where the unit is tight, on a shared forecourt or under a railway arch, the fleet is usually collected by us and sold from our own premises, so buyers view and load somewhere with space. Either way the auction is online, and the buyer pays before keys are released.
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.