Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Newcastle upon Tyne
Offshore and plant hire work leaves Tyneside with a particular kind of fleet. Welfare vans, crew vans, pickups and 4x4s are bought for a project, run hard for the length of it and parked in the yard at Newburn or Walker when it ends. Plant hire firms add tippers and beavertails. Distribution operators along the A1 Western Bypass add tractor units and curtainside trailers, and the printers and food producers at Benton Square and Team Valley run ordinary van fleets.
Whichever it is, the vehicles cost money standing still. An online timed auction puts a date on them and prices each vehicle on its own rather than averaging the fleet into a dealer's batch offer.
We catalogue at the yard, run the sale for a week or two, and buyers collect in an agreed window. Bidding is open to buyers from any part of the country, with Gateshead, Cramlington, Blyth and Durham in reach of a viewing day.
Welfare vans and pickups from project fleets
A welfare van is a specialist lot. Buyers want to know the seating capacity, whether the toilet and the water heater work, the make and hours of the generator, and whether the vehicle is still within its MOT. We run the generator and the heater where it is safe to do so and photograph the interior, because a contractor bidding from the other end of the country needs to see it. Buyers for these vans are spread across the country rather than gathered in one place, which is what an online catalogue is for.
Pickups and 4x4s from offshore and marine engineering fleets have often done site and quayside miles and carry the wear of it. The tow bar, the chassis and the underside are what a bidder asks about, so that is what we photograph and describe.
A welfare van that starts and heats on the viewing day is worth the day's preparation. Vinyl livery should be stripped before then.
Buyers from both sides of the river
Team Valley across the river is used by enough Newcastle firms that a Tyneside sale is a local trip for the Gateshead trade as well as the city. The A1 Western Bypass and the A19 through the Tyne Tunnel bring buyers in, and North Shields, Wallsend, Cramlington and Morpeth are all within half an hour of a yard at Newburn Riverside or Airport Industrial Estate.
What decides where the sale runs is the yard itself. On the first visit we check vehicle access and room to turn, the standing and the route out, and the findings go in the catalogue so buyers know what to send. Where that suits, the sale runs from the seller's premises. Where it does not, collection runs by appointment or the vehicles are sold from our own premises.
The Port of Tyne handles vehicles, and older tractor units and 4x4s are usually where export interest sits. Keys and V5C documents are released against a paid invoice.
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 Newcastle upon Tyne
- Our offshore project has finished and we have nine crew vans and 4x4s at Walker. How do we get them sold?
Send us the registrations and the location through the contact form. We visit, photograph and describe each vehicle, and list them in an online auction that runs for a week or two. We look at the yard and the roads around it on that first visit, and where buyers cannot be brought in safely the vehicles are collected and sold from our own premises instead. Buyers pay us and collect within an agreed window. A job this size usually runs three to four weeks, depending on the access and the number of vehicles.
- Is there a market for tippers and plant trailers from a plant hire fleet?
A real one. A tipper that can be put to work the week after the sale is the sort of vehicle small builders and groundworkers look for, and a plant trailer is bought by anyone who moves a mini digger. Bidding is not limited to the area, with Durham and Morpeth in reach of a viewing day. We describe the body and the tow gear honestly, list the MOT date and mileage, and let bidding set the price. Reserves can be placed on the main vehicles if you want a floor.
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.