Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Reading
A good share of what we sell in Reading is fleet vans that have been maintained on a schedule, and that shows in the catalogue. The technology and services firms on the office parks run field engineers in racked panel vans that are serviced on time and replaced on a cycle, and when a contract ends or the fleet is renewed, those vans come to market in batches of ten or twenty. Below the office parks, Battle Farm and the Robert Cort estate hold vehicle repairers and trade suppliers with dropsides and pickups, and Theale holds the distribution sheds with tractor units and trailers.
We sell all of it by online timed auction. The catalogue is written at the seller's site, bidding runs a week or two with a viewing day, and buyers collect in an agreed window after paying us.
With three M4 junctions, Basingstoke, Newbury, Bracknell and Slough are within an hour of a Reading yard, and bidding is open to the rest of the UK.
Field service vans from the office parks
A batch of engineers' vans from a technology or facilities firm is one of the more straightforward sales to catalogue. The vans are alike, the history is on a fleet management system, and the mileage is known to the day. What buyers want to know is whether the racking stays and which vans have had a bump. We answer both in the listing and photograph each van separately rather than showing one and saying the rest match.
Racking should stay. A van that is already fitted saves an owner driver or a small trade the job of installing shelving, and that is worth having. Livery should go, and a fleet department can usually have it stripped in a week.
Where the fleet is on contract hire or lease rather than owned, the vehicles belong to the funder until the agreement is settled, so check the agreement before you call us.
Collecting from Theale and the trade estates
Theale is the simpler end. The distribution units near junction 12 have yards laid out for artics, and where the first visit confirms the access and the standing, a fleet of trailers is viewed and collected where it is parked. We hold the viewing day there and set collection hours with the transport office so buyers' units do not clash with your own.
Loverock Road and Portman Road are older and busier. Where a yard is shared, or a vehicle repairer closing down has a recovery truck, four courtesy vans, a compressor van and a pickup squeezed onto one forecourt, we check at the site visit what a buyer could actually get in with. From that, collection either runs by appointment or the vehicles are moved to our own premises and sold from there.
A single van parked at an office car park on Green Park is collected by us. Nobody needs a viewing day for one van.
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 Reading
- We are a facilities contractor replacing vans through the year. Can you sell them in batches as they come off?
Yes. Many fleets are renewed a few vans at a time, and a rolling arrangement works well. Each batch is collected from your site or catalogued there, listed in the next sale and paid out after collection, and the same person deals with you each time. Small regular batches also spread the supply, so five similar vans are not competing with another forty five of your own in the same catalogue, and the fleet is not paying road tax while it waits for a year end sale.
- Our vans are parked in a serviced office car park at Green Park. Can you collect from there?
Yes, and for that kind of site we would. A shared car park with a barrier is no place for a viewing day or a queue of buyers, so we collect the vans, sell them from our own premises and give buyers somewhere with room to look and load. Have the keys, V5C documents and any service records together for each van, and tell building management which day we are coming. The auction itself runs the same way online.
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.