Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Stoke-on-Trent
Tiles and sanitaryware go out of the six towns on curtainside lorries, and a lot of them carry a truck mounted forklift on the back so that a pallet of tiles can be set down on a building site with no one to meet it. Those vehicles come to us when a ceramics firm consolidates deliveries onto a contractor or closes a works, and the forklift can be worth as much as the lorry it sits on.
Distribution operators along the A500 and A50 add tractor units and trailers. Plastics and engineering firms across Etruria Valley and Fenton run ordinary van fleets, and building products suppliers run tippers and flatbeds.
We sell each vehicle as its own lot in an online timed auction, and buyers pay us and collect in an agreed window after the close. Bidding is open across the UK, with Newcastle-under-Lyme, Crewe, Stafford and Leek in reach of a viewing day.
Lorries with truck mounted forklifts
A rigid curtainsider with a truck mounted forklift is two assets on one chassis, and we describe it as such. The lorry needs its MOT and tachograph calibration recorded. The forklift needs its thorough examination report and a note of whether it starts and lifts. We test the forklift before the sale and photograph it on and off the mounting, because buyers want to see how it hangs on the back and whether the mounting frame is sound.
This kind of vehicle is aimed at builders merchants, tile distributors, roofing suppliers and haulage firms that deliver for the building trade, and bidding is open nationally rather than only Staffordshire. We list the forklift capacity and reach from the plate and say plainly if the report is out of date.
A serviced forklift with a current report is a known quantity to a bidder. An untested one is a risk they price into the whole lot.
Wide roads and hard standing on the estates
Vehicle sales in this city are usually straightforward on the logistics side. Trentham Lakes and the estates off the A500 were laid out with wide roads and hard standing, and during our first visit we check the access, the turning space and where a transporter can load, so the catalogue can tell buyers what to send. Where that suits, the sale runs from the seller's premises rather than moving the fleet first.
The sale runs online for a week or two with a viewing day at the yard. Buyers start engines and look underneath, and check the paperwork we have laid out for each lot. After the close, buyers pay us and collect in an agreed window, and keys and V5C documents are released against a paid invoice.
The M6 at junctions 15 and 16 and the A50 towards Uttoxeter and Derby bring in buyers from three sides, and older tractor units are where export interest usually sits.
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 Stoke-on-Trent
- We are closing a tile works and have five curtainsiders with forklifts on the back. Do they sell as one lot or separately?
Separately, and the forklift stays with its lorry unless you tell us otherwise. Five lorries listed on their own are each priced on their own condition and paperwork, which is where a batch price loses money for a seller. A builders merchant may want one and a haulier two. We catalogue the forklift with each lorry, test it, and note the examination report. If a forklift would do better on its own we will say so and sell it that way.
- How far in advance of closing the works should we contact you?
Six weeks or so gives a comfortable run, though the dates depend on the lot count and the access. We need a few days on site to catalogue and photograph, bidding runs for a week or two, and buyers collect in an agreed window after the close. If the works has a firm closure date, tell us and we set the auction to close before it. A financed vehicle belongs to the funder until it is settled, so ask for consent and a settlement figure at the start rather than partway through.
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.