Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Warrington
Warrington is where fleets get parked. The distribution sheds at Omega, Gemini and Winwick Quay sit within a few minutes of the M6 and the M62, and the operators in them run tractor units, curtainside trailers and rigids on contracts that start and stop with the retailer or manufacturer they serve. When a contract moves to another operator, the trailers are often still standing in the yard a month later, costing rent.
There is a second trade here that sells vehicles for a different reason. Woolston Grange, Appleton Thorn and the older estates by the Ship Canal hold trailer repairers, vehicle service businesses and fabricators, and when one of those retires or closes the sale includes a recovery truck, a service van with a compressor and crane, and a plant trailer or two, along with the workshop kit.
Both sell by online timed auction, with the viewing day on site where the yard suits it.
Trailer fleets from the Omega and Gemini sheds
A trailer sells on its plate, its floor and its test date. We record the chassis number, the plated weight, the date of the last annual test and the state of the curtains, roof and floor, and we photograph the underside so a buyer can see the brakes and the suspension without climbing under it on the viewing day. Skeletal and flatbed trailers get the same treatment, with the twist locks and the deck checked.
Tractor units need the MOT, the tachograph calibration certificate and a note of whether the unit is on an operator's licence that will be surrendered. Bidding is open to hauliers, owner drivers, dealers and export buyers alike, with St Helens, Wigan, Widnes and Runcorn in reach of a viewing day.
A fleet at Omega can usually be catalogued in a day or two, depending on its size. Bidding runs for a week or two after that, and buyers pay us before collecting from the yard in a window agreed with your transport office.
Motorway reach and the smaller workshop sale
Warrington's position widens the reach of a sale. Winwick Quay is down the M6 from Wigan, along the M62 from Leigh, up the M56 from Knutsford and a short run from Widnes, so a viewing day is an easy trip from four directions. Where the first visit confirms the yard can take buyers and a transporter, a fleet here is sold from where it is parked with no need to move it.
The smaller sale from a vehicle repairer on Woolston Grange is where we take more care. A recovery truck is usually the main lot, so we set a reserve, list the plated weight, the winch, the tyres and the bed condition, and note whether the beacons and the lighting are working. Courtesy vans and the parts van are ordinary lots for sole traders and small firms. We help you sort which customer vehicles are not yours to sell before anything is listed.
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 Warrington
- We are a pallet network member at Gemini and the depot has been sold with vacant possession. How do we clear twenty vehicles before completion?
Work back from the completion date. We catalogue the fleet in the first week, run the auction so it closes two weeks before completion, and set the collection window to finish with a few days to spare, so a slow buyer does not hold up your handover. A vehicle on finance belongs to the funder until it is settled, so ask for consent and a settlement figure early, and any unit on your operator's licence should be taken off it when the buyer collects. One person at our end handles the whole job from the first call to the day the yard is empty.
- Our trailer repair business on Woolston Grange has customers' trailers on site as well as our own. Can you sell everything in one auction?
Only the vehicles and trailers you own, or hold a proper right to sell, go in the catalogue. We go through the yard with you, mark what is yours, and separate customer trailers held for unpaid bills, which need a different process before they can be sold. Your own recovery truck, service vans and workshop equipment then sell in one online auction with one viewing day and one set of collection days, so the unit can be handed back clean.
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.