Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Wolverhampton
Black Country metal firms run vehicles that suit their trade. A pressings shop at Bilston or a fabricator at Willenhall keeps a dropside for delivering finished work and a panel van for collecting material. Add the owner's pickup and that is the fleet. If the firm is winding down, or a customer has gone, that small fleet is usually the simplest part of it to turn into money, and an online auction lists each vehicle on its own.
The larger fleets come from the i54 side and the logistics sheds off the M54, where aerospace and engine suppliers and distribution operators run long wheelbase vans and tractor units with trailers. Construction firms across the city add tippers and plant trailers.
We sell from a single pickup to a full depot. Bidding is not limited to the area, with Walsall, Dudley, Telford, Cannock and Stafford in reach of a viewing day, and the sale closes on a date we agree with you.
Dropsides and flatbeds from the metal trades
Vehicles that have delivered pressings and fabrications carry the marks of it. The bed is scored and the headboard has taken a few knocks. Builders, scaffolders, landscapers and other metal firms are the market for that kind of lorry and they price the wear, but the paperwork still counts. A dropside with a current MOT and a clean V5C is a straightforward lot. One with neither is priced for the work a buyer has to do.
We photograph the bed and the underside, record the mileage and list the payload from the plate. Where a vehicle has a vehicle mounted crane or a tail lift, we check for the thorough examination report and say whether it exists. A steam clean of the bed and cab before the viewing day costs little and makes the photographs worth looking at.
Reserves can be set on the main vehicles, and private treaty is offered for a single high value lorry.
Planning collection from the older estates
Many Black Country estates were laid out long before articulated lorries were the norm, so the access at your unit is what we check at the site visit rather than assume from the address. Vehicle access and turning space, whether the yard is shared, the gateway and where a car transporter could stand all go into the plan, and the findings go in the catalogue so buyers know what to send before they bid. The Planetary and Strawberry Lane estates at Wednesfield and Willenhall are where that matters most.
Our answer depends on the site. Where the yard is workable, collection runs by appointment so one buyer loads at a time. Where it is not, the vehicles are driven or transported to our own premises before the sale and the viewing and collection run from there, so the seller hands the unit back early.
The i54 and the M54 estates are reached from junction 10a of the M6 without using the older roads.
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 Wolverhampton
- We are retiring and closing a small pressings business in Bilston. We have two lorries, a van and a pickup. Is that too small for you?
No. Four vehicles is a normal job and we take on smaller. We would usually collect them and sell from our own premises, which keeps buyers away from a unit that you are trying to hand back. Each vehicle is listed on its own, so the lorries and the van are priced separately rather than as one line, and each is put in front of the buyers for that type. Have the V5C documents and any MOT history together before we collect.
- One of our lorries has a vehicle mounted crane. Does that make it harder to sell?
It makes it more valuable, provided the paperwork is there. The crane needs a thorough examination report under the lifting regulations, and buyers want the capacity chart and the remote control with it. Without the report the crane is sold as untested and the price reflects that. We check what exists before the sale and describe the crane and its condition in the catalogue. The market for crane lorries is spread across the country rather than gathered locally, so the catalogue is written for bidders anywhere in the UK.
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.