Why Are There No Old Lorries?
Discussion
It occurred to me the other day that, while you don't see loads of older cars, there are certainly quite a few about. Compare that with lorries, however, and there appear to be very few that are less than five or so years old. Why is this? Is it simply a case of them being driven into the ground due to doing lots of miles or are they sold on for newer, more efficient models as they are released?
The exception to the rule seems to be circuses, who often have some really old-school tractor units.
The exception to the rule seems to be circuses, who often have some really old-school tractor units.
Commercial vehicles have an efficency window from new, at a point in their life cycle it becomes cheaper to replace and run a newer fleet. Fuel is by far the biggest proportion of cost when running a vehicle (excluding the driver) and modern vehicles continue to improve. There also gets a point where major components start to fail which becomes costly to maintain. Lower mileage operators can make use of older and sometimes reconditioned outfits since the two reasons above are not as siginificant as depreciation- fairground operators as already stated being a good example.
There is continued legislation in particular the LEZ around London as mentioned that forces operators to comply with more stringent emmisions requirements although there are aftermarket kits for low use operators that are possibly more cost effective. Finally and a really important point- the driver! If you want to attract good drivers it's important that the fleet doesn't become too outdated, air con etc should be provided in the modern environment.
Just my 2 pence worth, not neccasarily comprehensive.
There is continued legislation in particular the LEZ around London as mentioned that forces operators to comply with more stringent emmisions requirements although there are aftermarket kits for low use operators that are possibly more cost effective. Finally and a really important point- the driver! If you want to attract good drivers it's important that the fleet doesn't become too outdated, air con etc should be provided in the modern environment.
Just my 2 pence worth, not neccasarily comprehensive.
In my experience the big haulage/logistics companies lease them over 5-6 years. Sometimes after that time they keep them on light duties for a year or two, but when at 6 years old with 600,000 plus kilometres on the clock, reliability and maintenance starts to become a noticeable factor of everyday life.
The company I used to work for tended to have them for around 6 years, at which point they went 'off hire'. Trunk vehicles would be on 800 - 1000k, the multi-drop vehicles on more like 600k (and be absolutely knackered). Agency drivers were generally given the old stuff
The company I used to work for tended to have them for around 6 years, at which point they went 'off hire'. Trunk vehicles would be on 800 - 1000k, the multi-drop vehicles on more like 600k (and be absolutely knackered). Agency drivers were generally given the old stuff
If they have the work then most find lease with R&M works best ,fixed cost and new truck every 5 or so years, if the truck is secondary to the bussiness ie moves equipment plant , or something specilised like a tanker or crane then buying and running for longer works out cheaper, remember general haulage will soon put a million kms on the clock which modern trucks will do with little trouble and minimal repairs apart from brakes and tyres, and then they still have a good reasale value so manufactures shift new trucks and the old ones get exported , converted or sold to another end user...
4key said:
Johnnytheboy said:
Last time I was at a truck garage I read the adverts for the newish trucks sitting outside and the mileages were astronomical.
My one is 6 months old and rolled past 111111kms yesterday and has a hard life every day.
my boss gave me a new daf when the 03 plates came out, i was mainly doing spain and portugal, and when i was uk based, it got double shifted on night runs. when i left it was 3 years old and had 750000 kms on the clock.
only needed a power steering pump in that time iirc
We've just sold a 12 year old FH12 6x4 heavy haulage tractor unit.Only had one driver from new,we had hoped to get it to 1,000,000Km but it stripped the timing gears at 997,500km.So it was time to wave it good-bye.Replaced it with a 08 plate Scania 164 6x4 rated at 620hp as we couldnt get the correct spec new vehicle in time.
Lease deals and reliability.. Like cars, the older they are and more KM's they do the less reliable they become. I work for a supermarket and the main thing is shop availability, breaking down would mean a supermarket opens in the morning with no meat on the shelves, or fish on the counter etc etc.
Ours are working 24/7 (not xmas day) Our 60 regs (Dec 2010) are now on around 400000 kms. They'll probably only stay another year.
Ours are working 24/7 (not xmas day) Our 60 regs (Dec 2010) are now on around 400000 kms. They'll probably only stay another year.
We kept on getting complaints from our head office because we wasnt entering the correct mileage when we was buying derv with our fuel cards, only sticking the last few digits in.
We could have told them that they had done a million and had gone around the clock, but we thought we would let them figure it out for themselves. 7 year old 04 plate Scanias made out of cable ties and mastic arent the most reliable of things, but every day was an adventure
We could have told them that they had done a million and had gone around the clock, but we thought we would let them figure it out for themselves. 7 year old 04 plate Scanias made out of cable ties and mastic arent the most reliable of things, but every day was an adventure
Plastic chicken said:
Circus trucks tend to be specialist builds, i.e. quite expensive. Also, they'll sit for a week or two, drive 50 miles to the next site, then sit for another week etc etc., so they do very few miles.
Don't travelling showmen have an exemption from some of the rules regarding lorries?AlexiusG55 said:
Plastic chicken said:
Circus trucks tend to be specialist builds, i.e. quite expensive. Also, they'll sit for a week or two, drive 50 miles to the next site, then sit for another week etc etc., so they do very few miles.
Don't travelling showmen have an exemption from some of the rules regarding lorries?AlexiusG55 said:
Plastic chicken said:
Circus trucks tend to be specialist builds, i.e. quite expensive. Also, they'll sit for a week or two, drive 50 miles to the next site, then sit for another week etc etc., so they do very few miles.
Don't travelling showmen have an exemption from some of the rules regarding lorries?booth hooked behind it say 75+ft total
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