Largish van with tail lift - business lease

Largish van with tail lift - business lease

Author
Discussion

AB

Original Poster:

17,407 posts

202 months

Sunday 2nd June 2019
quotequote all
Hi guys, new ground for me. We’re looking to take collections of medical equipment in house as the bill with our current courier firm is hitting £6-7k per month.

Factoring in lease costs, insurance and a driver, we could add flexibility and also have use of a van when we needed it for other things. It would need a tail lift.

Searching tail lift van leases throws up loads without a tail lift but I have come across this;

https://www.vanarama.com/mercedes-benz-van-leasing...

This is something similar would be ideal. What else could I or should I be looking at?

I notice a lack of air con on the above, is this normal in 2019?

Finally, am I right in assuming a normal licence holder can drive up to 3.5t?

If not, what’s the largest we can go with and still drive on a standard licence?

I appreciate if I spent more time on Google some of the above would become clear but why not ask the pros?

Cheers

DanT86

91 posts

66 months

Sunday 2nd June 2019
quotequote all
Finally, am I right in assuming a normal licence holder can drive up to 3.5t?

Yes up to 3500kg on a b category licence.

On the AC issue none of our work Van's (transits not sprinters) have it.

Don't expect anywhere near the manufacturer claimed MPG unless the driver drives like a nun.

Tail lifts are subject to Loler tests not sure on the frequency of them but I'm guessing would be yearly.

daydotz

1,752 posts

168 months

Sunday 2nd June 2019
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Aircon is a luxury & in vans still a optional extra mpg wise high 20s yep anyone with a car licence could drive anything up to 3.5t

grumpy52

5,717 posts

173 months

Sunday 2nd June 2019
quotequote all
Yes most "ordinary" licences will cover you for up to 3.5t vans .
Please for one moment do not think that just anyone can drive a van , they can't. The van will soon be battered to bits .
As you will soon learn the vehicle will have cost a fair bit to meet your spec .
Vans to do what you want are available but are normally special order from a manufacturer to get the spec like A/C , is this the driver comfort or is it for the medical stuff in the rear ?, the tail lift would normally be fitted by a seperate company .
A limiting factor will be weight , the tail lift will cut your payload.
Have a chat with a couple.of the lease/hire companies, they usually want to tie you in to a few years as it's not a normal spec and will be awkward to move on after contract .
Northgate seem to be one of the main players and supply Mercedes Benze vans .
The VWs of the same size are Mercs with different fronts and a variation of engines .

Venisonpie

3,648 posts

89 months

Sunday 2nd June 2019
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The payload on a Luton van with tail lift is surprisingly low, circa 900kgs. How essential is the tail lift and do you need a Luton body?

A regular panel van will carry 1200kgs and be more fuel efficient.

When leasing be aware of the return conditions and how careful your drivers may or may not be.

Also have you costed out the running of your own vehicle vs the courier cost?