What should a Builders Merchant do?
The key to reducing fleet expenditure is to focus on whole life costs rather than vehicles’ purchase prices. Issues to consider include vehicle suitability, reliability, operating costs and vehicle availability. There is no point buying cheap trucks if they are only going to be available 50% of the time due to poor build quality or a lack of proper upkeep. For Builders Merchants, as with any business that runs vans and trucks, unnecessary downtime can be lethal – especially on the business critical vehicles within the fleet. The truck market is a complex one. With high capital expenditure, multiple manufacturer options on chassis, body and ancillary equipment and constantly evolving legislation, the focus of the Merchants attention should be on how to select a partner with the appropriate financial backing, truck experience and knowledge, and most importantly a real understanding of their business. A favoured method is to obtain the vehicles through contract hire via a specialist outso
