Overview of the truck market: A Q&A with C&W Commercials

We invited Darren Garland, Director of C&W Commercials Ltd to talk to us about how their business has operated over the past few months, as well as trends he has observed in the current market.

Q. Can you tell me a little bit about your business?

A. We buy and sell trucks, mainly dealing in DAF, we sell around 400-500 trucks a year. We sell to all parts of the UK as well as exporting all around the world. We also have an onsite workshop that maintains vehicles and we sell recycled DAF parts. We try and compass the whole end to end service for truck buyers here

Q. What did you do during lockdown and how was the business effected?

A. We closed the sales side of the business and furloughed 99% of staff, we kept on one person who took calls and answered enquires. We actually continued to sell during that period, although this was low volumes. Our workshop remained open with reduced staff so that we could continue to service and repair trucks that were needed e.g. builders merchant trucks. We had cement trucks coming in for repairs that were working on the Nightingale Hospital build for example.

Q. Have you had to change how you operate post lockdown?

A. We have implemented COVID-19 measures in our entrance, invested in reception awareness, hand sanitiser gel stations etc. Mask and gloves are available for test driving which we are still allowing and sanitising vehicles afterwards. We talk to customers outside if possible or inside at a distance. We are not visiting local customers as we would usually to sell parts or service.

We are definitely working on the phone more. We’re not doing appointment only visits but are finding most customers are being sensible and calling ahead of arriving.

Q. How are you finding business at the moment and have you seen any opportunities in the market post lockdown?

A. We’ve seen sales have picked back up again since restrictions have been lifted. We’d still like them to improve further but I predict that will happen and we will be back to the sales levels as before soon.

We can see the Government’s infrastructure is kicking in and there is opportunity in the coming months with increased workload in the construction industry, the demand for cranes and tip loaders, for example, will increase. Leaving Europe will be a massive drive here as manufacturing in the UK increases demand, this will bring a nice boost. We’ll also see a demand for newer trucks with Euro 6 standards kicking in.

Q. Do you currently have any supply constraints?

A. We have no problems with supply, we source our trucks from finance houses, end of lease, or companies that go into administration, as well as general hauliers. Because some businesses have closed we have a good supply of trucks. When businesses open up again there will be bigger demand so timing will hopefully be right. Some areas of the industry are actually renewing or expanding their fleets so there is demand there, for example, skips for builders and gardeners.

Q. What would you say are your biggest challenges right now?

A. Our main challenge right now is MOT availability, as we outsource MOT testing stations, we have many of our customers with expired MOTs. Testers have been furloughed and closed for 3 months so there is a big back log and we are struggling to get in.

Q. Have you noticed any significant pricing changes over the past few months?

A. Yes, we have observed some changes. Euro 6 vehicles supply has peaked and when supply goes up the price goes down. We’ve had to reduce prices in line with market values. Alternatively, demand for skip loaders has gone up so prices have gone up. There are peaks and troughs, but this is in line with supply and demand.

Q. Have you noticed anything has changed with export?

A. Not majorly, we see this staying the same. The only thing is footfall from export customers has fallen but we have still sold and exported containers.

Q. Are you looking to do anything differently over the coming months and years as a result of what we’ve learnt over the last few months?

A. It’s made me think about how important the service side attached to business actually is, having the workshop meant we still had some business ticking over. We’re considering if there is anything else we can offer, or expand our current services with additional depots etc.

We’ve also had the opportunity to redesign our whole website. We’ve realised the importance of our online presence and reassessed our online advertising. We’re now fully focused on our digital offerings as we know how important that is, especially with travel restrictions still in place.

We’ve looked at where people are finding our info and gearing our strategy around that. We need to be available online as easy as possible, for example, enabling all contact methods and offering video walk-arounds.

Q. What’s your outlook for the next 3 to 6 months, and the rest of this financial year?

A. In regards to units sold we will be 3 months down. We will look at budgets and see what we need to do. We usually get a slow patch during summer holidays, but we don’t think that will happen now and we expect a steady stream. I predict it will be steady for a while, then a short peak when demand rises, and next year will be back to business as normal.