Expanding Market for Re-manufactured Refuse Vehicles

With restricted budgets and increasing operational demands, local authorities are searching for new ways to get more out of their existing fleets and purchasing re-manufactured vehicles is becoming a popular option.

Testament to this the UK’s leading supplier of re-manufactured refuse vehicles, Gloucestershire-based Refuse Vehicle Solutions Ltd (RVS), is reporting record sales this month and a bumper year that has exceeded all targets.

RVS specialises in re-manufacturing vehicles to a standard that is on a par with new vehicles straight from the factory floor.  The end result is a vehicle that has the same lifetime and looks the same as a new vehicle.

RVS Director, Spencer Law explains: “We can take bodies from customers existing fleet, re-build them as new, and mount them onto new chassis.  In effect they have a new vehicle, but for a fraction of the cost. On average our customers save between 20-40% off the cost of purchasing a new vehicle.”

In the private sector waste operators are increasingly turning to re-manufactured vehicle solutions.

Philip Stone, Managing Director of Reading based Select Environmental Services; specialists in commercial waste collection, recycling, security shredding and hazardous waste management, comments: 

“For operators like Select who prefer to own their fleet, there are a number of increasing factors that make re-manufactured refuse vehicles a more attractive option to buying new. And, with the Government’s planned reduction in capital allowances, I can certainly see benefits to our business if we can get a second life out of existing equipment that has already been paid for. Finance options are typically more restrictive for used vehicles, but as the chassis (and licence plate) for a re-manufactured vehicle is as new, we can negotiate much better repayment terms. This also helps cash flow providing a platform for sustainable growth.”

Philip further added: “In some cases we have had to wait up to 9 months for a specialist body to be delivered and that potentially could mean losing out on an opportunity. Re-manufacturing a vehicle to exact specifications can be done quickly and efficiently in a matter of weeks if necessary.”