Fleets plan to use more second hand vans

Four out of 10 fleets (40%) plan to start utilising second hand vans in the next three years, according to new figures.

The reseach also shows that 16% of operators are already using preowned light commercial vehicles (LCVs).

The findings are taken from the 2024 Arval Mobility Observatory Fleet & Mobility Barometer, which questioned 8,605 businesses in 30 countries about their vehicle operations.

Shaun Sadlier, Head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, said: “This is a new question for this year’s report and it has produced a genuinely interesting response, with a large number of fleets reporting that they plan to move towards acquiring used vans.

“The research doesn’t dig into the reasons behind this so, to an extent, we are left to speculate. However, there are a number of trends underway that serve as probable explanations.

“The most likely is that, since the pandemic, new van supply has been limited and therefore fleets have been turning towards alternative sources of meeting their needs, including the used market. For some operators, buying used has become relatively commonplace, and it has been an effective way of meeting their requirements.

“The same supply trend also means that fleets have been continuously extending replacement cycles and have learnt, to some extent, that vans have potentially longer fleet lives than they once thought, even if maintenance becomes more of an issue over time. This has potentially removed the fear from buying older vehicles.

“Finally, prices of new vans have been rising quite rapidly in recent years, and so buying used provides a route to reducing acquisition costs.”

The trend towards used vans is remarkably consistent across all fleet sizes, the Arval Mobility Observatory shows, with 18% of fleets with fewer than 10 employees already operating them and 36% planning to add more; compared to 14% and 43% respectively for those with more than 1,000 employees.

Shaun added: “It’s interesting that almost irrespective of the size of organisation, fleets are coming to the same conclusions about used vans. Clearly, similar factors are affecting operators right across the board.

“Of course, it is entirely possible that if we see a continuation in the improvement of new supply that has been underway over the last couple of years, this trend towards used vans will fail to materialise. However, it’s a strong indication of how van fleets view the current situation in terms of vehicle availability and operational issues.”