Disposal of Arriva vehicles

[SK15 GZG (Moderator)]

RE: Arriva St Helens Paint Shop & Repair Centre

(06/07/2020 21:40)iMarkeh Wrote:  How much value exactly do some of these very old vehicles have? Everyone else seems to get rid of them quite quickly (other Arriva areas and other companies). Arriva NW&W only keep these because they have the space. If the space was more limited, they would get rid of them quicker. The disposal would allow for the land to either be used for other operational purposes or would allow the land to be sold for other purposes. I know it's only a small bit of land per depot but the overall land space works out to be around the size of a mid sized garage.
Would you have land with space for 80 buses and just dump all 'end of life' vehicles there? Bearing in mind land costs money and reducing the amount you are paying out for land means increased profits.

I don't know but it's probably in the region of a few to several thousand pounds. Bus bodies these days are mostly made from aluminium and that's worth virtually nothing in scrap value - the actual scrap value in a bus nowadays is in the weight of the chassis, engine and other running gear. They're the only things on a scrap bus that'll get a worthwhile amount of money from a scrap dealer - and even then I'd say the engine (which won't fetch a huge amount of money) is the most valuable out of all of those

Yes I would if it meant selling them later meant I got a fair price for what they'd be worth - and land doesn't cost money if you already own it. As for other operational uses - what are these exactly? Arriva aren't exactly expanding services at a rapid rate and struggling to find depot space are they?

(06/07/2020 21:40)iMarkeh Wrote:  As for your example, I argue that is very different since if you have a vehicle which is in usable condition and you can start it up one day and just go, then the vehicle has some use and you have a reason to keep it. If however you have a vehicle on your driveway which is broken, will never move and you will never get it fixed, what is the point in keeping it. Regardless of it's value, you will get the same money now or in 3 years time. Book value is just virtual figure and as you will never, ever get the book value on some of these vehicles, just give up.

Hardly. Barring the odd exception the vast majority of buses withdrawn by Arriva are still usable - but as they're at least fifteen years old upon withdrawal - other than a scrap dealer (for less than they're worth) which operators are going to buy them? Nobody. These days there's usually a large supply of much newer stock available on the second hand market which is going to last much longer

As for getting the same amount of money if you sold a bus when it was withdrawn three years ago or today - I have no idea where you've heard that but that is completely wrong. If a bus operator bought a bus (either a brand new one or one that was mid-life) tomorrow and then sold it on in three years' time they won't get anywhere near as much money as they paid for it in the first place. A bus which was withdrawn three years ago is now going to be worth less than it was back then. It's called depreciation and is a fact of life

(06/07/2020 21:40)iMarkeh Wrote:  I'm sure there are some bus demolishers who would rather a bus which has some usable parts than a bus which is basically rotting away with nothing they can use.

You'd be surprised how easy it is to get an engine going after it's been sat around for a while. Prior to me buying it my Leyland Atlantean (which I've since sold on) was sat around for years without moving - after fifteen minutes or so of looking around to check everything over it started first time. It wouldn't exactly take long for a scrap dealer - or whoever's buying it - to get an engine from a scrapped bus running again

(06/07/2020 21:40)iMarkeh Wrote:  As I have kept saying, 99% of other companies get rid of the buses because the book value is generally lower or they just get rid to free up space, I don't see why Arriva NW&W are such a special case and can't manage to do things in the same way as the rest of the industry.

I think I'll trust Arriva's judgement on vehicle disposal rather than yours