One of the most interesting incentives for me when I was an active U-Haul dealership was the idea behind selling the retired fleet trucks to the public. Many of the larger dealerships typically have one or two of these trucks on the lot somewhere. Sadly most dealers fail to recognize the value in marketing these trucks and helping U-Haul to get them sold. The process of getting these trucks sold is not all that difficult and comes with a massive financial incentive for doing so.
Getting Retired Trucks to Sell
U-Haul Corporation retires hundreds of trucks on a monthly basis. The exact system for how they pick trucks to retire I am not certain of. I do know however that the area reps are sent an email and told to retrieve specific trucks and bring them back to their regional garage facility (ours happened to be located in Tampa, FL). The trucks are stripped of all U-Haul decals and identification marks and evaluated for condition and road readiness. Each month, these trucks are made available to area reps that can claim a few of them and send dealers to the garage to pick them up and transfer them to their locations to put up for sale. From a dealership level, to get a truck, your first step is to contact your area rep and tell them you want a couple sale trucks. Provided you have the frontage space, your rep should be thrilled to bring these trucks into their area.
Marketing Your Sale Trucks
The marketing of these retired trucks is up to the desires of the dealerships. Corporate requires that sale trucks be visible to passing traffic in order to move the trucks as quickly as possible. However, they welcome those with the ambition to take their sales a step further. The most successful dealerships take the time to make a nice listing for their sale trucks on their local Craigslist site, eBay, and even on their company Facebook pages. On location, you will want to park your sale truck right next to your rental fleet with a banner that your area rep can get for your indicating it is for sale.
The Test Drive
It is essential to the sale of the truck that you make sure to check on the sale trucks on a regular basis to make sure that they still drive and function properly. This way when a potential buyer comes in to take a look at the truck, they are not turned away by a truck that fails to start because it sat for so long. Accompany the potential buyer for a test drive of the truck and allow them to look over the truck at their leisure. When they are ready to make an offer on the vehicle, your role is almost complete in this process.
Handling the Sale of the Truck
If the buyer is willing to pay the asking price for the truck, you simply fill out the sales paperwork supplied by your area rep and accept a check for the full amount made payable to U-Haul’s sales department. In most cases, the buyer will want to negotiate a better price. When this occurs simply bring the buyer inside your location and call the truck sales office in Arizona and connect the buyer with one of the sales agents on the phone. Once a sale price is agreed upon, the agent will inform you of the selling price and give you instructions to complete the sales transaction at your location. The customer can leave with the truck once you collect the payment and the title will be mailed direct to the buyer from Arizona.
Collecting your Commission
Here is the best part about selling retired trucks for U-Haul…If you sell a truck (you bring the customer to the table and they end up buying) regardless of the final sale price, you will earn a $350 commission for your dealership! There are no limits to how many trucks you can sell and the more you sell the happier they will be to send you more.
