Vehicle movements for dealers, on trade plates

OVM is a Glasgow motor trade business that drives roadworthy cars and vans on trade plates across Great Britain, one vehicle at a time. We are not a car transporter or a parcel courier.

Our vehicle movements hub explains how the service works. This guide helps you identify which dealer job you have, so your booking is quoted and planned correctly from the start. If your vehicle is a non runner, a transporter is the right choice instead.

Moving stock between your own sites is a site transfer. It needs a duty manager at both ends, and we record the condition so there is no doubt about the car's state on arrival. See site transfers and retail handovers for more.

Delivering to a customer who has already paid is a retail handover. Tell us the time slot, parking arrangements and whether a walkaround is needed, and the customer signs on delivery.

A lot at BCA, Manheim or Wilsons is an auction collection, carried out once it is released. We need both the auction house and the site, and storage runs until the lot leaves.

Vans are quoted as vans, with height, weight and fuel taken into account.

Fleet or lease vehicles coming back from an employee need a named contact at the home or workplace.

The plates are the same for all of these, but the notes are what tell us which job you mean. Two postcodes and the words "vehicle movement" leave the office guessing, so a line about the job type makes all the difference.

The usual culprits are booking the auction house rather than the compound, sending a driver for a lot that has not been released, assuming trade plates cover an expired MOT, promising a customer a time that cannot be met, leaving the receiving branch out of the loop and treating several cars as one job because they are heading the same way.

Each registration is its own driven movement. If a large group of vehicles on a flexible date would be cheaper on a transporter, we will tell you. Compare the two in trade plate delivery versus a transporter.

If you are wondering whether we cover your area, read national vehicle movements and our coverage page. A move from Scotland to England is booked on the same form.

Send the registration, both postcodes, the date, your company name, phone and email, plus one line describing the job. A few examples follow.

"Dealer transfer, staff at both sites."

"Retail handover after four, customer expecting us."

"BCA Glasgow after release, into our prep centre."

If you need it same day, say so. Same day costs more because it takes a driver away from other work, while planned jobs are better value. Read same day versus planned trade plate delivery for more.

The vehicle needs a valid MOT, must be drivable and needs keys plus fuel or charge for the first leg. If anything is missing, mention it when you request the quote.

Sales may have promised the time, prep may have the keys and accounts may hold the purchase order. Our driver needs one named person to deal with on the day.

Give us a mobile number that will be answered. If sales owns the customer handover, make sales the contact, and if prep owns the stock transfer, make it prep. A main switchboard number can leave a driver waiting while the collection window slips.

Write fresh notes for each registration. Last week's BCA Glasgow collection and this week's handover to a customer in a cul de sac are very different jobs, even on the same plates.

If your car can legally be driven, use the instant quote to get a price straight away. If it cannot, a transporter is the better option. For a fuller explanation of the service, read what trade plate vehicle movements are, and if colleagues are using different names for it, see trade plate versus collection and delivery.

Call 0141 459 1302 or email [email protected]. Our office is in Glasgow and our drivers work across Great Britain.