HGV

★★★★★ Used by UK businesses, brokers and fleet teams

The HGV side, handled.

High value. Long lead times. Specs you can't undo.

THE REALITY

Most HGV projects only work if the timelines do.

Chassis, bodybuilder, compliance, delivery dates. Each depends on the others holding.

What usually causes delays

  • Specs signed off too late
  • Manufacturer and bodybuilder timelines drifting apart
  • Lead times changing without visibility
  • Decisions made around availability instead of operational fit
  • Chassis arriving later than planned

What Portal does differently

  • Spec locked down before anything's ordered
  • Manufacturer and bodybuilder kept aligned
  • Realistic lead times from day one
  • Spec from the job, not the shelf
  • Problems flagged early, not at delivery stage

Most delays start earlier than people think.

WHAT WE SOURCE

You can't wing HGV.

Everything starts with how the vehicle will actually be used. Chassis, body, spec, compliance all follow from there.

Drainage tankers

Tank capacity, jetting kit, PTO. Specialist builders, specialist timelines.

Rigid trucks

Box bodies, curtainsiders, flatbeds. Spec built around the payload, not the other way round.

Recycling vehicles

Refuse, environmental fleets. Compliance and bodybuilder lead times dominate.

Hook loaders

Skip handling, container transport. Hook capacity and chassis pairing, day one.

Tractor units

Fleet specs, driver spec, fuel efficiency across high-mileage operations.

Tippers and grab lorries

Body, crane and payload spec locked together before anything is ordered.

No two HGV briefs look the same. The spec builds from the job.

WHAT CHANGES

You stay in control. We keep the project moving.

Spec locked first

Locked down in detail up front. Not renegotiated once the chassis is being built.

Suppliers in step

Manufacturer and bodybuilder, one timeline. We run both. They don't pass it between them.

Real timelines

What's actually possible. Not what sounded good on a quote.

One process throughout

Chassis to bodybuilder to delivery. Same person on the file from start to finish.

LEAD TIMES AND PLANNING

Most HGVs are build-to-order. Plan around it.

Very little of what we source sits on a forecourt. It's built, body-fitted and delivered.

Typical Lead Times

Depending on vehicle type, spec and body build

12–32weeks

Rigid chassis, standard spec: 12-18 weeks

Complex body builds: 20-28 weeks

Specialist or bespoke builds: 28-32 weeks+

Early Planning

Timing changes what options you still have

Start the conversation six months out and you've got room to hit your target delivery. Choose the right bodybuilder. Absorb any factory slippage.

Start it six weeks out, you're taking whatever's available. Which usually isn't what you needed.

We tell you what's actually realistic. Not the optimistic version.

WHY PORTAL FOR HGV

On a £150k vehicle with a 32-week lead time, mistakes get expensive.

Straight answers from day one

What's realistic. What's possible. What's a bad idea, and why.

We work the suppliers. You don't.

One contact your side. Manufacturer, bodybuilder, chassis engineer. They don't pass the project between them.

We watch the timeline

Slippages flagged early. Not the week of delivery.

You hear from us regularly

Monthly at minimum. More when the project moves.

Independent across every manufacturer

DAF, Scania, Volvo, Mercedes, MAN, Iveco, Renault. No allegiance. No quota.

Same person, every project

First call to keys. They know the file, the spec, the bodybuilder, the timeline.

Got an HGV project on the horizon?

Tell us what you need. We'll come back with what's realistic.