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The continued turmoil in the banking sector is still not prompting lenders to impose tougher criteria on hauliers who want to acquire trucks on finance, say many dealers. However others believe lenders are becoming more demanding. "I can't recall the last time I had a finance proposal declined by a lender," says Andy Mackay of Manchester Daf dealership Chatfields. "Lenders are willing to advance more than the retail book price if that's what's required," adds Nigel Sharp of Daf dealership F&G  Commercials, which has sites in Huddersfield and Barnsley.

By contrast, Barry Browning of Andover, Hants-based Mercedes-Benz dealership Pentagon believes finance houses may be growing a little more cautious - and Anthony Wright of independent dealer European Vehicles Sales, based near Doncaster, suspects they may quietly be increasing their provision against bad debts. "They're also looking for bigger deposits from any haulier applying for finance which may be a borderline risk," he adds. Finance companies that took a conservative approach to setting residuals three or four years back are doing very nicely now the prices realised by used trucks have turned out to be significantly higher than expected.

"Five years ago we were selling new, 53-plate, 420bhp 6x2 Premium tractor units for £46,000-£48,000," recalls Andrew Waddington, a salesman at Wigan Renault dealership Woodwards. "Now having covered 500,000km, those same trucks are fetching £27,000 - well over 50% of their  original value." Dealers have had to pay more to buy vehicles for stock over the past year, but retail prices, though healthy, have not risen at quite the same pace. "If you are paying £2,000 more for a truck than you would have done previously then you'll probably only be able to retail it for £1,500 more," says Wright.

"Operators are only willing to pay what they feel is reasonable money, so dealer margins have been squeezed," says Mike Curtis of Daf dealer Watts the firm has sites in Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester. "However I'm still selling trucks at a profit." Browning is concerned about what may happen if there is a sudden downturn in the market and dealers are left with a lot of expensive trucks they can no longer sell profitably. "If that happens, a lot of people will get their fingers burnt," he predicts. But as things stand, the retail sector is buoyant - allowing used-vehicle salesmen to earn what are at times generous commissions.

"Some of them are making as much as £3,000 out of the sale of a single truck," remarks one dealership executive. "In the recent past that was unheard of, but it's happening now." Life is not quite so much fun for new-vehicle salesmen. The chassis shortage is likely to make it increasingly difficult for dealers to justify retaining their services even though their franchise may oblige them to do so. One answer is to ask them to sell used trucks as well, or possibly vans. Another may be to ask the manufacturer they represent to make a substantial contribution towards their wages - assuming that the manufacturer concerned does not employ them directly, as one or two do.