MICK MOODY | A HEADSTRONG ENGLISHMAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS EVERYONE AT THE TRUCK TRADERS KNOWS BOTH HIM, AND HIS FAVOURITE FOOD: MEATBALLS. THEY ARE THEREFORE REGULARLY ON THE MENU WHEN HE VISITS RAVENSTEIN. WHO ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? TRUCK DEALER MICK MOODY. OWNER OF MOODY INTERNATIONAL IN LINCOLNSHIRE, ON THE EAST COAST OF ENGLAND, FOR OVER 30 YEARS. SCANIA SPECIALIST AND ENTHUSIAST AT HEART. AND TODAY, MUCH MORE THAN JUST A GOOD CUSTOMER. Mick, how did you get to know The Truck Traders? It started with a visit to Reek, back in 2006. I had seen a Scania T-cab online, and wanted to see if it was something for me. For Pim, the truck business was still a side business, alongside the cattle business of VAEX. Apparently, I came along at the wrong time, because Pim was busy and got quite worked up about my remark that the mileage was wrong. In the end I didn't buy the vehicle. Not exactly a great start. Yet you came back? Absolutely. I always ended up at VAEX when searching for beautiful Scania trucks. And Pim had made a positive impression with his first performance. I like someone who speaks their mind. And deal after deal, my confidence has only grown. Pim keeps his word and I can trust him. He doesn't shy away from a challenge and doesn't talk bullshit. In short: he has balls! Bas also always gives me a clear answer when I ask a question. The fact that that answer is not always to my liking is another story. Everything is just as it should be at The Truck Traders. I can rely on them.
“THERE IS A SOLID FOUNDATION, AND THE REST WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.”
It sounds like a good partnership. Any bumps in the road? Pim and I both have quite an explosive character. This sometimes leads to huge fights over the dumbest things. A document that is missing or an ill-timed comment. The good thing is that we call each other up again five minutes after such an intense conversation, and everything is fine again. Also, Pim and Bas don’t always understand my choices. In the UK, of course, the steering wheel in a truck is on the right, so I sometimes reject beautiful trucks where the steering wheel is on the left. And I always want to collect or import my vehicles via Ravenstein, not via any other route. I have my own purchasing strategy, to which I firmly adhere. British stubbornness, perhaps. In 2020 you bought more than 30 trucks from The Truck Traders. More than 40 in 2021. Do you have a goal for the future? No, not at all. That is the beauty of our cooperation: we have a solid foundation and apart from that, time will tell. We just keep on going. We follow the market. Whether there is a demand for trailers, brand new Scanias or used trucks: VAEX The Truck Traders and Moody International always find a way to trade. Who knows, maybe we'll start another company together. We already have a name: MoodEx. And a goal too: to fight Scania together. Neither of us like the arrogance of that company. So that’s another thing we're on the same page about!
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