March Used Truck Metrics Flat M/M; Sales Rose YTD, While Average Price, Miles and Age Fell Longer-Term

ACT Research says “Dealers are reporting that there are more trucks than buyers, which is not new news”

According to the latest release of the State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks, published by ACT Research, used Class 8 same dealer sales volumes dropped just 1% month-over-month in March, with longer-term sales rising 5% year-over-year compared to March 2019, and 12% year-to-date. The report also indicated that used Class 8 average price, miles, and age in March were essentially unchanged compared to the previous month. Longer term, average price, miles and age all contracted year-over-year, as well as year-to-date, down respectively from the first three months of 2019 by 15%, 1%, and 7%.

Additionally, ACT Research has created an easily accessible COVID-19 MARKET WATCH webpage to track noteworthy high frequency macroeconomic and transportation-specific market indicators, which can be found at https://pages.actresearch.net/covid-19.

“Dealers are reporting that there are more trucks than buyers, which is not new news. This has kept downward pressure on prices, particularly for late model aerodynamic sleepers,” said Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research. He continued, “Some dealers are saying they just want to get rid of inventory and take their losses. Dealers had become accustomed to getting more money than what is normal for used trucks in 2018 and early 2019.” Tam added, “When trucks are overvalued, sellers can ask for higher pricing on their used trucks, as long as demand supports higher-than-normal prices. Unfortunately, when the market adjusts, taking big losses is the only solution. The good news for buyers in a falling used truck market is that there are some very good bargains to be had.”

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