Used Truck Prices Strong in May, Equipment Supply Remains Tight

“Dealers are reporting that used truck sales are very strong, which is good news for dealers, OEMs, finance companies and truckers trading for new trucks,” said Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research. He continued, “The problem is the used truck market is so strong that truck dealers are struggling to find enough trucks to cover the demand they have. As the year progresses, an increasing supply, due to increasing new truck sales, along with a softening in demand will likely lead to slowing price appreciation.”

Individual market segments yielded mixed results last month. Tam explained, “Retail and wholesale markets declined 5% and 25%, respectively, on a month-over-month basis in June, while sales via auctions recorded a 23% month-over-month gain. However, when compared longer term, the auction and retail markets show year-over-year increases of 41% and 23%, respectively, but the wholesale channel was down 18% compared to June 2017.”