The average price of total used Class 8 trucks in August dipped 1 percent y/y, the first such decline since January 2018. Month-over-month, prices fell 3 percent, but longer-term, remained 7 percent higher year-to-date. Same-dealer sales rose 9 percent in August compared to July, but contracted 19 percent versus the first eight months of 2018, according to the latest release of the State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks, published by ACT Research.

The report also indicated used Class 8 average miles increased slightly month-over-month, up 2 percent, and were down 1 percent year-to-date, while average age rose 1 percent compared to July and 4 percent on a year-to-date basis.

The report from ACT provides data on the average selling price, miles, and age based on a sample of industry data. In addition, the report provides the average selling price for top-selling Class 8 models for each of the major truck OEMs – Freightliner (Daimler); Kenworth and Peterbilt (Paccar); International (Navistar); and Volvo and Mack (Volvo). This report is utilized by those throughout the industry, including commercial vehicle dealers, to gain a better understanding of the used truck market, especially as it relates to changes in near-term performance.

“Dealers are reporting that used truck sales are not in the tank, but the prices for trucks have fallen and inventories are growing,” said Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research. “This is not unexpected, as sales of new trucks have been barreling along, leading to many trade trucks coming to dealers.”

“With lower truck values and growing inventories, many dealers have become much more conservative about what they will pay for trade-ins, while the rapid decrease in used truck values has caught some customers by surprise, as customers became used to receiving more for trucks in the last two years than what is normal,” Tam concluded.

For-Hire Trucking Index: Conditions Return to Trend in August

The latest release of ACT’s For-Hire Trucking Index, with August data, retrenched to contraction in all categories, after the large and partly anomalous improvement in July. The Volume Index pulled back to 48.0 in August, from 56.7 in July (SA). The August Pricing Index, at 47.1 (SA), also returned to negative territory, after stabilizing to 50.3 in July.

The ACT For-Hire Trucking Index is a monthly survey of mainly for-hire truckload service providers and some LTLs. ACT Research converts responses into diffusion indexes, where the neutral or flat level is 50.

Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s Vice President and Senior Analyst, commented, “While the strong consumer plus pre-tariff inventory building could still help volumes into the holidays, it appears inconsistent in the for-hire market, due in part to the weak manufacturing sector. We think the addition of private fleet capacity is also partly responsible. Our for-hire respondents have stopped adding capacity, yet retail tractor sales data tell us capacity is growing. This will likely keep peak season muted in the for-hire market, with seasonal strength still likely closer to the holidays.”