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 improved 14 percent month-over-month in February, with longer-term sales rising 9 percent year-over-year compared to February 2019.

The report also indicated that used Class 8 average price in February contracted 6 percent month-over-month, with average miles up 1 percent sequentially and average age down 5 percent compared to 2020’s opening month. Longer term, average price and age dropped 15 percent and 4 percent, respectively, while average miles were flat.

“Dealers are reporting that used trucks sales have slowed and many people in trucking are asking the question of whether or not used truck prices have hit bottom yet. Most do not think it has,” said Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research. “Dealers are reporting that they have high levels of used truck inventory, especially aerodynamic sleepers. The market and prices for used vocational trucks – dumps, refuse, etc. – are stronger than for over-the-road sleepers.”

Tam added, “The used aerodynamic sleeper segment is the victim of its own success in 2017 and 2018, and as such, is now oversupplied at the same time demand is contracting. This has led to a weak pricing environment and uncertainty for dealers and truck OEMs when trading for used aero sleepers.”

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).