ACT Research announced Thursday in its State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks report that the average price of total used Class 8 trucks in September rose 3 percent month-over-month and fared even better, up 9 percent year-to-date, when compared to the first nine months of 2017.
As for sales movement, ACT reports same dealer sales volumes fell 9 percent month-over-month, after reporting 17 percent month-over-month growth in August.
“Dealers are reporting that used truck sales are very strong, with more demand than available trucks,” says Steve Tam, vice president at ACT Research. “Finding used trucks to sell has dealers searching hard and paying more for trucks than what would normally be expected. Additionally, most dealers are keeping an eye on new truck orders and watching anticipated trades to understand the dynamics that can impact what the units can be sold for and still make a profit.”
ACT adds analysis of the individual market segments indicated consistent short-term results, but mixed ones when making longer-term comparisons.
“The retail, auction, and wholesale channels were all down month-over-month, but longer-term, retail and wholesale markets recorded gains of 10 percent and 17 percent, respectively, while the auction market fell 20 percent year-over-year,” says Tam.
