Used Class 8 truck sales in July fall month over month

Preliminary used Class 8 retail volumes fell 8 percent month over month, and were 47 percent lower compared with July of 2021, according to a preliminary release of ACT Research’s State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks.

Other data released in ACT’s preliminary report included month-over-month comparisons for July 2022, which showed average retail price flat, while average miles rose 1 percent and average age contracted 5 percent from June’s readings. Compared with July of 2021, the average retail price was 41 percent higher, with average miles and age greater by 2 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

 “Given softer spot freight volumes and rates, coupled with still-expensive diesel fuel prices, the logical expectation was for continued declines in values. However, we got a bit of a twist in the preliminary July used truck data where prices are concerned,” says ACT Vice President Steve Tam.

“Digging deeper may help explain the anomaly. The first thing to notice is the composition of units that were sold during the month. On average, the units were about five months younger, even though they have a few more miles on them,” Tam says.

He adds that sometimes used truck data appear to be nonsensical. “However, it is explained by a statistical phenomenon where the relationship between two variables in a population emerges, disappears or reverses when the population is divided into subpopulations. In the case of this month’s data, a higher number of higher dollar transactions resulted in improved overall results during the month.”

ACT’s Classes 3-8 Used Truck Report 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.        

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