With few auctions on the calendar and another model year available to move, retail used truck volumes and prices rose in January. Whether the strong month was an aberration or the start of the used market’s long awaited rebound will be borne out soon.
One thing is for certain, if a market turnaround is underway, it is arriving in a much different economy than what drove the used truck industry to record highs in 2021.
Freight volumes are not ascending to the stratosphere — though tonnage in February did jump forward after a soft January — interest rates remain elevated and the carrier population isn’t expanding like it was during the last market boom. Customers entering the market today aren’t as fiscally confident as they appeared in 2021.
Which means used truck success in 2025 won’t just be about acquiring the best units to move, but also identifying the strongest customers to buy them.
Resources like Equipment Experts’ financing calculator can help in that area.
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Designed to help buyers and sellers alike, Equipment Experts’ (owned by Trucks, Parts, Service parent company Fusable) finance calculator enables users to input five data fields (equipment budget, down payment, credit rating, APR and term length) to develop a hypothetical equipment purchase. Though not designed to replace an F&I department, the calculator is a simple tool to enable anyone considering an equipment transaction to illuminate the financial burden of a purchase.
“When a customer comes to Equipment Experts, they’re looking for the perfect piece of equipment that fits their needs, and we want streamline that experience,” says Austin Hallman, digital account director at Fusable. “The finance calculator helps buyers better understand their buying capabilities and can reduce friction that occurs during financial discussions around a purchase by helping the buyer know what’s in their budget before they ever speak to a dealer.”
And the importance of transparency during a transaction should never be overlooked. Customers agreeing to terms they can’t meet hurts both parties.
“The last thing a used truck dealer wants is a customer that can’t make their payments. Collections are hard for everyone involved,” Hallman says.
Equipment Experts notes its calculator shouldn’t replace a dealer’s due diligence, nor should a buyer expect it to perfectly replicate what a dealer offers during a sales conversation. It exists as a resource to inform both sides and, ideally, progress a sales discussion toward its resolution.
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And in a market where negative equity will figure prominently in many used truck financing discussions in the months ahead, any tool that moves a buyer’s journey forward in a safe and effective manner should be extremely valuable for all involved.
“In today’s market, especially, an intelligent financing strategy is essential to making sure a dealer and customer get the most out of a sale,” says Hallman. “Tools that outline a customer’s full financial responsibility reduce the chances either side makes a bad decision that comes back to hurt them.”
