This week’s roundup continues our announcement of 2026 award finalists as we name the candidates for our 25th annual Distributor of the Year Award. Then we talk with ATD President David Bell about the dealer group’s successful Legislative Fly-In, cover Cummins’ 2027 engine rollout strategy and positive Q2 order stats for Volvo and International. We also touch on truck tonnage trends and how a June spike in used truck unit sales could be a precursor to a high-volume fall.
Editor’s note: There will be no roundup on July 31. The roundup will return on Aug. 7.
Lucas: Hey, everybody. Lucas here for today’s TPS weekly news roundup. Another busy week in the dealer and aftermarket channels. I’m going to start in the aftermarket.
Monday, we announced the finalist for our Distributor of the Year Award. This is the 25th year of Distributor of the Year. We’re thrilled. We’ve got some great finalists, three prior finalists, two first-time participants. Check that out the story on the website to know exactly who they are and how we’ll be profiling them in the months ahead.
As I said last week, we announced the finalist for our Successful Dealer and Trailblazer Awards last week. Those awards will be presented in October and, again, we’ll be profiling those businesses as well in the weeks ahead.
Other news this week, I need to jump to the ATD Fly-In that was held in June. Had the chance to speak with ATD President David Bell a couple weeks ago about the June event. Really positive. David thought it was a great event. Nearly 100 truck dealers and ATD representatives there. They had nearly 70 meetings on Capitol Hill. Focused on advocacy, focused on relationships, getting involved in D.C. and at the local level. David says that’s how ATD can push policy, can have a positive impact on the truck dealer industry as it relates to what happens in Washington. So, check that story out.
Some other stuff. Cummins announced it 2027 engine rollout plan. We had announced a couple weeks ago they were delaying some engines. They’re announcing now that their 2027 X15 will enter limited production in January, scaling up over the course of the year. The current X15 will be available as they scale up the 2027 model. Also, the X10, which we announced previously had been delayed, that is going into limited production in January. The hope is full production by Q3. Cummins also saying they will keep its X12 and L9 available as they scale up production on the X10. So, some good news there on the engine front.
Also from a market perspective, a lot of positive news over the last couple months. Truck tonnage was up a little bit in June. The pace in which tonnage grew in Q2 did slow from Q1, but tonnage is up year over year and there is some positivity in the tonnage space.
Volvo Group and Traton Group, which is International’s parent, announced their Q2 earnings this week. You can check those stories out on the website, know exactly what was good, what was bad, what’s expected moving forward. But the big positivity there, Volvo announcing North American truck orders up 122%. International truck orders in Q2 almost up around 200%, so huge positivity there.
And then, J.D. Power announcing its June 2026 used truck data. J.D. Power reporting the volumes were up pretty much across all three segments of the used truck market, but price was fairly firm. That’s a good sign.
J.D. Power anticipates that volumes will continue to rise over the second half of the year because freight volumes have increased a little bit, because freight rates have increased substantially and because we have EPA clarity. Truckers are ordering trucks as we know from the OEM information I just said. Truckers are ordering trucks, so we’re going to see an increase in equipment moving into the used truck space in the second half of the year and into January 2027 as truckers get the new trucks they’ve been ordering. J.D. Power hopeful that the market will maintain its price levels that we’ve seen through the first half of the year and will continue to be solid. But some good news through the first six months of the year if you’re a used truck dealer; hopefully you've had the opportunity to experience that.
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