ACT: Used Class 8 volumes, prices rise

Preliminary used Class 8 volumes (same dealer sales) increased 8% month-over-month in the final month of 2019, according to ACT Research in its latest preliminary release of the State of the Industry: US Classes 3-8 Used Trucks.

However, longer-term volumes dropped 3% compared to December of 2018. Year-to-date preliminary volumes dropped 14%, ACT said.

Other data released in ACT’s preliminary report included month-over-month comparisons for December 2019, which showed that average prices dropped 1%, average miles increased 2%, and average age contracted 2% compared to November 2019.

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—Freightliner (Daimler); Kenworth and Peterbilt (Paccar); International (Navistar); and Volvo and Mack (Volvo).

“As we begin reporting on used truck activity for the last month of 2019, we also start to look ahead to what 2020 is likely to bring,” said Steve Tam, vice president at ACT. “While the new year will probably not be a mirror image of last year, we believe pricing will improve in the second half of the year, but remind those in the industry that ‘improve’ means ‘become less negative.’”

For this to happen, excess, idle and underutilized trucks will need to be put back to work, Tam added.

“The retail and wholesale markets both showed short-term improvements, up 5% and 36%, respectively, while the auction market fell 28% month-over-month,” Tam said of individual market channel volumes. “Longer-term, the retail market rose 2% year-over-year, but the auction and wholesale markets both reported declines, falling 26% and 8% year-over-year, respectively.

“All three were down year-to-date.”