Preliminary used Class 8 volumes (same dealer sales) dropped 2% month over month but rose 51% year over year in April, according to the latest preliminary release of the State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks report published by ACT Research. Through the first four months of the year, activity is 29% higher compared with the same period a year ago.

Other data released in ACT’s preliminary report included month-over-month comparisons for April 2021, which showed that average prices increased 5%, while average miles were unchanged and age grew 1% compared with March. Compared with COVID-19-impacted April 2020, average prices in April 2021 were 45% higher, with average miles 3% lower year over year and average age down 4%. On a year-to-date basis, average prices were 30% above their year-ago level for the first four months of 2020.

“New truck production and sales continue to conspire to reduce the flow of units into the secondary market, limiting its potential,” Steve Tam, vice president at ACT Research, said. “Comments from dealers as well as classified listings, a proxy for inventory, corroborate the lack of supply that has come to define the current cycle, and the drumbeat of demand shows no signs of easing. As a result, used truck sales prices continue to escalate, with overall Class 8 prices jumping 45% from April 2020.

“A year ago, staring down the throat of the worst global pandemic in more than a century, who would have thought the discussion would pivot to how we can possibly meet such strong global demand. And yet, here we are, facing problems of prosperity the likes of which we have rarely seen in the US. From synchronized global growth to rapidly rising raw material costs and finished goods prices to COVID-driven labor shortages, consumption and output are in an uproar. COVID-19 has become the catalyst that is both the protagonist and the antagonist in this bizarre tale. As such, it stands to reason that the path of the recovery will be dictated by the disease itself.”