According to ACT Research’s latest release of its State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks report, used Class 8 retail volumes (same dealer sales) were 8% higher month over month in May. Longer term, volumes were down 38% year over year.

In addition, average prices and miles were each down 2% compared with April, but average prices rose 64% year over year, while average mileage was just 3% higher year over year. Average age rose slightly from April, at more than 2%, with used trucks, on average, 7% older than they were last May.

“Same dealer retail sales of used Class 8 trucks surprised to the good in May, and the nature of the surprise stems from the typical two-month or so lag between new truck sales and corresponding used truck sales,” Steve Tam, vice president at ACT Research, said. “Looking back at January and February, new truck sales were lackluster at best. Unit sales increased in March, so it is possible that the new-used lag has shortened a bit. However, with the plethora of supply chain issues still in play, that would be a tall order. And that says nothing of what is happening in the spot freight markets, a favorite customer segment for the used truck market.

“Also impeding progress are record-high fuel prices, a bane for truckers of all stripes but especially owner/operators. Summing it all up, there appears to still be a large amount of pent-up demand for trucks that is getting sated at a very moderate rate. For that reason, longer-term comparisons are much more in line with reality.”