According to Ritchie Bros.’ June market trends report, truck tractor prices are up approximately 46% year over year in the United States, but the rate of increase is down six percentage points from last month. Similarly, in Canada, prices are currently up 34% year over year for truck tractors but down nine percentage points from the May report.

“We have now seen two sequential months of declines for our truck tractor price indexes in the U.S. and Canada compared to the peak levels we saw in February of this year,” Doug Olive, senior vice president of pricing for Ritchie Bros., said. “The transportation industry is currently facing headwinds with declining spot rates and record-high diesel prices, which is having a direct impact on the used market, particularly for older, high-usage trucks.”

Over the past six months, van and reefer spot rates have dropped as much as 13% to 14%, while weekly diesel prices have increased approximately 58%.

Between April and May, Ritchie Bros. sold approximately 395 Freightliner Cascadia truck tractors with an average age of seven years in the United States and achieved a median price of $40,000. Earlier this year, in February and March, the same age trucks were achieving a median price of $43,000. Cascadias sold in Canada experienced a price increase over this same time period, but they were slightly newer units. Truck tractors sold in Canada in April and May 2022 had a median age of six years and achieved approximately 18% higher prices than the two months prior, when the median age was seven years.