Used Class 3-8 truck sales in June increased 9 percent over May despite a lack of available inventory, said ACT Research Co. For the year, used sales are 6 percent behind last year’s pace.
Meanwhile, the firm reported net trailer orders in June dropped 26 percent from May, the third consecutive monthly decline.
“Used truck mileage continues to edge up, in response to fleets holding onto their equipment longer,” said Steve Tam, ACT vice president-commercial vehicle sector. “The market is still awaiting some relief to the shortage of sellable inventory as well as upward price pressures. Improving new truck sales will result in increased trade-ins, and should provide some relief to the market.”
The falloff in June trailer orders, combined with an increase in production, resulted in industry backlogs dropping 5 percent month over month. The industry order board ended June at 97,000 units, ACT said.
“The fall-off in net orders was greater than anticipated,” said Frank Maly, director CV Transportation Analysis and Research with ACT. “A positive factor to keep in mind is that cancellations of existing commitments on the order boards were not an issue; new order weakness was the cause.”