The used truck market was unable to book a third month of sequential improvement in April, due to a 33%+ contraction in the auction segment of the market. The retail and wholesale segments rose 2% and 19%, respectively, month over month. The update on the used market was reported in the latest release of the State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks, published by ACT Research.

“Dealers continue to report scarcity of inventory as one of their greatest challenges, especially for late model, low mileage equipment with desirable specifications,” said Steve Tam, vice president-commercial vehicle sector with ACT.

“Many dealers are also reporting that used truck buyers are reluctant to adopt trucks with 2007 EPA compliant engines. Eventually, buyers will have no choice but to make the switch," he added.

The report from ACT provides data on the average used price for the top-selling Class 8 model for each of the major truck OEM’s – Freightliner (Daimler); Kenworth and Peterbilt (Paccar); International (Navistar); and Volvo and Mack (Volvo).