Discount pricing, money-off coupons, limited-time offers, manufacturer rebates, factory concessions, special financing and even no financing. These are pretty much commonplace with almost everything being sold these days, even heavy-duty trucks - both new and used.
If you’ve been in the market for a tractor, you’ve undoubtedly seen or heard, "Price and selection has never been better," as much as, "Have a nice day."
But there’s now a new stratagem for selling used heavy duty trucks. This tactic may, in fact, be the first of its kind.
Well actually, the sales gimmick itself has been around for some time. It’s the application to moving pre-owned iron that is original.

Music City Truck & Equipment of La Vergne, Tenn., recently held a "Buy One, Get One Free Sale" on a select group of tractors. A customer who purchased either a 1997 Volvo ($39,900) or a 1995 Freightliner ($29,900) got an identical-model tractor free.
Not only did the sale quickly move out all of the trucks - the 10 Volvos and four Freightliners sold in less than one month -- but it also generated plenty of sales inquires for the used-truck-only dealership in a suburb of Nashville. The calls continue to come in as word of the sale gets around.
The dealership only placed one ad promoting its two-for-one sale. It ran on the front page of a monthly trucks-for-sale publication, in the regional issue that covers Tennessee. It also put a scrolling message touting the sale on its web site at www.musiccitytruck.com (which when visited plays that catchy theme song "East Bound And Down" from the movie "Smokey And Bandit.")
"We were upside down in some of our inventory, and I reasoned that in order to survive in today's oversupplied used truck market, we would need to take a loss on some of our trucks - those that we couldn't sell and make a profit on," explained co-owner of the dealership, Ron Creager. "The first loss is the best loss, so we decided to bite the bullet and get it over with."
Music City Truck's Buy One, Get One Free Sale was on 14 "aged-inventory" tractors. These vehicles were purchased more than six months ago, and today could be bought for thousands less, Creager said.
An even more challenging decision, he noted, was coming up with an effective way to move the tractors. "Seems like everything you think of has been tried."
Creager, who began his career in truck leasing, has two sons who work for him as salesmen "on straight commission," he allowed. "If they want to make a lot of money, they have the opportunity. If they want to cruise, their paycheck reflects it. But they're aggressive and they do very well."
It is his sons, Jeff and Brad, and salesman Mike Coldiron, who came up the idea of the two-for-one sale. "I wasn’t really in favor of it, but I let them do it to see what would happen," said Creager. "It generated just a ton of calls. Seems you can teach an old dog new trucks."
Moving out the aged inventory has helped the dealership, which celebrates its eight anniversary April 1, reduce its losses and better manage its resources. It can now afford to sell its trucks for less because it can buy for less good used trucks which are selling at fire-sale prices.
What will be Music City Truck’s next sales promotion? Creager said Brad, Jeff and Mike have an idea in mind, but they haven’t shared it with him yet. "We'll just have to wait and see."