Used-truck inventory drops despite day-cab market woes

Used heavy- and medium-duty truck inventory declined in November, signaling recovery on the horizon for the beleaguered transportation finance sector.  

While overcapacity gradually has been waning from the market, there’s still a glut of inventory that’s 5 to 10 years old, especially day cabs, Sandhills Global Equipment Lease and Finance Manager Jim Ryan told Equipment Finance News.  

These trucks are “extremely tough” to move, partly due to lenders’ reluctance to finance high-mileage vehicles. Many fleet operators are not positioned to buy them outright amid the prolonged freight downturn, he said. 

“There’s some spots in the country where [dealers] have had some success, but ultimately, values are struggling on the day-cab market side of things,” he said.  

However, more lenders are confidently financing used trucks that have just come off a lease return because “any maintenance or mechanical issues or things like that have typically been addressed,” Ryan said.  

“Over that 500,000-mile mark is where you typically start seeing your maintenance issues,” he said. “Lenders are obviously more cognizant of that now.” 

Despite persisting challenges, the used-truck market made progress last month as medium-duty and semitrailer values ticked up month over month, according to Sandhills. 

Used heavy-duty trucks 

• Inventory declined 11.8% year over year and 3.6% month over month; 
• Asking values dipped 0.1% YoY and 1.5% MoM; and 
• Auction values fell 0.8% YoY and 1.7% MoM. 

Used semitrailers 

• Inventory decreased 10.2% YoY and 0.04% MoM; 
• Asking values rose 1% YoY and 0.9% MoM; and 
• Auction values climbed 1.3% YoY and 2.4% MoM. 

Used medium-duty trucks 

• Inventory declined 5.9% YoY and 3.8% MoM; 
• Asking values fell 3.9% YoY, but rose 1.6% MoM; and
• Auction values dropped 5.2% YoY, but increased 2.5% MoM. 

2026 outlook  

Lenders are hopeful that stabilizing asset values and replacement demand will spur the transportation finance sector’s recovery in 2026, David Normandin, president of Wintrust Specialty Finance, told EFN. 

“A lot of these assets are getting to that point where they need to be refreshed,” he said. “There’s a shift that I think is just starting to occur with that next generation of assets that are more stable in values. I think that will help the transportation business come out from underneath the rough place it’s been for a few years.” 

The new 25% tariff on medium- and heavy-duty truck imports could stall the market’s recovery, though, Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT Freight and Analytics, an industry research firm and services provider, told EFN. Uncertainty surrounding emissions regulations and OEM production strategies could also hinder financing activity, he said. 

“There’s been more ingredients thrown into the blender that perhaps some of those equipment finance guys don’t ordinarily deal with,” he said. 

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