Dealers offloading trucks in spite of tight lending climate

Truck dealers are steadily offloading inventory despite lending standards that remain tight.  

One hundred percent of surveyed truck dealers reported improving or steady demand in July, with nearly 80% seeing improving demand, according to heavy-equipment research firm IronAdvisor Insights.  

In July 2025, 55% of dealers responded that demand was deteriorating and none reported improvement.  

Strong replacement demand, improving freight rates and waning overcapacity are boosting sales in spite of dealers still grappling with financing hurdles, IronAdvisor Director of Research Jarrett Harris told Equipment Finance News.  

“I think there’s still the hangover from the COVID-era excesses,” he said. ”You had lenders that were too loose at that time with dollars going into overpriced assets. …The lenders ended up taking massive losses on those and I think that memory is still very fresh.” 

Still, many lenders are steering clear of the sector or requiring “very high credit-score and down-payment requirements,” Harris said. 

Persistent dealers 

Dealers are employing a number of tactics to sell trucks and overcome financing obstacles.  

For aging inventory, dealers are “flushing out” trucks via auction or cash buyers, significantly reducing used inventory on the market, Jim Ryan, equipment lease and finance manager at Sandhills Global, told EFN.  

Used medium- and heavy-duty truck inventory decreased 37.6% and 31.6% year over year in June, respectively, according to Sandhills. 

While dealers usually can secure financing for larger fleets that have strong credit, they must use creativity and persistence for smaller fleets with credit blemishes, IronAdvisor’s Harris said. 

“You do have some dealer groups that are almost taking it upon themselves to try to lobby for that person, put some sort of creative deal together, maybe shop different [financing] venues that they wouldn’t have before,” he said.  

Proven borrowers 

Credit quality is still damaged among owner-operators after the freight recession, but those who survived the downturn likely have proven themselves as reliable borrowers, Chris Grivas, president of CAG Truck Capital, told EFN. 

“If they survived, it’s highly likely that their credit was damaged along the way,” he said, “But now their ability to pay going forward is tremendous, beautiful. If they’ve got the right runs, the right equipment, they’ve got the tailwind behind them now.” 

Although a stronger pool of borrowers has positioned CAG for success moving forward, the lender remains cautious, especially among inexperienced operators, Grivas said.  

“We are turning away probably 75% of what we’re seeing come through the front door right now,” he said.  

Grivas also acknowledged that “lenders have dried up,” with many avoiding the sector because they’re unable to distinguish between credit quality and the ability to pay off a loan.  

“There’re not enough lenders out there that understand that and they’re looking at the guy’s credit score and are saying, ‘No, I’m out,’” he said. “So the dealers are scratching their heads.” 

The type of truck also matters, Grivas said, noting that CAG is more confident when financing certain brands and models. 

“If we’re talking semi-trucks, we love the long hoods — Peterbilt 389s, 589s, Kenworth W900s; the International LoneStars are beautiful,” he said. “These are the ones that we believe are somewhat timeless and they’re the ones that best sustain their value.” 

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