Used-truck sales surge 29% despite financing hurdles

Dealers are seeing steady demand for used trucks despite tight lending standards throwing a wrench in purchasing decisions.  

Used-truck sales increased 28.5% month over month in August, following an 11.2% jump in July, according to Equipment Finance News’ Sales Index, which is part of the Average Truck Price Trends data. The index, a measure of overall sales volume, landed at 146 as of Sept. 1, the second highest mark of 2025.  

The increase reflects a trend, with more than 90% of dealers reporting steady or improved used-truck demand in the second quarter, according to heavy-equipment research firm IronAdvisor Insights, which surveyed dealers representing 115 locations.  

The uptick in demand has contributed to “relatively healthy” inventory levels, but dealers must proceed with caution to avoid setbacks, IronAdvisor Director of Research Jarrett Harris told EFN.  

“Now it’s more a prevention-of-growth game,” he said.

“It’s like we emptied the sink of all the excess water, and now we’re turning off the spigot because we don’t want more of that used inventory coming in.”

— Jarrett Harris, IronAdvisor Insights

“So, we’re seeing dealers be much more cautious on the trade values and on any sort of speculative purchasing,” he said. 

The used market has benefited from stabilized prices in 2025 while rising new-truck prices and tariffs widen the pool of potential used buyers.  

In fact, the average price of a new truck rose 32.3% over the first half of the year to about $186,000, according to EFN data.  

Many large fleets, especially, have shifted their focus from new to used trucks, Harris said.  

“I think there is definitely more of an openness to used-truck purchases amongst the larger fleets than I’ve ever seen before,” he said. 

Meanwhile, 80% of the surveyed dealers expect used-truck prices to remain the same in Q3.  

Tight lending 

Despite recent momentum, tightened credit standards in the transportation sector are hampering used-truck purchases among small fleets and owner-operators, Harris said. 

“We’re just getting countless examples of pretty well-qualified buyers either being denied a line of credit or just having to put some pretty big dollars up front with a pretty high percentage interest rate,” he said.  

Tightened lending is prompting more operators to buy older, high-mileage trucks, with low-mileage vehicles either too difficult to finance or unavailable as large fleets continue to target them, according to the IronAdvisor report.  

Small fleet operators are especially struggling to obtain loans, partly because “personal debt and credit history weigh heavily on their chances of approval,” Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT Freight and Analytics, an information services and technology provider, told EFN.  

“Heavy reliance on freight brokers and spot-market loads can result in long payment cycles and uneven revenue,” he said. “Lenders prefer diversified, contract-backed income streams, which can be difficult for small carriers to secure.” 

Some dealers are “expanding the Rolodex of potential lenders” to address these financing challenges, Harris said.

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