The used-truck market is gaining momentum as fleet owners take advantage of lower prices, but reduced interest rates may have a minimal impact on many potential buyers.
Same-dealer retail sales for used Class 8 trucks increased 6.6% month over month in October, exceeding the average seasonal spike of 2.1%, according to a Nov. 26 report by ACT Research. Used Class 8 retail sales were up 6% year over year.
Used Class 8 retail prices fell 0.4% MoM and 13% YoY, prolonging deprecation trends driven by challenges such as excess inventory and high interest rates. However, prices are “expected to remain stable at or around the current level for the next couple of months before transitioning to [YoY] growth in early 2025,” ACT Research Vice President Steve Tam stated in the report.
In light of a second Federal Reserve rate cut last month, fleet owners could capitalize on both reduced interest rates and lower prices in the coming months, before market improvements drive up truck values, Matt Manero, president of Carrollton, Texas-based Commercial Fleet Financing, told Equipment Finance News.
“For the next six months, you can buy a truck, depending on the type, 30% to 40% lower and get a very fair and competitive interest rate,” he said. “And that’s going to save a guy $300 or $400 a month.”
Minor boost for owner-operators
While fleet owners reap the benefits of lower interest rates, owner-operators, who comprise a large portion of the used-truck market, will hardly benefit because their purchases are considerably smaller and less frequent, Chris Grivas, president of Chadds Ford, Pa.-based CAG Truck Capital, told EFN.
“The owner-operator isn’t sitting back waiting to make a purchase,” he said. “If an owner-operator waits three months for rates to come down half a point and borrows $25,000 or $30,000, it’s not going to make a bit of difference.”
“With fleets, it’s a different story. If I’m ready to make a purchase of $5 million or $10 million, yeah, I’m looking closely at what’s happening with interest rates.”
Chris Grivas, president, CAG Truck Capital
Truck financing margins are expected to gradually increase as interest rates fall, Grivas said.
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