Used reefer box-truck inventory soars 81%

Retail prices for used heavy-duty trucks are on the upswing amid strong demand for low-mileage vehicles, but used box trucks remain a sore spot in the medium-duty sector. 

Used reefer box-truck inventory soared 80.6% year over year in July, following a 78.6% YoY increase in June, according to Sandhills Global. 

Financial stress in the transportation industry is dealing a heavy blow to the used box-truck market and small owner-operators, driving a surge in repossessions, Sandhills Global Equipment Lease and Finance Manager Jim Ryan told Equipment Finance News.  

Read more on financial stress here.  

This market “has to get flushed,” he said. There have been “a ton of [repossessions] on that side. … We’ve been dealing with that for a while, but even still to this very week, you still see a ton of those roll through that are in that medium-duty sector that don’t require a [commercial driver’s license].” 

Roughly 40% to 60% of used vehicles that Sandhills remarkets are box trucks or Class 8 sleepers, Ryan said. 

Lenders are especially cautious when financing over-the-road box trucks due to the associated risks, which include delinquencies and charge-offs, Eduardo Cruz, president of Addison, Texas-based Commercial Equipment Financing, told EFN. 

Meanwhile, used heavy-duty inventory continued to fall YoY in July due in part to rising new truck prices pushing more buyers into the used market, according to Sandhills. 

Used heavy-duty trucks 

• Inventory dropped 17.2% YoY, but rose 1.9% month over month; 
• Asking values increased 0.1% YoY and 3.6% MoM; and 
• Auction values were up 1.3% YoY and 6% MoM. 

Used semitrailers 

• Inventory fell 13.5% YoY, but rose 3% MoM; 
• Asking values declined 2% YoY and 2.6% MoM; and 
• Auction values were down 2.1% YoY and 3.7% MoM. 

Used medium-duty trucks 

• Inventory increased 9.4% YoY, but dropped 6.2% MoM;  
• Asking values fell 4.4% YoY, but rose 2.6% MoM; and 
• Auction values were down 7.2% YoY, but up 4.5% MoM. 

Used Class 8 prices finally trending up 

Used heavy-duty asking values are starting to reflect the steady uptick in used Class 8 sales, which spells good news for dealers, Ryan said.  

“It’s good to see because we’ve been pretty flatlined for the most part for at least nine months,” he said. “There’s a lot of late-model lease returns, lower-mileage trucks that are moving for good pricing right now. A lot of that stuff is transacting at the retail, wholesale side and not even necessarily hitting auction, which is nice. I think the demand is there.” 

And while tight lending standards remain a challenge, the used-truck market is “less exposed to trade and regulatory uncertainty, which could give truck buyers more confidence and incentive to consider used trucks as part of their fleet mix in the near term,” Rush Enterprises Chairman and Chief Executive W.M. “Rusty” Rush said during the company’s July 30 earnings call. 

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