Faithful readers of our blog may remember April 2021 marking an all-time high for the average price of a used Class 8 truck. Price tags have only pushed higher over the summer, according to ACT Research. The average cost for a used Class 8 truck sold in September 2021 reached $66,258, a 15.4% increase since April and a 5.0% increase over the all-time high of $63,079 that was just set in August.
These heftier price tags are counterintuitively also coming with higher odometer readings. The average mileage for September 2021 was 449,000. In August, the average mileage was 439,000. When these figures were released in April, the average mileage was only 419,000. To state it plainly, buyers in September are paying 15.4% more for a truck with 7.2% more miles on it than they were in April.
According to ACT Vice President Steve Tam in an interview with Transport Topics, the situation can’t stay this extreme forever, “It’s nothing short of insane…Now is probably the time when folks start to say, ‘the market is getting kind of peakish.’”
Unfortunately for those waiting to buy on a budget, Tam does not forecast an especially steep drop in prices on the other side of this peak, “The market is not going to crash.”
