Used trucks

Rush Enterprises keeps momentum in softening Class 8 aftermarket

High interest rates and low freight rates slowed the growth of Class 8 aftermarket sales at Rush Enterprises in the third quarter. But the nation’s largest network of truck dealerships found plenty of offsets to support strong overall results.

Class 8 truck sales rose 3% compared with a year ago, a period of severe constraint as OEMs began to meet pent-up demand that mushroomed during the pandemic.

“Our over-the-road customers … are being negatively impacted by high interest rates, and low...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rush-enterprises-keeps-momentum-in-softening-class-8-aftermarket

Want a used truck? Talk to your plumber

INDIANAPOLIS — The paucity of new commercial trucks and the wait times to get them have made searching for used models more popular and broader than ever.

People are willing to drive farther — more than six hours — to check out an online offering for a heavy- or medium-duty vocational truck. And they will pay up to beat out the competition, according to Charles Bowles, director of strategic initiatives for Trader Interactive, a business-to-business service based in Norfolk, Virginia.

“The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/want-a-used-truck-talk-to-your-plumber

Drilling Deep: The eye-popping numbers from the used truck market

Chris Visser of JD Power has been tracking used truck prices for a long time. And as he will tell you, he’s never seen a used truck market quite like this one. 

Visser joins Drilling Deep co-host John Kingston to discuss the wild swings in prices and what needs to happen to slow their upward march.

Also on the podcast, Kingston discusses the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve announced earlier this week. The supply may not seem like much but inventories are key.

More articles by...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drilling-deep-the-eye-popping-numbers-from-the-used-truck-market

Used truck prices high but Ryder’s inventory low

About 15 months ago, on the company’s second-quarter 2020 earning call, Ryder System CEO Robert Sanchez gave some stark numbers about the collapse of the used truck market in the first months of the pandemic.

As a result of the downturn in the market, Ryder (NYSE: R) was looking at inventories for the sale of trucks and other vehicles of about 14,000. Its target inventory was 7,000 to 9,000. The 14,000 figure contrasted sharply with the 8,300 in inventory a year earlier, at the close of 2019’s...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/used-truck-prices-high-but-ryders-inventory-low

Truck Talk: Delayed gratification edition

Tesla delays the Semi for a fourth time. Is Elon Musk losing his first-mover edge in electric trucks? Low-mileage used trucks are hard to get. So why are major players adding storefronts to sell them? And is that a transforming Mack Truck — or not?

Lost advantage or …

With its fourth delay to planned production in late 2023, a case can be made that the Tesla Semi electric truck is losing the first-mover advantage it claimed from its reveal in late 2017.

Or maybe not.

“If Tesla can make a 400- to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-talk-delayed-gratification-edition

High costs will limit capacity growth in trucking

Chart of the Week: 3, 4, and 5 Year Old Used Truck Prices, New Class 8 Orders – USA  SONAR: UT3.USA, UT4.USA, UT5.USA, ORDERS.CL8

Used truck prices have increased by over 50% for 3-year-old models over the past 12 months. With the larger fleets struggling to recruit new drivers to the space, cost barriers will limit the small fleet/owner-operator growth as well, helping to extend the capacity crunch on all levels. 

It is a fairly well-known fact inside the trucking industry that over 90% of the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/high-costs-will-limit-capacity-growth-in-trucking

Knight-Swift introduces services division for smaller carriers

Knight-Swift Transportation announced the launch of a services division targeting small trucking by offering the buying power and leverage normally enjoyed by larger carriers.

Iron Truck Services aims to give smaller fleets affordable access to services such as insurance, equipment maintenance, fuel purchasing, truck sales and rentals by leveraging the scale and infrastructure of Knight-Swift, one of the largest carriers in the U.S.

“Many small carriers have no choice but to pay retail prices for...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/knight-swift-introduces-services-division-for-smaller-carriers

Ryder Q1 revenue, earnings similar to last year’s but blow past forecasts

A year ago, Ryder (NYSE: R) was entering a scary time, with the pandemic in full force and uncertainty about what it would mean for the company’s primary business of leasing trucks to a variety of users. The result: Ryder lost $1.41 per share in the second quarter of 2020 after a loss of more than $2 per share in the first quarter, though that red ink was mostly caused by changing valuations of its used vehicle fleet. But that second-quarter figure also included a sequential decline in revenue...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/ryder-q1-revenue-earnings-similar-to-last-years-but-blow-past-forecasts

Service and parts carry Rush Enterprises’ Q1 earnings

Revenue from parts and service more than covered the Q1 operating cost of Rush Enterprises Inc.’s (NASDAQ: RUSHA) chain of truck and bus dealerships, offsetting lower Class 8 truck sales.

The 122.6% absorption rate was nearly double the percentage of most car and truck dealers. The calculation is based on how much of a dealership’s operating cost is absorbed by fixed operations like service, aftermarket parts and collision repairs.

Fixed operations accounted for approximately 63% of Rush’s gross...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/service-and-parts-carry-rush-enterprises-q1-earnings

Freight boom is not without downsides for carriers

Chart of the Week:  Insurance Expense % – Dry Van Company and Leased Fleet, Driver to non-Driver Ratio – Dry Van Company and Leased Fleet SONAR: INSURE.VCFOO, DRRAT.VCFOO

Driver recruiting problems are limiting carrier growth while the cost of operating is growing at a faster rate than ever. A similar scenario played out at the end of the 2017-18 freight boom. Cost inflation from insurance, maintenance, equipment and wages lasted beyond the yearlong freight boom that saw spot rates surge to...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/freight-boom-is-not-without-downsides-for-carriers

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