Class 8 Auction Pricing Down Month-Over-Month

The winter lull in auction activity is behind us, and March data provided our first real look at how the market is holding up in 2019. Volume of our benchmark model was up by an expected proportion over February, but fell well short of last March. Pricing was notably lower month-over-month, with a high-mileage mix of trucks partly responsible for the decrease. See below for detail.

• Model year 2016: $42,750 average; $3,550 (7.7%) lower than February
• Model year 2015: $36,600 average; $3,000 (7.6%) lower than February
• Model year 2014: $29,250 average; $1,050 (3.5%) lower than February
• Model year 2013: $25,400 average; $2,175 (7.9%) lower than February
• Model year 2012: $18,750 average; $5,650 (23.2 %) lower than February
• Model year 2011: $18,250 (no sales in February for comparison)

In the first 3 months of 2019, 4-6 year-old examples of our benchmark model brought 4.3% more money than in the same period of 2018. Going forward, year-over-year comparisons should reach parity and then turn mildly negative. Freight-focused economic measures are less stable than last year, but we expect pricing to remain healthy through the second quarter.