Ritchie Bros. sets record in June for vocational truck sales

One of the most popular selling vocational trucks on the Ritchie auction block in June: the Freightliner M2 106.

Ritchie Bros. says it set a record in vocational truck sales in June, selling 7,300 trucks for more than $118 million.

Trucks in this category include van, flatbed, dump trucks, concrete mixers, pump and asphalt trucks.

“Pricing for vocational trucks in the United States, which accounted for 78 percent of all vocational truck sales in June, has been improving since May,” said Rob Slavin, senior valuation analyst, Ritchie Bros.

“For example, the median price for flatbed trucks recently reached $10,000, which is the highest it’s ever been. This increase is partially the result of us selling a large number of ‘newer’ vehicles in June, which for us is 5- and 6-year-old trucks.

“We have also seen an uptick in end-user participation in 2020—buyers who are willing to pay a premium to put the truck to work right away,” Slavin continues. “In the second quarter, end users purchased approximately 73 percent of all vocational trucks, up from 66 percent in Q2 2019.”

One big seller at Ritchie auctions are flatbed trucks, with popular makes and models including the Freightliner M2 106  and Ford F550, 450, and 350. Looking at the depreciation curve for the Freightliner M2 106, declines were greatest for 4-year-old trucks, followed by 6-year-old trucks and 8-year-old trucks.

“Typically used by B2B businesses, sales of flatbed trucks are usually a good indicator of regional economic health and small business activity,” says Don Nash, Ritchie territory manager.

Ritchie says the top selling states for flatbed trucks are Texas, California, Florida, and Maryland; while the top buying states are California, Texas, Florida, and Washington.