Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Aug. 15, 2025:
- A mixed bag for used Class 8 sales volumes across retail, auction and wholesale sales pegged to sluggish freight. On used-truck pricing, Fusable's Price Digests reported used-market averages flat year over year for sleeper tractors.
- The U.S. DOT's efforts toward a national deployment of automated vehicles saw it asking for public input to help inform research into AV deployment and safe operations.
- ABF Freight trucker Luis Davila used his rig as a barrier to help protect an elderly man in distress.
Used truck sales volumes mixed in July
Preliminary used Class 8 retail sales volumes recorded a solid gain in July, while auction and wholesale prices tumbled, according to the latest “State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks” report published by ACT Research.
According to ACT, same-dealer retail used truck sales volumes increased 5.5% over June, outperforming historical averages for the month.
“The market continued to outperform historical seasonality," which would have suggested just a 0.5% increase month to month, said Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research. “Piling on to June’s out-of-sync performance, auctions pulled back 27%" in July after June. "Wholesale transactions withered by a similar margin, moving 26% fewer units in July.”
All three sales avenues considered, preliminary used-truck sales numbers for July were down 10% from June, Tam noted.
In addition to Class 8 retail sales volumes increasing in July, the average price and miles of units sold also increased, while average age of used truck sold at retail declined.ACT Research
[Related: 'Very good step in the right direction' in Q2 for freight: Report]
“Spot freight market capacity tightened for a fifth consecutive month in July. At the same time, freight growth has failed to materialize. Declining freight may be one catalyst for lower sales,” Tam concluded.
On the pricing front for owner-operators, used sleeper tractors of varying ages showed relative strength June to July, with 2- and 5-year-old units losing less than a percent of total value in the market for sales, while 10-year-old trucks fetched more in July. That's according to Overdrive parent company Fusable’s Price Digests data compiled showing the trend over the last year for 2-, 5- and 10-year-old units. Considered year over year for the entire July 2024-July 2025 period, values for the newest and oldest of these units are up slightly, while 5-year-old tractor prices are mostly flat. Details follow.
[Related: Ways to assess truck market value for trade, purchase or sale, insurance]
Autonomous-vehicle deployment: DOT wants you to weigh in
The U.S. Department of Transportation is requesting information from the public and stakeholders to help inform coordinated national research supporting automated driving systems (ADS) transportation technology deployment and realizing safe, efficient operations on the nation’s roadways.
The DOT’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R) noted that “ADS-equipped vehicles have significant potential to transform safety and mobility, but in order for national deployment to scale effectively,” there are questions that need to be answered.
Issues identified by the DOT include “the challenges and opportunities of ADS, including understanding disengagements, identifying factors that contribute or detract from reliable and consistent operations and interactions, and facilitating interoperable data standardization and real-time analytics, among others.”
In a Federal Register notice set to publish Monday, Aug. 18, the DOT is seeking feedback from industry, technology developers, operators of ADS vehicle fleets, state/local transportation agencies, researchers, and other stakeholders to inform the department on automated vehicle research priorities to support nationwide deployment.
With the request for information (RFI), OST-R said it “intends to enhance the current understanding of the technical, data, and resource needs to improve the ability of software-driven AV systems to operate and interact with other road users and infrastructure safely and efficiently at scale on roadways across varied U.S. geographies and operational design domains.”
[Related: Automation tech's trucking role divides industry interests in Senate hearing]
The new RFI does not cover vehicle safety topics already included within existing vehicle safety regulatory responsibilities under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Specifically, DOT is requesting specific information on the following topics:
- Data standards and integration
- Edge case characteristics identification
- Supervision dynamics and human interaction
- Evidence-based evaluation
- Transparency and building public understanding of variations in AV impacts on the transportation system
- Evaluation of consistent and robust vehicle behavior interactions with other road users and the transportation system
Each topic has specific questions DOT is requesting information on, which can be seen in the Federal Register notice here. Comments will be accepted for 60 days beginning Aug. 18 at www.regulations.gov by searching Docket No. DOT–OST–2025–1029.
[Related: Driverless-truck tech: Owner-ops worry over cyberattacks, crashes, competition]
Truck driver’s actions to help elderly man in distress recognized
ABF Freight truck driver Luis Davila, out of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, has been recognized as a Truckload Carriers Association Highway Angel for his quick thinking and compassionate actions that helped protect an elderly man in distress.
Luis Davila
“He was in the middle of the road, and he was just swerving left to right,” Davila recalled. “I was like, that’s not safe. I put my hazards on because I didn’t want anyone behind me to run into him.”
Realizing the potential danger, Davila stayed behind the man with his flashers on, acting as a protective buffer to shield him from oncoming traffic. As they approached a curve, the scooter tipped, and the man was thrown hard onto the pavement.
Davila immediately pulled over to help. Fortunately, other motorists -- including a police officer -- stopped as well, and the man quickly received the attention he needed.
Thanks to Davila’s alertness and fast response, the man avoided a more serious injury. His actions reflect the values of the TCA Highway Angel program, TCA said, which honors drivers who demonstrate exemplary kindness, courage and integrity on the road.
