Whether you’re in the market to either buy or sell a truck tractor, internet listings will stir up reactions and judgment. Personal bias can be a powerful influence, as friends and mentors broadcast opinions all with the best of intentions.
Every seller, and every buyer, should embrace some sense of reality to avoid costly missteps.
Key point: Private purchases may not be the deal you think they are. There are some very real differences when managing a for-sale-by-owner transaction as opposed to a dealer transaction. There's widespread belief among owner-operators that they might save significant money buying privately from an individual owner by avoiding the margins dealers and salesmen must maintain to cover expenses accrued being a dealership. Yet that’s not always the case.
This feature is part of Overdrive's coproduction with business services firm ATBS of the Partners in Business manual, a comprehensive playbook for owner-operator careers. Browse the 2025 edition in its new dynamic online library format in eight sections via this link.
It's crucial whether you're buying or selling to get the best sense of pricing reality as possible -- do the homework, dig out current sale prices. Overdrive sister company Price Digests' tracking of used-market value is one reliable source. A single vehicle valuation look-up there is available for less than $40. It could also help you determine the valuation needed for comprehensive/physical damage insurance coverages, typically marked for adjustment an annual or more frequent basis by your insurer.
Price Digests' "Commerical Truck Single Search" value-lookup tool offers:
- A complete report on the vehicle including all available data points among those listed under "Product Detail" at this link.
- Access to truck specs, values, and data for three months.
- A downloadable pdf of the report.
Get started with Price Digests' Commercial Truck Single Search, whatever your market-valuation needs, via this link.
Additional resources:
- For sellers and/or buyers, Act Research’s “State of the Industry: U.S. Used Trucks Classes 3-8” reports offer broad overviews of used-truck volume/pricing trends.
- For buyers, as detailed in the previous piece of the Partners in Business playbook, Overdrive’s own RigDig Truck History Reports offer a truck’s title history and much more detail.
Read next: There's plenty to consider before entering a lease-purchase agreement with a motor carrier
