It’s been a long while since the construction equipment market saw consistent availability and attractive prices. Constraints in production and the supply chain that started during the 2020 economic slowdown of the COVID-19 pandemic have had a long tail in the heavy equipment sector, keeping prices high for used machines. And with a busy summer construction season underway, many fleet managers are hanging on to aging equipment or eating the elevated costs to get the iron they need to do the work they have booked.
the construction sector right now, the thing that sticks out to me is that the activity levels are falling for [sales of used equipment],” says Sam Pierce, sales engineer with industry analyst EquipmentWatch. The analyst firm’s numbers showed a year-over-year drop in construction equipment resale activity of 30.3% in May 2022 (the most recent data available), which is also down 45.6% from the resale activity level seen back in May 2020.