NTEA – The Association for the Work Truck Industry published its 10th annual Fleet Purchasing Outlook to showcase vehicle acquisition trends for the work truck industry. The insights provided by fleet professionals give the entire commercial vehicle community perspective on anticipated purchasing intent and areas of greatest interest to fleet managers.

“Responses to the 2022 survey indicate fleet purchasing activity will focus more on replacement than expansion,” said Steve Carey, NTEA president & CEO. “This is consistent with expectations, given the fleet purchasing cycle peaked in 2018–2019 and that fleets continue to be challenged by the ability to obtain chassis.”

NTEA gathers feedback from a wide variety of fleet professionals in mid- to high-level management with authority to make truck acquisition and vehicle specification decisions. Participants come from a wide range of fleet sizes, vehicle weight classes, and vocational truck applications across the U.S. and Canada. Primary sectors featured in this analysis include government/municipal, construction, delivery and utility/telecom application markets. The report is based on Fleet Purchasing Outlook survey results, with data from previous years serving as a benchmark to establish trends and allow year-to-year comparisons.

Report Findings Showcase

·       Average truck age and replacement cycles

·       Macro-level buying tendencies

·       Predicted change in fleet size

·       Main factors driving purchase behavior

·       Interest in advanced truck technologies and alternative fuels

·       Approach to safety and automation

·       Importance of financial purchasing incentives

Fleet respondents report their most important management focus areas continue to include safety, maintenance costs, idle reduction and uptime (keeping drivers on the road). Other than acquisition costs, funding and lead times are among the biggest challenges faced in purchasing new trucks.

Respondent Feedback

  • 49% — average truck age is increasing this year 
  • 29% — average truck age does not exceed normal replacement cycle
  • 75% — indicate an average truck age of 5–15 years (similar to levels reported last two years for this age range)
  • 57% — report current funding for planned acquisitions (a 7-percentage point increase from 2021 levels; response from fleets planning to acquire trucks in 2022)
  • 83% — purchasing decisions influenced by longer chassis lead times (response from fleets planning to acquire trucks in 2022)
  • 89% — plan to make at least some acquisitions in 2022 (this is in line with 2021)
  • 39% — anticipate procuring Class 7 vehicles in 2022 (response from fleets planning to acquire trucks in 2022)
  • 39% — anticipate acquiring more trucks in 2022 than in 2021
  • 32% — plan to replace more than 10% of their trucks in 2022 (response from fleets planning to acquire trucks in 2022)
  • 39% — expect a fleet size expansion in the year ahead
  • 62% — making specification changes to enhance fuel economy and reduce fuel usage
  • 80% — do not expect a vehicle platform shift (response from fleets planning to acquire trucks in 2022)