https://www.taylorandmartin.com/The used truck market is often volatile season to season, and for those who know how to read it, the truck market is one of the most honest real-time indicators of where the broader freight economy is heading. For Steve Oliver, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Taylor & Martin Auctioneers, that kind of analysis features in the daily reality of running one of the country’s most established commercial vehicle auction sales teams.
Oliver sat down with FreightWaves Loaded and Rolling host Thomas Wasson to talk tariffs, used truck scarcity, the return of the American dream in trucking, and what Taylor & Martin has been building to meet a market that may finally be turning in carriers’ favor.
According to Oliver, what happens in the used truck market is typically a reflection of what’s happening in the new truck market.
“A large part of the equipment that ends up at an auction site is a result of people who buy new equipment, put it through their use cycle, and then make it available to others on the used market,” Oliver explained.
The ecosystem of new trucks flowing into large fleets, then trading down into the auction market for small and medium-sized operators is part of the normal circulatory rhythm of the commercial vehicle industry. But for much of the past two years, that rhythm has been disrupted. Tariff uncertainty, soft freight rates, and broader macroeconomic hesitation caused larger fleets to hold their equipment longer, which has broken the cycle that typically keeps a steady stream of late-model used trucks flowing to auction.
“A lot of those fleets aren’t ordering new replacement trucks,” Oliver said. “They’re holding on to equipment a little longer than they normally run it, so that creates some scarcity in the marketplace.”
That scarcity matters enormously to the small and medium-sized fleet operators who depend on the auction market to grow their businesses affordably. When big fleets stop upgrading, their slightly older iron doesn’t reach the market, and the operators waiting to scale have fewer options at a time when, increasingly, they have reasons to want them.
One of the things Oliver finds most compelling about the auction business is its immediacy. Unlike manufacturing orders or contract rate negotiations, which play out over months, the auction floor offers something closer to a live pulse of the market.
“The minute something is announced with regards to better spot rates and there are better rates available for people who are really the backbone of the country, you see that in real time in the auction setting,” Oliver said. “The owner-operators and small carriers who drive these trucks know they can make a good living hauling freight, and they start expanding.”
FreightWaves has been tracking “green shoots” in the spot rate market, and Oliver confirmed that those signals are translating directly into auction activity. Values on equipment have begun to tick up, which goes hand-in-hand with increasing buyer interest. The optimism that precedes market recovery is already driving decisions.
“That positivity will hopefully lead to the continuation of the normal cycle of big fleets ordering new trucks and previously used equipment coming out on the market,” Oliver said.
The cycle, in other words, may be restarting, and for the thousands of small and medium carriers who have been waiting out the downturn, the timing could not be better.
“When there are increasing freight rates, that pulls all of the American dreamers into the business,” Oliver said. “That’s always been the great thing about the trucking business. You can put a truck to work. You work it yourself. You can make a great living.”
For the owner-operators and small fleet owners who populate the auction buyer base, it makes sense to run more trucks when the freight rates allow for profitable miles. Adding one or two units at auction, at the right price, can be the difference between a lifestyle business and a genuine growth opportunity, Oliver says.
There’s another factor working in these operators’ favor that often gets overlooked in the broader discussion of freight market recovery: diesel. Fuel costs, which can make or break the economics of a small fleet, have come down considerably. Falling diesel prices meaningfully improve the business case for owner-operators who run older, less fuel-efficient trucks.
“Between freight rates and fuel costs, there are some positive things for small and medium-sized fleets that haven’t been in their favor for a long time,” Oliver said.
Buying a used commercial truck is not like buying a used sedan. The stakes are categorically different. A Class 8 tractor is often the single largest capital investment a small carrier makes, and a catastrophic mechanical failure early on in ownership can be financially devastating. For years, the industry’s answer to that anxiety was for buyers to inspect equipment themselves.
That model worked fine until it didn’t. The pandemic accelerated a shift toward remote buying that has fundamentally changed auction dynamics. Fewer buyers physically inspect equipment before bidding. More transactions happen at a distance, based on photos, condition reports, and trust in the auction house’s reputation.
“We want to make sure that people can be comfortable buying equipment from us, even if they have to do it remotely,” Oliver said.
Taylor & Martin’s response to that challenge is one of the most substantive new offerings the company has introduced in years. In 2026, the company launched a 60-day, 20,000-mile catastrophic engine protection on eligible equipment purchased at its auctions, all at no cost to buyers.
“We want to provide a level of comfort that people are looking for when they can’t be at the auction in person to inspect equipment,” Oliver said.
The warranty is not designed to replace the expertise of the on-site team; Taylor & Martin has long been known for its truck-specialist staff who will walk a piece of equipment and give an honest assessment to a buyer on the phone. Still, the engine warranty puts institutional weight behind the company’s long-standing reputation for integrity.
Taylor & Martin, which was acquired by Japanese conglomerate Mitsui roughly two years ago, has been using that institutional backing to accelerate geographic expansion.
Mitsui’s footprint in the U.S. rolling stock and transportation sector is substantial. The company holds major stakes in Penske and the Penske Auto Group and owns Hino Distribution, among other transportation assets. That support has given Taylor & Martin the runway to open new auction sites in Houston and Saugerties, New York, and most recently in Vacaville, California.
The Vacaville location is Taylor & Martin’s most targeted West Coast push yet.
“We’ve always served California from our Vegas location, but now we’re right in the midst of a major agricultural and trucking center between Sacramento and San Francisco,” Oliver said. “A lot of the customers and stakeholders that we usually take care of are in that area.”
A Florida location is also planned for later in 2026, completing what amounts to a significant national footprint buildout. For a company that has historically served the Southeast and Midwest from a Nebraska base, these expansions are a deliberate bet that the next phase of freight market recovery will drive meaningful regional demand.
Large fleet dispersals are among the most consequential events in the commercial vehicle auction world. When a major carrier liquidates equipment, the volumes involved can shape the supply side of the used truck market for months. Taylor & Martin landed one of the biggest such events in recent memory: the dispersal of 10 Roads Express, a postal carrier whose business shifted when the U.S. Postal Service changed its contract structure.
The scale of the assignment includes more than 4,000 tractors and trailers in total. Taylor & Martin moved over 1,300 pieces of that equipment in January alone, with another 2,500 to 2,700 pieces scheduled to come to market in the months ahead.
“It’s one of the most exciting things that we’ve done since our last big dispersal, which was New England Motor Freight in 2019,” Oliver said.
What makes the 10 Roads assignment particularly well-suited to Taylor & Martin’s model is the company’s weekly consignment auction schedule. Rather than staging a standalone mega-sale that requires buyers to plan around a single event, Taylor & Martin can layer the 10 Roads inventory into its regular auction cadence without disrupting the format buyers already know.
“Because of our consistent consignment auction schedule, we’re selling weekly somewhere in the country,” Oliver explained. “We’re able to kind of piggyback those equipment sales onto our regular consignment sales just by adding locations. That makes it easy for people to buy really good value trucks and trailers at auction.”
For more information on upcoming auctions, the 10 Roads dispersal, or to register to bid, visit www.taylorandmartin.com.
