As trucking dealerships approach 2025, it’s not just the political landscape that will change, but industry complexities plaguing many dealerships. From economic pressures to evolving customer expectations, dealership leaders face both persistent and emerging challenges—and opportunities. Understanding these trends is essential to strategically position your dealership for the future.
Economic Pressures and Market Volatility
The trucking industry continues to weather intense economic pressures. Despite top-line GDP growth, the U.S. economy this year has been buoyed by services, not goods. This has driven down freight volumes and pricing, forcing carriers to reduce utilization rates and purchasing plans. Regulations also have become a thorn in the industry’s side as customers, manufacturers and dealers alike navigate rule changes that put limitations on what equipment can be bought and sold.
Softening demand: Three years after the supply chain broke down, crippling new truck production and sending used truck prices into the stratosphere, the truck sales market has reversed course. New truck orders fell behind 2023 levels from the outset and remain down year to date despite seasonal upswings. Used truck sales also remain weak. Pricing in the used sector has mostly fallen for two consecutive years. Demand has picked up recently, but ACT Research experts believe it may take until 2025 for price to positively respond. And the trailer market hasn’t escaped these challenges, with recent order totals nearing all-time recorded lows. These challenges underscore the importance of understanding a dealer’s prospective customer base. RigDig’s data-driven insights offer dealers tools to better identify customers in healthier market segments to approach, and prepare their salespeople for an upswing when it arrives.
Fixed operations down: Falling utilization rates among truck fleets have also put strain on dealer parts and service departments. With fewer trucks on the road, parts sales have been falling for more than a year. In service shops, volumes are mostly steady, but pricing has softened after the inflationary environment of 2023. In this environment, RigDig can offer invaluable data, helping dealers identify previously unknown customers in a market to boost a location’s sales potential.
Rising Customer Expectations & Technological Adaptation
Truck dealers today face a transformed customer landscape. The rise of digitalization has reshaped what customers expect from a dealership experience. According to a JD Power survey on automotive buyer behavior, customers now anticipate a wealth of data-backed insights, including vehicle history, performance metrics, and maintenance records (JD Power). This shift presents both a challenge and an opportunity for dealers to strengthen customer loyalty through transparent and data-driven service.
Transparency in Sales: Deloitte’s Global Automotive Consumer Study shows a distinct consumer preference for real-time data in purchase decisions, especially in high-cost industries like trucking (Deloitte Study). Dealers can leverage RigDig’s suite of tools to offer transparency and data-backed guidance, which can greatly improve customer trust and satisfaction.
Digital Tools in Sales and Management: Dealerships leveraging AI and predictive analytics report higher productivity and customer satisfaction. However, integrating these technologies can be challenging, particularly for staff less comfortable with digital tools. For example, RigDig’s insights on customer preferences and buying cycles enable dealers to tailor sales strategies, ensuring they’re prepared for customer needs before they even walk in the door.
Fleet and Inventory Management Technologies: RigDig’s research illustrates how digital tools can transform dealership operations, particularly through advanced fleet and inventory management. Digital solutions in this area provide a competitive edge, enabling dealers to more accurately predict inventory needs and monitor fleet performance. RigDig’s data-driven reports and case studies have shown measurable benefits for operations that use these tools, supporting their ability to meet evolving customer demands while improving internal efficiencies.
Environmental Regulations and EV Transition
As trucking navigates regulatory changes, environmental compliance emerges as a critical priority. Though nationwide zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption in the trucking space remains low, regulations currently in place in California and proposed for the entire nation will force manufacturers and vehicle buyers to integrates ZEVs into their operations in the decades ahead. To support this shift, dealers will need to overhaul their locations and train their associates to sell and service this equipment intelligently and safely. How and when cities and municipalities will integrate this new technology has yet to be seen but adoption is happening. In a recent article in CCJ, Jason Cannon reports how the City of Madison, Wisconsin has recently purchased two battery electric garbage trucks, which came with a surprising, albeit pleasant side effect, a much quieter garbage collection for every house on the route.1
Talent and Workforce Development
Labor shortages and a skills gap in digital sales capabilities have made workforce development a critical concern for all dealership locations. Younger, tech-savvy workers are hesitant to enter the industry, often deterred by its perceived lack of digital integration. This trend, outlined in the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) analysis of labor trends, exacerbates challenges in hiring and retaining talent (SHRM Analysis).
Skills Gap in Digital Sales: A Randstad report highlights the need for digital skills across logistics and sales sectors, showing that dealerships must invest in training to future-proof their teams (Randstad Report). With RigDig’s user-friendly platform, dealers can support staff in adapting to digital sales tools, bridging the skills gap, and enhancing team productivity. RigDig’s solutions are designed to be accessible, enabling dealers to implement digital tools without extensive technical expertise—benefiting both dealers and their customers by streamlining the sales process.
As the trucking industry faces these multifaceted challenges, RigDig remains an essential ally for dealers aiming to navigate the complexities of 2025. By providing data-driven insights across inventory, customer expectations, regulatory compliance, and workforce development, RigDig equips dealers with the tools to enhance efficiency and meet industry demands. As the industry evolves, dealers who embrace digital transformation through solutions like RigDig will not only keep pace but thrive in an increasingly competitive market.