Employment at truck dealerships hit its highest point in five years, according to a report from American Truck Dealers a division of the National Automobile Dealers Association.
Employment was up 5.6% for the year, with medium- and heavy-duty truck dealerships employing 129,392 workers in 2016. The numbers were gathered by ATD in its annual financial profile of America’s new-truck dealerships, ATD Data 2016.
Truck dealerships also employed 17.4% more technicians in 2016 for a total of 44,108. The average dealership employed 57 workers and sold 145 new trucks in the year on average. Despite the increase in employment in 2016, truck sales were actually down 8.3% for the year, topping $85.4 billion.
Sales averaged $37.8 million per dealership, again down 8.8% from the year before. The average price of a new Class 8 truck was $119,574 in 2016 and the average price of a used Class 8 truck was $47,217. The top 10 states in sales by rank were Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Georgia.
“Commercial truck dealerships contribute to their communities with jobs that pay well and offer the opportunity for advancement,” said Patrick Manzi, ATD/NADA senior economist. “In the service department, demand for technical positions remains high, as dealerships help maintain the commercial vehicles that are a vital part of the U.S. transportation infrastructure.”
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