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New Report: Employment at U.S. Commercial Truck Dealerships Up 5.6% in 2016

TYSONS, Va. (April 26, 2017) - Employment at U.S. commercial truck dealerships has reached its highest point in five years, according to a new report from the American Truck Dealers (ATD), a division of the National Automobile Dealers Association.

The nation's 2,261 franchised heavy- and medium-duty truck dealerships employed 129,392 workers in 2016, up 5.6 percent from the previous year, according to ATD Data 2016, the annual financial profile of America's new-truck dealerships.

“Commercial truck dealerships contribute to their communities with jobs that pay well and offer the opportunity for advancement,” said ATD/NADA Senior Economist Patrick Manzi. “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.”

Total sales at truck dealerships topped $85.4 billion in 2016, down 8.3 percent. The top-10 states in sales by rank were Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Georgia.

In 2016, total sales on average were more than $37.8 million per dealership, down 8.8 percent from 2015. Net profit before tax was $854,374 per dealership or 2.3 percent as a percentage of total sales, which was down from 3 percent in 2015.

Other key highlights from ATD Data 2016 include:

  • An average of 57 workers were employed per dealership in 2016, up from 55 in 2015.
  • U.S. truck dealerships employed 44,108 technicians in 2016, up 17.4 percent.
  • There were 400,358 Class 4 to Class 8 trucks sold in 2016, down 11 percent compared to the previous year.
  • An average of 145 new trucks were sold per dealership in 2016, down from 188 in 2015.
  • An average 52 used trucks were sold per dealership in 2016.
  • Truck dealerships wrote 10.2 million repair orders, up 7.1 percent.
  • The average selling price of a Class 8 new truck was $119,574, down 0.6 percent from 2015.
  • The average selling price of a Class 8 used truck was $47,217, down 11.6 percent from 2015.
  • Service and parts sales totaled more than $27.9 billion in 2016, up 5.9 percent.

There are two versions of ATD Data 2016. One is a detailed infographic that can be shared by print and broadcast news outlets as well as on social media. The full report includes the Average Truck Dealership Profile, financial trends, sales data, employment figures and more.

ATD Data 2016 was updated with completely re-benchmarked data and methodologies. As a result, data and figures from previously released reports will not be comparable to the 2016 report.

To download either version of ATD Data 2016, visit www.nada.org/atddata.