The average sales price for a used Class 8 vehicle sold in May set the all-time record, jumping ahead of April’s claim to that title, amid the trend of strong demand for trucks once again outpacing the available supply, ACT Research reported. The average price was $58,652 compared with $41,027 a year earlier — a price ACT revised from its initial estimate of $36,954 in the 2020 period after it subsequently added participants to its database. In April, the average price was $57,371.Sales hit 20,700 compared with 16,400 a year earlier when they were smacked down amid COVID-19.

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Legislation designed to update the country’s surface transportation policies is scheduled for floor consideration this week, likely Tuesday or Wednesday, in the U.S. House of Representatives. The leaders of the chamber’s Democratic majority tout the legislation as a key piece of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure agenda. They intend to advance the bill prior to July 4. The five-year, $547 billion bill would reauthorize a federal highway policy law, which expires at the end of September. Learn more in this week's Capitol Agenda.

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The optimism surrounding the announcement of a bipartisan infrastructure deal on Thursday was doused with a bucket of sudden uncertainty on Friday, as Republican senators expressed shock to learn of conditions President Joe Biden set for signing the deal. In Biden’s second of two press conferences Thursday, he said he would only sign the infrastructure deal in tandem with a companion package of nearly $6 trillion containing funding for other administration priorities. Senators who were part of the bipartisan group were never told of such an explicit linking of the two packages, two people familiar with the discussions told the Associated Press. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina tweeted Friday, “No deal by extortion!”

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President Joe Biden and a group of bipartisan lawmakers announced yesterday that they had come to an agreement on an infrastructure proposal. The deal includes some $559 billion in new spending, with more than $300 billion of that devoted to transportation. According to a fact sheet published by the White House, $109 billion would go to roads, bridges and major projects; $66 billion to passenger and freight rail; and $16 billion to ports and waterways. The plan would also include $7.5 billion for electric vehicle infrastructure.

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The latest in trucking and transportation news.

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Truck tonnage rose 3.7% in May compared with year-ago levels, and is pacing well against comparisons to the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, according to American Trucking Associations’ For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index. Through the first five months, the index is up 0.4% compared with 2020. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that freight will remain strong in the near term, but the industry is facing some significant challenges, such as difficulty finding qualified drivers.

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Amazon announced that it has placed an order for 1,000 autonomous driving systems from Plus. The retail giant also has acquired an option to buy as much as 20% of the self-driving truck startup. Plus is planning a merger with a special purpose acquisition company and is set to have a valuation of $3.3 billion, the company said last month.

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Some fleet operators, especially package couriers and final-mile delivery providers, achieved significant revenue growth in 2020 amid a surge in e-commerce volumes. Other trucking companies contended with severe supply chain disruptions and market volatility in the initial months of the coronavirus outbreak. This dichotomy is reflected in the 2021 Transport Topics Top 100 For-Hire Carriers list, which is split nearly evenly between companies that reported a revenue decline in 2020 and those that still managed to grow during the year of COVID-19. A spate of major acquisitions among the largest for-hire carriers also has reshuffled this year’s Top 100 list. Check out the complete rankings, in print and now on our website.

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Rep. Peter DeFazio says he is well aware that being stuck in traffic is bad for business. For that reason, he wants to remind the country that his new highway bill is designed to help everyone spend less time in traffic. DeFazio, chairman of the U.S. House transportation committee, is the author of a comprehensive five-year, $547 billion highway bill that he says would be the largest-ever single investment in surface transportation infrastructure. He said, “People are pretty tired of congestion. They’re pretty tired of repair costs [because] of potholes. They’re tired of detours.”

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U.S. retail sales in May for Classes 4-7 improved 36% compared with a year earlier, as all but the heaviest class showed strong gains, WardsAuto.com reported. Sales reached 20,134 compared with 14,809 in the 2020 period. Year-to-date sales jumped 21.5% to 99,318 compared with 81,766 last year. Act Research Vice President Steve Tam said, “Private fleets and lease and rental fleets are driving the demand, largely, and most of what is occurring is replacement activity.”

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