Tariff uncertainty and shifting regulatory requirements are forcing trucking procurement into a state of cautious reassessment, according to a major industry survey that canvassed 2,500 fleet executives in 2025. The Transportation Industry Benchmark Survey published by Fleet Advantage shows many operators weighing whether to accelerate purchases, hold off, or maintain existing replacement plans as new engine platforms, tariffs and looming EPA changes reshape cost expectations.
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Industry order data from February underpins that ambivalence with pockets of urgency. FTR reported a 47% rise in preliminary Class 8 truck orders versus January and a 159% increase year on year, while ACT Research recorded February orders up 156% from the prior year. According to Fleet Advantage, those figures point to a meaningful cohort of carriers moving into a pre-buy stance to replace ageing assets before anticipated price and specification shifts take effect.
Fleet leaders remain split on strategy. The survey found that 45% of respondents had not settled on a procurement approach for 2026, while among those who had decided, roughly a quarter intended to increase truck acquisitions, a similar share planned no change to schedules, and a small minority expected to reduce purchases. The legacy CARB pre-buy that dominated planning in 2023 has largely dissipated, but its influence on fleet thinking endures.
Operators are grappling with the operational consequences of deferred renewals. More than half of fleets now run trucks for five years or longer, a rise from earlier years, and many point to direct operational impacts: 35% said older model-year trucks (2019 and earlier) have had a moderate effect on safety, while 10% reported a significant impact. Maintenance reliance has climbed in parallel, with a substantial shift toward third-party servicing, 65% of fleets now use outsourced maintenance compared with 29% in 2023, reflecting efforts to contain repair exposure as vehicles age.
There is a clear financial logic behind the caution. Finance teams cite variable and rising maintenance and repair costs as their top concern, followed by volatile fuel prices and the burden of high interest rates on financing and leasing. Nearly half of survey respondents struggle to calculate and track lifecycle metrics such as total cost of ownership and maintenance cost per mile, complicating long-range capital planning. Only a small proportion report strong returns from recent truck purchases.
At the executive level, profitability and risk control dominate strategic priorities. Almost half of CEOs, CFOs and COOs identified improvements in overall profitability and EBITDA margin as their foremost objectives over the next three to five years, with shareholder value, scalable growth and operational safety also high on the agenda. Key performance indicators for fleets continue to centre on fuel efficiency, maintenance cost per mile and asset utilisation.
Data and analytics are increasingly part of the response, though adoption is uneven. Most fleets rely on external benchmarking and data services; predictive modelling and specification-optimising analytics are used by a minority, and a notable share operate without structured analytics, using only basic reporting. Adoption of artificial intelligence is emerging but cautious: Fleet Advantage’s supplementary survey suggests many fleets are in partial adoption phases, using AI for processing and predictive tasks but expressing limited confidence in AI-generated procurement decisions.
Against that backdrop, vendors and finance partners are offering targeted programmes. Fleet Advantage has launched a Capital Cost Avoidance Program intended to help private fleets insulate purchases from projected 2027 cost increases tied to EPA changes and tariffs. The company says the initiative has already enabled several large clients to expedite nearly half of planned purchases, delivering material cost savings. Industry commentary frames such offers as one option for fleets seeking to lock in prices and specifications ahead of regulatory-driven price movement; observers note, however, that company announcements should be read with appropriate editorial distance.
The policy and market environment leaves fleets balancing short-term cost control against the longer-term risks of running older equipment. Rising maintenance bills, fuel inefficiency and safety deterioration argue for renewal, while tariff exposure, uncertain engine-platform transitions and financing pressures encourage a measured approach. As one industry figure put it in the survey release, “There is a massive surge in maintenance reliance and a direct correlation between aging equipment and increased safety incidents; it is clear that clean, actionable data is no longer a luxury; it is the only way for fleets to set multi-year planning to accurately calculate total cost of ownership and make the high-stakes strategic decisions required to protect their margins over the next five years,” said Matthew Wiedmeyer, CTP, senior director of asset performance and maintenance at Fleet Advantage.
For many operators the immediate task will be to translate imperfect data into defensible capital decisions, whether by accelerating purchases to avoid anticipated price jumps, restructuring lease and maintenance arrangements, or investing in analytics and predictive maintenance to extend asset life with manageable risk. Industry surveys and market order trends indicate that the coming 12 to 18 months will be decisive for fleets seeking to reconcile cost pressures, regulatory change and operational resilience.
Source: Noah Wire Services
