Much is changing in the heavy equipment world—from the financing to the attachments to the embedded technology to the type of worker operating the machine. Keeping an eye on the trends will be key to ensuring success in the future.
First, we see data from the U.S. BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) shows a bump in employment. Overall employment of heavy vehicle and mobile equipment service technicians is projected to grow 9% from 2023 to 2033, or roughly 24,100 openings each year on average throughout the course of the decade. This is faster than the average for all occupations due to several factors such as workers transferring to other jobs or exiting the labor force through retirement.
Equipment Trends
While the labor market is experiencing some changes, so is the equipment market itself. In May, Equipment Trader released its 2025 Heavy Equipment Market Trends Report, which looks at pricing shifts by equipment type, most-searched brands by region, trending attachments, and more. One key takeaway here is used equipment is still king, making up more than half of all search impressions in 2024. Not surprisingly, concerns over high interest rates and tight margins make the budget a top priority for many.
The report suggests listings for used excavators, loaders, and compact track machines are seeing increased traffic. Used skid steers remain the most searched-for category, representing more than 20% of all searches. In addition to lower upfront costs, contractors also seek this route because there are often shorter lead times for used equipment and there is confidence in certified pre-owned programs as well.
Financing searches have jumped by 22% on the platform, pointing to demand for creative purchase strategies amid economic uncertainty. Rental is still a big priority for many as well.
However, perhaps, the biggest takeaway here is the heavy equipment industry is stabilizing after several years of market and supply-chain disruption. Enter technological disruption.
Technology Trends
A deep dive into a report from Transparency Market Research points to another trend to keep an eye on: AI (artificial intelligence). More specifically, AI-enabled predictive maintenance in the heavy equipment market. To be clear, this certainly isn’t new, but it is growing at a rapid clip.
For those who may not know, a combination of sensors and machine learning can give equipment operators key insights into a machine to predict or anticipate failure before it even happens. Ultimately, this means a longer lifecycle for an asset on the jobsite or working in the field increasing overall uptime and worker productivity in the end. Bottomline, the market is anticipated to grow exponentially from 2025-2035. And if all goes well, companies should focus on training more operators, which means more uptime as a result.
Looking at Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, the report shows:
Threat of new entrants: Moderate since entry into this market involves a very high-cost requirement.
Bargaining power of supplier: Supplier have a limited influence due to many vendors involved.
Bargaining power of buyers: Strong bargaining power for buyers on account of multiples options.
Threat of substitutes: Preventative and reactive maintenance systems are an alternative but are less effective and costly.
Industry rivalry: Intense competition prevails.
Of course, AI-enabled predictive maintenance in the heavy equipment is only the beginning. In the days ahead, we will see new advancements as well, such as the integration of digital twins and edge computing.
In the automotive world, we are seeing the rise of SDVs (software-defined vehicles). Technology is completely changing the way we drive and design the next generation of vehicles and fleets.
And it is changing the way we manage construction projects. Technology can bring greater efficiency, safety, and precision—and that is certainly what is happening in the heavy equipment market.
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