N.A. Class 8 Truck Orders Top 20,000 in August

COLUMBUS, IN – There were nearly 20,200 net news Class 8 truck orders during August in North America, while Classes 5-7 totaled almost 17,900, slightly higher than preliminary numbers from earlier this month.

That’s according to a new report from the commercial vehicle data provider ACT Research.

It said August Class 8 data contained several eyebrow-raising data points, including a second consecutive month of off-trend production, cancellations at a 71-month high, and only about 1,000 August orders booked into forth quarter build slots.

“While some items are more worrisome than others, they are interrelated and reflective of underwhelming domestic economic activity,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst. “Add to that, a product denominated in a strong U.S. dollar is adding drag on Class 8 demand on top of soft Canadian and Mexican economies. The strong dollar and weak global economy are also severely impacting exports of heavy trucks from North America.”

Despite this latest development Vieth said “the slow and steady pace of demand remains in place” as Class 5-8 orders were down about 8 percent from the month before and around 14 percent lower compared to a year earlier.

Although the Classes 5-7 market saw orders improve 16 percent from July to August, aggregated they were down 1.4 percent year-over-year, with Class 5 orders up 25 percent from the same time last year, offsetting weakness in Classes 6-7 orders, which were down 14 percent year-over-year.

 “Strength in the Class 5 market was across the board, while trucks and buses conspired to drag down Classes 6-7 orders in August,” he said