Preliminary North American Class 8 orders are solid in April

Preliminary North American Class 8 net truck orders impressed again in March, according to recent data respectively issued by freight transportation consultancy FTR and ACT Research, a provider of data and analysis for trucks and other commercial vehicles.  

FTR reported that preliminary April North American Class 8 orders—at 34,600 units—were down 15% compared to March (snapping a six-month streak of monthly orders topping the 40,000 mark), while remaining above typical seasonal trends. On an annual basis, April orders were up by 30,500 units, with April marking the best order activity for the month going back to 2018.

FTR said that Class 8 orders over the last 12 months now stand at a cumulative 403,000 units.

The firm said that freight growth remains steady, with fleets anticipating a need for additional trucks to expand capacity throughout the balance of the year. And it added that the supply of new trucks remains restrained due to supply chain delays, with carriers continuing to order at “healthy” rates in order to secure new equipment by the end of the year.

“Fleets see the need for more trucks extending out the entire year,” said Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles for FTR, in a statement. “Orders remain elevated, as carriers evaluate their needs in Q4. This indicates they expect freight conditions to continue along at healthy levels right into 2022. The supply chain is stressed right now, limiting the number of new trucks that can be produced. With orders continuing at this pace, it is possible that the supply chain will not be able to catch up with the fantastic truck demand for months. Last year, the industry was faced with all the negative challenges of the pandemic. We came through that surprisingly well under the circumstances. This year we have a whole new set of challenges. It’s almost as if conditions are too good. But the people in the commercial vehicle industry are working extremely hard to catch up with the tremendous demand.”

ACT data: April preliminary North American Class 8 net orders came in at 33,500 units, its lowest level since September 2020, ACT reported. This marked a 16% decline compared to March and a 689% annual gain, due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on production a year ago, at that time.

“For the past several months, we have been counting down the remaining open Class 8 build slots in 2021. For that exercise, we use three numbers: year-to-date Class 8 build, the Class 8 backlog analysis from ACT’s State of the Industry report, and a materials-shortage-constrained 2021 forecast,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst, in a statement. “We start with that preamble to highlight that it is not a surprise that Class 8 orders fell to their lowest level since September and that the decline was strictly driven by the supply of open build slots in 2021, rather than a change in new equipment demand.”