After a strong September, commercial vehicle orders in Class 8 posted a surprising month-over-month gain in October, according to preliminary numbers compiled by research firm ACT Research.
“At this level of order activity, there is probably some incremental fleet growth taking place,” said Steve Tam, ACT vice president-commercial vehicle sector. “The underlying fundamentals in the heavy truck market are all healthy. Fleet equipment is old, trucker profitability is good, used truck values are strong, and financing is generally available. The strength in orders supports ACT’s forecast for next year.”
According to order numbers for October, ACT is predicting 27,700 net orders for heavy duty Class 8 and 13,300 for medium-duty Class 5-7 vehicles.
Final numbers will be released later this month.
September finished with a 55% year-over-year gain and 12% month-over-month, with a total of 23,600 net Class 8 units. Class 5-7 net orders rose 8% month-over-month.
