Preliminary numbers for the commercial truck market show an improvement in December, both compared to November and to December of 2016, according to the data from both ACT Research Co. and FTR.
ACT’s preliminary North America Classes 5-8 net order data shows the industry booked 58,800 units in December, bringing the full-year net order tally to 543,400. The December order volume represents an 11% improvement from November and a 35% improvement from December 2016. December is usually a strong month for orders, but the holidays constrain production, resulting in an increased backlog, ACT noted.
Preliminary N.A. Class 8 net orders remained elevated, climbing 4,800 units from November to 37,500 units in December. “The last month of 2017 was the best monthly order intake since December 2014,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst. “December’s order volume represents a sequential improvement of 15%, and a year-over-year gain of 76%.”
Medium-duty Classes 5-7 orders were steady in December, although mixed. “Preliminary data indicate that Classes 5-7 net orders inched higher from November to 21,300 units. However, on a year-over-year basis, orders dropped 3.7%,” said Vieth. “For all of 2017, N.A. MD Classes 5-7 orders totaled 249,700 units.”
FTR’s numbers show preliminary North American Class 8 orders at 37,200 units, 15% better than November totals and up 77% versus a year ago. This would be the highest level of orders since the 40,000-plus orders that were seen in Q4 of 2014. Distribution of the orders continues to be inconsistent across the OEMs; however, no OEM is showing any significant weakness in order activity, FTR noted. North American Class 8 orders for the past twelve months have now totaled 290,000 units.
“ELD implementation is now in full swing and will continue through the initial enforcement phase of April 1 of this year,” Jonathan Starks, FTR’s chief operating officer, commented. “This is contributing to the tight capacity environment and is combining with strong freight activity to move freight rates higher. Our forecast continues to call for an increase in production for 2018, but market expectations are varied for 2019.”
