Truck orders and backlog continue to rise in February

Class 8 orders and backlog continue to rise

truck-whirr-generic

According to ACT Research Co.’s final numbers for the month of February, the order onslaught continued. Although Class 8 orders fell below January’s second-best ever mark, February was still the seventh-best month for Class 8 orders ever recorded.

U.S. and Canadian tractors remain the primary drivers of outsized order volumes, rising 107% and 112% year-over-year, respectively, in February. North American vocational truck orders were up 40% y/y—the same mark as January.

“The drivers of current order strength are broad-based, with supply-side, demand-side, and exogenous factors all contributing to the outsized level of U.S. and Canadian Class 8 order activity,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst.  “Orders well above the rate of production continue to propel backlog growth. Class 8 backlog rose nearly 17,000 units from January, to 177,451 units, a nearly three-year high.”

“The medium-duty markets,” Vieth noted, “are experiencing their own high-side order breakouts. While unable to rise above January’s ‘best in twelve years’ volume, February orders, at 26,651 units, remained well above the prevailing trend. Order strength in this sector is now at a level not seen this decade.”

You May Also Like

Decisiv adds SRM Sentinel Managed Care to TICO Edge

According to Decisiv, the new addition to the service management platform lets customers to proactively meet service needs and improve uptime.

Decisiv-TICO-TMC-2024-Dick-Hyatt

Decisiv Inc., a provider of Service Relationship Management (SRM) solutions, announced at the TMC 2024 Annual Meeting, that its Decisiv SRM Sentinel Managed Care application has been added to the TICO Edge platform. Decisiv says the addition of SRM Sentinel allows the manufacturer’s dealer network, customers and the TICO Uptime Center to collaborate in real-time for service and repairs.

Noregon announces ZF tractor, trailer telematics collaboration

The two companies demonstrated an early version of the paired telematics collaboration at the TMC 2024 Annual Meeting.

Noregon-TMC-ZF-partnership-telematics
The new Volvo VNL’s connectivity aims to boost productivity, streamline maintenance

Real-time fleet monitoring, remote updates, and extended service intervals for optimized truck performance.

Volvo-connectivity-service-TMC-1400
Pressure Systems International introduces new Geotab Marketplace offering

TireView LIVE integrates with Geotab, providing real-time tire monitoring, analytics and tire management.

PSI-TireViewLive-Geotab-TMC
Serjon highlights cybersecurity training as tech connects trucks

After successful attacks on large fleets, Serjon says it’s important to keep all employees trained on detecting cybersecurity threats.

Trailer Telematics-cybersecurity-attacks-hacking-safety

Other Posts

FTR: Class 8 orders fell in February, up year-over-year

Despite the 9% drop from January, FTR says net orders for February are up 11% year-to-year, according to preliminary data.

FTR-Feb-2024-preliminary-net-orders
ACT Research: Freight capacity decline likely to continue

The latest release of ACT’s For-Hire Trucking Index reflects the slowly progressing freight market recovery.

ACT-for-hire-volumes-Jan-2024
ELFA: January new business volume up 6% Y/Y

Despite falling from December’s high, the association’s earlier predictions of a strong start to 2024 are still on track.

Equipment-leasing-finance-association-monthly-ELFA-MLFI-JAN-24
Class 8 orders strong in February

Even when seasonally adjusted, ACT says preliminary order numbers for February are up 5% over January.

ACT-Class-8-Feb-truck-orders