ACT Research has found a decline in orders of Class 5-8 vehicles in June, the third consecutive month in which there has been a decline. 34,600 Classes 5-8 vehicle orders were booked in June, which is down 14% from May and down 17% compared to June of last year.

ACT does note that these are preliminary numbers only; the final numbers will be published later in the month.

“ACT Research believes the recent order decline is a reflection of meaningfully larger backlogs rather than any structural change in demand,” Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst said. “Looking back one month to May, Classes 5-8 backlogs were 56,000 units, or 33% above their year-ago levels.”

“At 19,900 units, NA Class 8 orders were down 25% year over year to their lowest monthly net order volume since September 2013. However, starting in June, and for the next several months, seasonal adjustment becomes accretive to Class 8 order volumes,” Vieth added.

“Seasonally adjusted, June’s order volume rises to 22,200 units – the best order month on a seasonally adjusted basis since April,” Vieth said. A large hiccup in medium-duty orders reduced the monthly net order volume to 14,700 units, well below the 19,300 units per month net order average experienced since last July. However, medium-duty orders were down only 3% year over year, so there may be a growing seasonal consideration for softer results in June.”

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