According to the latest State of the Industry report from ACT Research, Class 8 booked just more than 24,600 net new orders in July, while Classes 5-7 posted 15,900 net orders. Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst, noted that at the midway point of quarter three, the economy and freight markets are being buffeted by cross-currents, generating mixed signals.
“In July, Class 8 orders broke to the high side of expectations for the first time since February, producing seasonally adjusted net orders to 29,600,” said Vieth. “Helping drive the high-side outcome in July was a large press-release worthy 9,000 unit, multi-year order, but even if this is excluded July’s orders were well ahead of expectations.”
Concerning medium duty, Vieth said, “On balance, the Classes 5-7 market saw orders improve from June to July, with broad-based strength in Classes 6-7 orders (up 7% y/y) offsetting weakness in Class 5 orders, which were down 12% y/y.” He added, “The improvement in Classes 6-7 orders would have been stronger but for a sharp drop in step van orders versus a one-off order last July.”
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