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.”
