ACT Research

Preliminary Class 8 truck orders in North America reached a two-year high in October with more than 40,000 reservations.

Increased freight volume and higher carrier profits always drive Class 8 truck demand. The circumstances in 2020 differ from 2018’s tax cut-driven boom, but reasons for the surge are identical.

All stakeholders are experiencing used truck momentum despite and because of the lingering pandemic.

Cash from higher spot rates and replacement orders led September Class 8 truck orders to their highest monthly total since October 2019

Pulled along by improving orders for new Class 8 trucks, demand for late-model heavy-duty used trucks continues to swell.

The continuing rebound in trailer orders is in line with three-year high in spot freight rates as consumers buy more goods than services.

Record freight rates led to another solid month of Class 8 truck orders despite a pandemic, a presidential campaign and social unrest.

Demand headwinds will place “downwards pressure on revenue and earnings likely into 2021” for trailer manufacturer Wabash National. This was part of the rationale behind credit rating agency Moody’s lowering its ratings on the company.

Prices are firming and demand is rising for used trucks after more than a year of doldrums mirroring a slowdown in new truck orders.

The last time capacity tightened to this level, capacity flooded the trucking space. Will the same outcome occur in 2020?

Despite economic uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, freight demand drove July Class 8 orders to their highest levels in six months.

Cautious optimism expressed for the June trucking market by analysts at both organizations

Preliminary orders for Class 8 trucks in June rebounded to a four-month high, following a rapid improvement in freight rates.

It’s a bargain hunter’s market for used trucks, especially sleeper cabs, as prices come off the floor but demand for one-owner equipment remained slack in May.

After an April in which practically no net trailer orders were added to build schedules, a big improvement in May was welcome, but it’s still the second-weakest month on record.

Near-shutdown of Class 8 truck production in May resulted in stagnant orders as COVID-19 lockdowns took hold.

The numbers game is intensifying as falling used truck prices and swelling inventories persuade fleets to hang on to younger equipment until they can break even.

April’s coronavirus impact intensified pricing pressure in an already depressed used truck market where most cash-conserving buyers held back on purchases.

Class 8 orders in April plummeted to their lowest level since September 1995 as the COVID-19 pandemic froze new bookings and led to postponing near-term deliveries.

The largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks puts worker protections in place as it tries to make up for production lost to the coronavirus pandemic.