With benchmark prices down 26% year over year, analysts pin hopes for a used truck sales recovery to the restart of the economy. March was a tale of contrasts with decent sales early in the month that plummeted later as too many trucks sought too few loads.
The coronavirus pandemic resulted in half as many year-over-year orders in a month when comparisons were expected to be easy. With truck makers suspending production, even the paltry bookings will go into backlog.
All four major heavy-duty truck manufacturers now have suspended production for at least two weeks, with market leaders Daimler Trucks North America and PACCAR Inc. the latest to stop building trucks because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a peak demand year for Class 8 tractors, high-powered engines dominated under the hood, but even a new heavy-haul transmission from Eaton and Cummins doesn’t affect an accelerating trend toward smaller displacement as tougher emissions standards loom.
ACT Research cannot model downturn scenarios fast enough for Class 8 trucks, but high inventory levels make the coronavirus crisis a good time to take a production break as demand is practically nonexistent.
Before the coronavirus became a pandemic, used truck sales posted their best performance in two years as low prices and seasonality combined to boost an otherwise slow market for older equipment.
Already feeble orders of new tractors took another hit in February as uncertainty over the business impact of the coronavirus kept fleets out of the market.
Swollen inventories of heavy-duty trucks must shrink or manufacturers will need to cut production further to keep the industry order bank from declining further, ACT Research says.
The electrification of the transportation sector is not easy, and it is not something that industry needs governments to lead. But, a little help from state and local governments will go a long way toward moving electrification forward — wherever that leads. “This isn’t something we need Washington to make a call on. It is […]
After consecutive years of record numbers, equipment orders have fallen to replacement cycle levels, making it feel like the industry has fallen off a cliff.
A slower year of trailer production is expected as the equipment backlog waiting to be built fell in 11 of 12 months in 2019.
Daimler Trucks is executing structural changes around the world because of sliding sales.
A host of issues, from regulations to overcapacity, are coming together to place unanticipated stresses on carriers just as 2020 begins.
New Class 8 truck orders dipped to their lowest level in a decade in 2019, payback for an ordering frenzy a year earlier.
Trailer orders move up and down but the overall industry is ending a decade of growth that is just beginning to slow.
It is sort of a hostage situation. New truck orders are stalled until used truck prices go higher.
The power and fuel efficiency of truck engines continue to rise as their size and weight shrink.
Preliminary orders for new Class 8 trucks tumbled again in November after one month of improved bookings, new evidence that a slowing manufacturing economy is sapping all but critical replacement demand.
Volvo Trucks North America will lay off about 700 workers in January, extending an industry pullback in production to match slowing orders of new Class 8 trucks.
The number of used Class 8 trucks for sale continues to grow as new equipment deliveries drain the backlog created during a 2018 order binge.
