Class 8 truck orders

The overcapacity of on-highway trucks would look worse without underlying support from Mexico and strong vocational demand.

Class 8 truck orders hit a 14-month high in November, surpassing 40,000 bookings amid a mired freight market.

With 2024 orderboards open, Class 8 truck orders hit their highest level of the year in September and suggest fleet optimism.

Class 8 truck orders crossed a seasonally adjusted 20,000 units in August for the fourth consecutive month.

Proposed rulemaking on automatic emergency braking (AEB) introduced in June by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is getting more pushback from a coalition of state law enforcement officials and brake manufacturers that argue more dialogue is needed before moving forward.

Class 8 truck orders rose in July, but they are still in the summer doldrums and trail replacement demand.

Truckload and multimodal carrier J.B. Hunt told analysts on an earnings call Tuesday that it’s still too early to tell how the 2023 peak season for freight will turn out.

Class 8 orders in June remained muted as manufacturers focused on reducing their backlogs of unbuilt trucks.

May’s Class 8 truck orders rose, but a truer measure of manufacturing health is the industry’s still-elevated backlog-to-build number.

Skimpy orders of Class 8 trucks in April mean little because OEMs have lots of backlogged orders to build and bill.

It has been just over a year since Craig Fuller, CEO and founder of FreightWaves, wrote an article titled “Why I believe a freight recession is imminent,” published March 31, 2022, in which he predicted the U.S. trucking market was heading toward a significant downturn.

Truck manufacturers booked about 19,000 Class 8 truck orders in March, a manageable load that lets them whittle away at backlogs.

Class 8 truck orders defied estimates of flattening in February as fleets show they still have money to spend.

FreightWaves’ Noi Mahoney reports that, according to CargoNet data, a surge in cargo thefts near the end of 2022 led to an estimated $223 million in goods being stolen across Canada and the U.S. 

Class 8 truck orders in January fell year over year for the first time since August, lightening the 2023 backlog.

A Republican-backed bill introduced by U.S. Rep Brian Mast, R-Fla., seeks to exempt underage truck drivers from rules that prohibit them from hauling containers to and from marine terminals.

Class 8 truck backlogs enter 2023 in healthy shape despite three consecutive months of lower orders after a record September.

Solid Class 8 orders in November still marked the second straight month of decline as backlogs grow and supply and labor issues persist.

Class 8 truck orders remained strong in October, but lower profits at truckload companies may cool bookings.

After nearly a year of accepting only orders they were sure they could build, heavy-duty truck OEMs fully opened orderbooks in September.

The outlook for trucking companies buying new or used Class 8 trucks can best be described like a 2005 Facebook relationship status — “It’s complicated.” 

Truck manufacturers began to fill build slots for the first quarter of 2023 in August but pent-up demand for equipment remains unstated.

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Volvo Group reported higher truck sales, profits and market share in the second quarter despite ongoing supply chain disruptions.

Don’t expect the restrictions that truck manufacturers are imposing on Class 8 order intake to last. There’s too much at stake.

Class 8 truck orders fell to a seven-month low in April as manufacturers continued to restrict bookings over supply chain uncertainty.

Volvo reported record Q1 truck sales despite ongoing supply chain interruptions. The company took a $423 million charge for suspending Russia business.

The pandemic and the supply chain crisis was a one-two punch for United Road Services, the car hauler that moves 4 million vehicles a year.

With order fulfillment lagging, Nussbaum Transportation counts on its maintenance skill to keep older equipment running longer.

Seeking to avoid the embarrassment of canceling fleet orders last year, truck manufacturers are keeping a tight lid on bookings.

Manufacturers kept the screws tight on new Class 8 truck orders in February as a lack of supply chain visibility maintained stable backlogs.

It took a delicate dance by truck manufacturers and fleets in January to keep Class 8 orders from adding to the industry’s huge backlog.

Class 8 equipment orders are impacted by customer cancellations and OEMs bound by the turning of calendar pages.

Like the doorman at a posh nightclub who decides who gets in, truck manufacturers are choosy about what Class 8 orders they’ll accept.

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Cummins Inc. deals with multiple short-term supply chain glitches, but it could take two years to fix chip shortages, CEO Tom Linebarger says.

Stephens investment conference trucking equipment highlights Supply chain challenges were the main focus at the Stephens annual investment conference earlier this month in Nashville, Tennessee. Executives said driver recruiting and […]

With order backlogs exceeding 14 months, manufacturers are accepting few new orders, frustrating fleet demand.

October was another month of “why bother” as fleets desperate for new Class 8 trucks held off adding bookings to a morass of back orders.

In its last quarter as part of Daimler AG, Daimler Truck reported higher unit sales but lower revenue.

Class 8 truck orders skipped a beat in September as supply shortages delayed the typical order season with fewer new trucks booked.

The last time demand was this high for new Class 8 trucks, fleets placed record orders. Not this time because manufacturing capacity is limited.

Declining Class 8 truck orders in May are deceptive. Fleets would order more but they are holding off because it might take a year to get them.

Microchip shortages and skyrocketing commodity prices make it unlikely that any of the 33,500 new Class 8 trucks ordered in April will be built this year.

PACCAR puts up strong Q1 numbers, including record parts sales that suggest the new truck backlog is boosting aftermarket sales.

Sweden’s Volvo AB reported a record operating margin in Q1 following a warning of up to a month of downtime due to microchip shortages.

There continue to be concerns about when these new orders will be prepared, as many truck manufacturers continue to deal with semiconductor shortages.

March Class 8 truck orders fell slightly from February, but still added to an industry backlog that manufacturers are struggling to reduce.

Class 8 truck orders have exceeded 30,000 a month for six consecutive months, more bookings than in the previous 18 months combined.

Weathering the COVID pandemic drove Volvo Group sales lower in 2020, but market share was stable and new orders are pouring in.

Parts shortages and supply chain issues could push planned Q1 production into spring as robust orders continue in January.

Class 8 truck orders are surging signaling carriers are once again willing to invest in their fleets. Does this mean another overcorrection of capacity is in store?

Consumer goods demand, recovery in manufacturing and shortage of drivers combine to create profits that fleets spend to upgrade and expand truck capacity.

New Class 8 truck orders are increasing and this trend is likely to continue through 2021.

In today’s edition of The Daily Dash, what comes next for Brad Jacobs and XPO? Plus, Transport America positions for the future and U.S. Xpress seeks answers to improving driver efficiency.

In today’s edition of The Daily Dash, Swift Transportation founder Jerry Moyes has taken over as CEO of less-than-truckload carrier Central Freight Lines. Plus, XPO has made the decision to split the company into separate businesses, and FreightWaves’ SpaceWaves event focuses on the logistics of space exploration.

Preliminary Class 8 truck orders in November were the third highest in history as fleets anticipating steady freight demand locked up build slots in 2021.

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.

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

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

Makeup orders for tractors and trailers lead to rehiring of some laid-off workers and rebuilding shrunken backlogs from March and April coronavirus shutdowns. But how long will it last?

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

Market share grew at Daimler Trucks North America and PACCAR even as Q2 sales sank under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Navistar included only one full month of impact from the COVID-19 pandemic in its loss-making second quarter. How bad will it be for manufacturers who report on a traditional April-June quarter?

One manufacturer’s decision to erase 10,000 Class 8 trucks from its build plan threw the industry into negative territory in April; experts expect scant improvement in May.

Cummins saw a tough environment for most of its segments in 2020 before the word pandemic became common. Now it is depending on its collective experience in managing bad times to pull it through again.

Rush Enterprises barely felt the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in its new and used truck business in the first quarter, but it is bracing for a much harder hit to come.

Market Expert Mike Baudendistel looks at the prospects for the truck original equipment manufacturers in 2020.

Why are Class 8 orders a deeply cyclical, lagging indicator of truck demand?

The traditional ordering season for new Class 8 trucks opened in October with the highest activity in 11 months. Still, the number of orders placed was the weakest for an October since 2016 — and 51% below October 2018.

The United Auto Workers voted 79% in favor of a new four-year contract at Mack Trucks following a 12-day strike that idled six facilities in three states and halted production at Volvo Trucks’ only assembly plant in North America.