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.
