According to ACT Research’s Transportation Digest, the top line on the Class 8 Tractor Dashboard slipped in September to a -4 reading, the sixth moderately downbeat reading in seven months.

The Transportation Digest, which combines proprietary ACT data and analysis from a wide variety of sources, paints a comprehensive picture of trends impacting transportation and commercial vehicle markets. This monthly report is designed as a quick look at transportation insights for use by fleet and trucking executives, reviewing top-level considerations such as for-hire indices, freight, heavy and medium duty segments, the U.S. trailer market, used truck sales information, and an overview of the US macro economy.

“We think the Dashboard readings suggest a better outcome for Class 8 than was the case in the last two downturns (COVID 2020 and the popping of the global commodity bubble in late 2014). In those events, the negative readings reached double-digit levels,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst. “While we suspect more negative readings are inbound, they are not here yet.”

When asked about underlying takeaways, Vieth said, “in the latest reading, we saw the trucking stock index fall back into negative territory, while Class 8 cancellations moved from negative to neutral territory. Of the 15 variables in the Dashboard, three were at ‘positive’ levels, in line with August, while the number in ‘negative’ territory increased from six to seven.”