Preliminary NA Class 8 net orders in September were 31,100 units, up 60 percent from August and a whopping 145 percent from an easy year-ago comparison. The NA Classes 5-7 market saw orders at a healthy 26,900 units, up 37 percent month-over-month and 48 percent versus their year-ago September volume. Complete industry data for September, including final order numbers, will be published by ACT Research in mid-October.

“Preliminary data show that September orders for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles posted positive readings for a fourth consecutive month, after 19 consecutive months of negative year-over-year comparisons,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst. “In aggregate, Classes 5-8 orders rose 49 percent from August and improved 88 percent compared to year-ago September.”

Relating these facts to the North American heavy-duty market, Vieth said, “As orders rebounded to relatively healthy levels early in Q3, most of those orders were targeted at filling open 2020 build slots. With most of that work done by the end of August, we suspect the lion’s share of September’s orders were booked into 2021.”

Regarding the medium-duty market, Vieth commented, “There is a symbiotic relationship between heavy-duty freight rates and medium-duty demand, and clearly, the shift in consumer spending from experiences [services] to goods has been good for the providers of local trucking services.”

ACT’s State of the Industry: Classes 5-8 Vehicles report provides a monthly look at the current production, sales, and general state of the on-road heavy and medium duty commercial vehicle markets in North America.