Class 8 orders rebounded in May after falling below expectations in April. Conversely, Classes 5-7 net orders pulled back sharply from April’s stellar performance. These results were published in the latest State of the Industry report, recently released by ACT Research Co. (ACT). The report covers Classes 5 through 8 vehicles for the North American market.

“Class 8 net orders in May at 26,100 units were up 5% m/m and 15% y/y. On a seasonally adjusted basis, Class 8 net orders rose to 26,800 units, the best order performance since February,” said Steve Tam, vice president-commercial vehicle sector at ACT Research Co., LLC. “Classes 5-7 net orders totaled 16,140 in May, a drop of 26% month over month and 10% y/y.” Tam said that we have now entered the slowest period of the year for orders. However, truckers are continuing to indicate high levels of interest in equipment purchases, according to ACT’s monthly survey of for-hire carriers.

ACT is the leading publisher of new and used commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market, as well as the U.S. tractor-trailer market and the China CV market. ACT’s CV services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, and worldwide banking and investment companies.