Class 8 booked nearly 20,200 net new orders in August, while Classes 5-7 posted almost 17,900 net orders. 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.

Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst, noted that August Class 8 data contained “several eyebrow-raising data points, including a second consecutive month of off-trend production, cancellations at a 71-month high, and only about 1,000 August orders booked into Q4 build slots.” He added, “While some items are more worrisome than others, they are interrelated and reflective of underwhelming domestic economic activity. Add to that, a product denominated in a strong U.S. dollar is adding drag on Class 8 demand on top of soft Canadian and Mexican economies. The strong dollar and weak global economy are also severely impacting exports of heavy trucks from North America.”

Concerning medium duty, Vieth said, “The slow and steady pace of demand remains in place. Although the Classes 5-7 market saw orders improve 16% from July to August, aggregated they were down 1.4% y/y, with Class 5 orders up 25% y/y, offsetting weakness in Classes 6-7 orders which were down 14% y/y.” He added, “Strength in the Class 5 market was across the board, while trucks and buses conspired to drag down Classes 6-7 orders in August.”