For the second time this year and only the fourth time in 19 months the demand for Class 8 trucks rose faster than the supply, according to the most recent ACT For-Hire Trucking Index from ACT Research Co., LLC (ACT).

Steve Tam, ACT’s Vice President-Commercial Vehicle Sector, noted that the balance between supply and demand is still at the mercy of the widespread macro-inventory overhang. “This is only the second time in 10 months that freight volumes showed any meaningful increase. Time will tell whether this is the beginning of a trend or a temporary or transient anomaly.”

ACT is the worldwide 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, as well as the banking and investment community in North America, Europe and China.