Preliminary North America Classes 5-8 net order data show the industry booked 59,600 units in 2018’s fourth month, ACT Research reported. Complete industry data for April, including final order numbers, are to be published in mid-May.

After the order results posted in the seasonally strong first quarter, there was only one direction for orders to head in April – down. While below any of the first three months of 2018, a goodly portion of the decline was related to seasonality.

“On that basis, April’s orders (60,000) were bigger than any month in 2017 as activity in both the medium and heavy-duty vehicle markets remained strong,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst. “Our preliminary look at North American Classes 5-8 net orders for April show that orders rose 40 percent year-over-year. Seasonally adjusted, April’s orders fell 12 percent from March.”

Solid MD order activity continued into April, if below levels seen through Q1. In April, preliminary NA Classes 5-7 net orders rose 33 percent year over year to 24,800 units.

“There is virtually no seasonality in April for the MD market. As a result, and while orders were down 16 percent nominally from March, on a seasonally adjusted basis, Classes 5-7 orders were 24,900 units, up 200 units/0.8 percent month over month” Vieth said.

About Class 8 orders, Vieth commented, “In ACT’s 30-plus years of collecting industry statistics, the Class 8 market has never had four consecutive months in which orders exceeded 40,000 units. Preliminary data indicate that the wall remains in place as 34,800 Class 8 net orders were booked in April, stopping the latest string of 40k-plus order months at three.” Seasonal adjustment boosts the month’s orders to 35,200 units.