Class 8 Sales Edge Higher

img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>Sales of heavy-duty trucks rose 2% in January from a year earlier despite industry predictions that sales would drop off substantially during the new year. The gain came on the heels of a weak December, when truck sales fell 5.4% from a year earlier.

But at least one industry analyst said the slight uptick does not mark the beginning of a trend, and Class 8 sales would not rebound until the second half of 2003.

“The overall sales were slightly better than expected, but they are still weak,” Eric Ballantine, a trucking analyst with Standard & Poor’s, said in an interview. “The consensus is they will remain weak till the economy turns around and the war fear passes by. High fuel prices are also putting pressure on sales. It’s not a trend that the bottom has been turned.”