September Truck Orders Jump 32%
Class 8 truck orders jumped 32% in September from a year ago to 24,900, ACT Research Co. reported.
Net orders slipped by about 500 from August, which was revised slightly downward to 25,363.
“Class 8 orders continued to be booked ahead of seasonal expectations,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst.
FTR, another freight consulting firm, gauged orders at 24,477 units, a 27% increase, and said it was the best September since 2005.
“Summer is typically a slower period for orders, but we did not see a real slowdown in activity,” Lawrence De Maria, an analyst with William Blair & Co. in New York, wrote in an investors’ note.
Through August, Class 8 orders totaled 249,294, up 32.4% compared with the same period last year, according to ACT figures.
Classes 5-7 net orders were up 9% from a year ago to 18,500, representing the best medium-duty vehicle order volume since April, ACT said. Those orders rose 3% from August.
