U.S. heavy truck sales made their best showing all year in July, reaching 9,589 Class 8 trucks, according to figures from Ward's Automotive. That's up from 8,896 trucks in June, or 7.8 percent, and 27.8 percent from June 2009.

Nevertheless, fewer trucks were sold last month than in any July since 1991, and year-to-date sales of 58,846 Class 8 trucks are still way below the 162,545 sold in the first seven months of record-setting 2006.

Freightliner leads the pack so far this year in Class 8 market share, with 32 percent, followed by International at 29.18 percent. Paccar brands Peterbilt and Kenworth combined made up a 21 percent share. Sister brand Mack and Volvo combine for a nearly 16 percent share. The other Daimler Trucks North America brands, Sterling and Western Star, each brought in less than 1 percent market share.

In medium-duty, 3,070 Class 7 units were sold in July and 21,302 year to date. For Class 6, 2,235 were sold for the month and 18,332 for the first seven months of 2010.

In Class 7, Freightliner is the market share leader in year-to-date sales with 40 percent, with International claiming 28 percent. In Class 6, International owns the market with 50 percent share, with Freightliner a distant second at 20 percent, followed by Ford at 16 percent.