Class 5-8 vehicle orders are projected to hit 47,200 orders for the month of October which is up 14% from the previous month but 30% below last year’s numbers, according to ACT Research.

Class 8 truck orders are expected to hit 25,200 units for the month — again representing an improvement from September — but is 45% lower than October 2014. The numbers are still preliminary and the actual numbers will be published in mid-November but it was expected that they would fall short of 2014 levels.

“Remember that October 2014 was the second-best ever Class 8 order month, so the year-over-year comparison was a tough one,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst. “Likewise, the 6,000 unit sequential gain from September to October of this year can be explained by seasonality.”

There is usually a spike in orders in the last few months of a year and the large month-to month-increase in October fell in line with the trend. When seasonally adjusted, October’s Class 8 order activity was actually down 3% from September.

Class 5-7 orders are expected to remain strong in October, with net medium-duty orders projected at 22,000 units. October is typically the strongest order month for medium-duty orders.

“Despite tough comparisons, down 1.8% year-over-year and 0.3% month-over-month, both are within the margin of error for preliminary industry data,” said Vieth.