Class 8 Truck Orders Rebound

Class 8 net orders increased in November following heavy cancellations in the previous month, according to final numbers from ACT Research.

November new orders totaled 21,108 with net orders of 19,440 units, besting ACT’s preliminary projects from a few weeks ago. This is a big jump from October, which saw net orders of only 13,900 units due to high cancellations.

“In addition to rising 40% from October, November marked the first positive year-over-year net order report in 22 months,” said Jim Meil, ACT Research principal and industry analyst. “After spiking to a volume not seen since 1999, cancellation activity returned to trend levels in November at 1,668 units and a cancellation rate of 2% of the backlog.”

Medium-duty Class 5-7 truck orders were steady, but slightly below average for the month.

“The consumer side of the economy remains solid, and overall there is consistency in MD demand,” said Meil. “That is why we think the subpar orders results reported for Classes 5-7 in November were an outlier. Specifically, Classes 5-7 net orders were 17,372– about 1,700 under the 2016 year-to-date average.”