North American Class 8 and medium-duty vehicle production increased in the month of July, boosted by strong order numbers, according to a report from ACT Research.

“After cutting 3,000 units from the Class 8 build plan last month, the OEMs added back nearly 6,000 units in July,” said Steve Tam, ACT Research’s vice president. “This brings the OEMs’ full-year expectations to over 252,000 units.”

Despite a lower build rate in July compared to earlier months, the medium-duty Class 5-7 truck market saw 15% greater production for the month.

“With orders below build, the medium-duty backlog declined to about 54,000 units of unbuilt vehicles,” said Tam. “Similarly, medium-duty inventories declined as July retail sales outpaced production.”