As expected from the preliminary report, August was a good month for Classes 5-8 orders. However, the absence of sustained economic strength remains a limitation for Class 8 demand, and build expectations have been sharply curtailed over the past two months.

Orders continue to be placed with short lead times.

“An added short-term challenge for the economy is the upcoming budget and debt ceiling negotiations in Congress,” said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at ACT Research Co., LLC. “Heightened political uncertainty leads to corporate risk aversion. Until Congress works through these issues, business investment is likely to be cautious.”

For the medium-duty sector, strong orders in August coupled with a pullback in production pushed the backlog/build ratio to its highest level in nearly two years at 2.6 months.