New commercial vehicle registrations for Class 3 through Class 8 vehicles for the first quarter of the 2014 amounted 143,245, an increase of 8.3% over the first quarter of 2013, according to new figures released by R.L. Polk.

While new registrations during the first quarter of 2014 exceeded the level achieved during the first quarter of 2013, they actually were down 3% from the last quarter of 2013. New registrations by quarter have remained relatively flat since the middle of the 2011 calendar year.

According to the report, since the start of the recovery in the 2010 calendar year, there has only been a single quarter when new registrations Class 3 through Class 8 vehicles reached the 150,000-unit level.

Additionally, during the first three years of the recovery, the first quarter of the new calendar year showed new registrations higher than the level achieved during the last quarter of the previous calendar year. However, in 2013 and at the start of 2014, new registrations in the first quarter were actually lower than the level achieved during the previous quarter.

The total industry year-over-year growth of 8.3% was the result of a strong showing across each of the gross vehicle weight classes. The lowest year-over-year increases were Class 3, increasing 7.5%, and Class 7, gaining 2%. The largest year-over-year increases were Class 4, increasing 14.5%, and Class 8, adding 9.2%.

For Class 4 vehicles, the year-over-year increase was the result of a 28.8% increase in new registrations by fleets of 500-plus units, according to Polk. The best year-over-year increase was with Isuzu, an increase of 33.2%. New Class 4 registrations were 12.9% better than new Class 4 registration during the last quarter of the 2013.

Read R.L. Polk's full quarterly report here.