Sales for heavy-duty commercial vehicles are seeing a slow recovery as expected
, according to the latest edition of FTR Associates' North American Commercial Truck & Trailer Outlook.

While the firm does anticipate orders to regain some of the ground lost, FTR believes 2010 production will fall 30 percent below 2008 levels. FTR said its original prediction of a 47 percent drop for 2009 has not changed.

"While the near-term picture is becoming clearer every day, there is an unusual amount of uncertainty with regard to 2011 and beyond," said Eric Starks, president of FTR. "We are in an unprecedented economic situation where past performance does not necessarily provide relevant guideposts. The range of possible outcomes is still very wide, with either a continued slow recovery or a faster snap-back both quite possible. We are therefore urging our subscribers to remain flexible with regard to their 2011 planning at this time."

The North American Commercial Truck & Trailer Outlook report features in-depth analysis of the Commercial Vehicle industry, including forecasts for Class 8 and medium-duty trucks as well as semi-trailers. The analysis includes FTR's "Economically Derived Demand" analysis, which looks at underlying equipment demand based on economic and freight trends.