November Class 8 truck orders totaled 20,915, the second consecutive month above the 20,000 mark, according to preliminary data from transportation forecasting firm FTR.

While November orders were 6% above a year ago, they are down 19% from October. Orders for the three-month period including November annualize to 266,600 units. Preliminary order numbers are for all major North American OEMs.

"This is the highest number of orders in the month of November since 2010 continuing to show a solid year-over-year increase. However, they are not sufficient to indicate a strong beginning to 2014,” said Don Ake, FTR vice president, commercial vehicles. “Order activity was below our expectations and needs to be stronger in December to fill up first quarter build slots."

He says the market continues to grow, but slowly, and the three-month average is consistent with FTR’s 2014 forecast.

The news comes as sales of light-trucks, cars and SUVs in the U.S. in November hit their highest level in several years, according to figures released Tuesday.