After a record low of -28.66 this past April, FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index jumped to a historic high to 11.35 for June, the highest in a decade.
According to both ACT Research and FTR, preliminary North American Class 8 net orders jumped to around 20,000 units in July. This 27-28% increase effectively doubled the amount of trucks sold in July 2019.
ACT’s For-Hire Trucking Index for June data is showing continued improvement, rising to 70.4 in June. This is a huge improvement from April’s 19.3 and even the jump to 50.2 a month earlier in May.
According to ACT Research, U.S. trailer orders in June totaled 13,441 units, a more than 300% jump from May’s total of a little more than 3,100 trailers and 112% higher than June 2019’s level of around 6,200 units.
According to ACT Research, both U.S. and Canadian Class 8 natural gas truck retail sales for the first five months of 2020 dropped 22% year-to-date over 2019, as published in its quarterly report, Alternative Fuels Quarterly.
After dropping 1% in May, the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 8.7% in June, equaling 115.3 compared with 106.1 in May.
While FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index reading for May made a comeback from a “worst-ever” level in April to a reading of -5.19, it is still not doing well from a historical perspective.
According to ACT Research, June’s preliminary North American Class 8 net orders rose 139% over May with 16,000 units. Compared to last June, orders were also up by 23%.
While May’s Cass Freight Index showed some improvement in activity over the previous month, the index for both shipments and expenditures came in 20% below May 2019.
A recent CK Commercial Vehicle Research (CKCVR) focus group report shows both for-hire and private fleets are not feeling extremely confident in the current state of the commercial trucking industry.