Both FTR and ACT Research reported strong Class 8 vehicle North America net orders for May.
FTR’s data showed that Class 8 preliminary net orders were 18,900 units. That is up 25% from April and 37% from a year earlier.
The 12-month total is 273,900 units. However, that is running behind the data for the corresponding five-month period of 2023, when the order totals were 298,700 units. Dan Moyer, senior analyst for commercial vehicles at FTR, said in the company’s monthly report that it expects a replacement level of output by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, ACT Research reported that May preliminary Class 8 net orders were 23,200 units, up 46% from a month ago and 49% year on year.
FTR said the May order book was “above recent demand trends.” It was also 2% more than the May average of the past decade.
“The levels seen this month further abate worries of any rapid demand decline, and the market is performing moderately above replacement level for orders,” FTR said in a prepared statement accompanying the preliminary numbers.
Orders in the prior three months averaged 20,700 units, FTR said. But since then, “orders have continued to slow at a seasonally typical rate, averaging 17,900 units in the last three months.”
Steve Tam, a vice president at ACT Research, also said in a prepared statement that second-quarter demand for new vehicles is generally slower. “However, surprises are always lurking,” he added.
“Ample open build slots in Q3 and Q4, combined with the OEMs’ desire to achieve some semblance of balance with respect to the impending prebuy likely impacted May’s order activity,” Tam said.
Moyer summed up the strong numbers in the FTR statement: “Despite the trend of stagnant freight markets, fleets remain willing to invest in new equipment.”
ACT Research’s monthly update also has a report on net orders for medium-duty Class 5-7 vehicles. It said that category totaled 18,900 units in May, up 0.2% month on month but down 6.9% year on year.
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