September new big truck orders go through the roof

October 7, 2022

Land Line Staff

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September new big truck orders broke records. Two market analyst companies corroborate the news.

ACT Research pegs the preliminary North American Class 8 orders in September at 53,700 units. Orders for medium-duty Class 5-7 trucks were 26,600 units.

The September data show a surge in orders that’s earlier than normal, Eric Crawford, Columbus, Ind.-based ACT’s vice president and senior analyst, said in a news release. October is normally when original equipment manufacturers open their order boards. September’s orders are strong even compared to normal October orders of 43,800, he said.

“September Class 8 orders were sensational no matter how you slice the data,” Crawford said. “Over the past 12 months, 249,800 Class 8 orders have been booked.”

ACT Research plans to publish complete industry data for September, including final numbers for new big truck orders in mid-October. ACT Research was founded in 1986

Bloomington, Ind.-based transportation industry analyst FTR proclaimed similar statistics for new big truck orders.

Preliminary North American Class 8 net orders for September soared to 56,500 units, the most ever for a single month, FTR reported in a news release.

“September order activity is further testimony that there remains a tremendous level of pent-up demand,” according to FTR. “While September’s spike in orders is a positive sign for the industry, build rates continue to be impacted by component shortages as suppliers continue to face supply chain bottlenecks and labor shortages.”

It will be up to equipment manufacturers how strong fourth quarter new big truck orders remain, Charles Roth, commercial vehicle analyst for FTR, said in a news release.

“Fleet confidence remains solid entering 2023, as many large national fleets are getting their truck orders in as early as possible for next year’s deliveries,” Roth said. “Due to the limited availability of new equipment, fleets have not been able to phase out aged equipment over the past two years. As a result, we anticipate replacement demand to stay elevated throughout 2023.”

FTR was founded in 1997 by partners Ed Graham, Steve Graham, Mike Tryon, and Eric Starks. LL

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