ACT Research announced in its Transportation Digest this week that the top line of its Class 8 tractor dashboard slipped in September to a -4 reading — the sixth moderately downbeat reading in seven months.
“We think the dashboard readings suggest a better outcome for Class 8 than was the case in the last two downturns (COVID 2020 and the popping of the global commodity bubble in late 2014). In those events, the negative readings reached double-digit levels,” says Kenny Vieth, ACT Research president and senior analyst. “While we suspect more negative readings are inbound, they are not here yet.”
When asked about underlying takeaways, Vieth says in the latest reading, ACT Research saw “the trucking stock index fall back into negative territory, while Class 8 cancellations moved from negative to neutral territory.”
Of the 15 variables within in the dashboard, the firm says three were positive in August while seven were negative.
