ACT Research on Thursday reported a drop in Class 8 net orders for June. The final tally came in at 15,604 units for the month, down 13% year-over-year, not a surprise in the weakest season of the year for orders.
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"Given where we are on the calendar, stronger build than orders should continue to push the backlog lower in the coming months," Kenny Vieth, ACT president and senior analyst says. "The Class 8 backlog fell 15,516 units month-over-month in June to 127,917 units. With two fewer production days, June's build rate increased to an incredibly strong 1,609 units per day."
Inventory actual numbers and target numbers from January 2022 to June 2024 from ACT Research.ACT Research
ACT calculated Class 8 inventory at close to 92,500 units in June, which the company says in an all-time high. It says 85,400 units were reported.
"Our calculated inventory surpasses August 2019 on the 'we've got an inventory problem' list," Vieth says.
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Retail sales slipped 24,267 units, or 22,800 seasonally adjusted, which is down 19% year-over-year.
"The decline was more than covered by tractors, which fell 26% year-over-year, even as vocational units held their own, rising 2.7% year-over-year," Vieth says. "On that seasonally adjusted basis, June's retail number was the weakest since February 2022, back when supply chains were constraining the market."
