FTR Associates on Friday, June 3, released preliminary data showing May Class 8 truck total net orders for all major North American OEMs at 24,063, a 37 percent decrease from the historically high 37,922 units reported in April. But despite this drop, FTR reported orders were still 85 percent higher than prior-year levels, and orders received in the past six months annualize to 337,600, significantly above the same period a year ago.
“It was expected that orders would fall off from the almost 40,000-unit demand last month, and we saw that in the numbers reported to us,” says Eric Starks, president of FTR. “Order intake during the May-to-September time period typically slows as a majority of fleets generally place their orders for the current year in prior months. May’s decline in orders will have little near-term impact as the OEs already have sufficient orders in hand to fill their current production capacity.”
