ACT Research reports Class 8 order season is off to a strong start in September, the company reported Monday.
It says final numbers showed 37,100 in September, but digging deeper shows a bifurcated market with softness in tractors bolstered by a strong vocational sector.
[RELATED: Truck sales down 6% through Q3, ATD reports]
"Tractor orders were down 32% year-over-year at 17,000 units, as a weak for-hire market weights down capital budgets," says Kenny Vieth, ACT's president and senior analyst. "Vocational orders surged in September to 20,000 units and were up 71% year-over-year. With production capacity constrained in recent years, lingering pent-up demand and string end markets — still-plentiful stimulus money from CHIPS, IRA, IIJA projects; construction in Mexico; and utility investments — provide strong tailwinds in vocational."
[RELATED: September data shows trailer orders remain low]
ACT reported the numbers in "State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8."
"The Class 8 backlog rose 10,600 units month-over-month in September to 116,034 units," Vieth says. "Despite orders outpacing build for only the second time this year, the backlog-to-build ratio remained unchanged at 4.2 months on a nominal basis."
