November Class 8 Demand Strong, MD Demand Pulls Back

The latest research shows continued support for strength in heavy commercial vehicle demand, and Class 8 orders did not disappoint in November, at 40,925 units.

Noted Kenny Vieth, ACT Research’s President and Senior Analyst, “Year-to-date, orders of 336,000 units are up 42.4% from last year at this time.

Meanwhile, Class 8 has the largest backlog since October 2006 and on a per day basis, November’s build was the second best since December 2006.” Concerning medium duty demand, Vieth said, “After a strong run from August to October that was in part augmented by the annual school bus order surge, medium duty orders pulled back in November, falling 3% year-over-year to 17,691 units.”

With regard to the Hours of Service (HOS) provisions, ACT indicates “that it will be a positive for driver productivity” and therefore for fleet utilization, with rough estimates suggesting a 1 to 2 percent improvement in truck utilization at most.

A productivity gain of 1 to 2 percent, ACT estimates, would ordinarily translate into a potential net loss of upwards of 15 to 20 thousand units of Class 8 production and retail sales over a twelve to twenty-four month time span. However, these impacts are likely to be more than offset in 2015 and 2016 by the economic, freight, and energy

Category: Featured, General Update