Preliminary Class 8 vehicle orders for January show continued decline

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Transportation forecasting firm FTR Associates on Thursday, Feb. 5, released preliminary data showing January Class 8 vehicle total net orders for all major North American OEMs at 7,608 units, down 12 percent from December 2008. The figure includes U.S., Canada, Mexico and exports, and is the weakest January in the 30 years since data was first recorded.

January 2009 Class 8 vehicle net order activity is 66 percent lower than January 2008 and equals an annualized rate of 91,296 units, which would be a significant shortfall over 2008, according to FRT. Annualized order rate over the past three months at 109,992 Class 8 units is marginally better, but still lackluster, the Nashville, Ind.-based forecasting firm reported.

Final data for January 2009 will be available from FTR later this month. For more information, go to www.ftrassociates.net.