Class 8 orders in May were up 14 percent from the same month last year and had their best May since 2006, according to preliminary data released by FTR this week, who pegs orders in the month at 25,605.
Class 8 orders now have seen year over year increases in every month for the last 16 months. Backlogs remain high, FTR says, and truck makers are increasing build rates in response to growing demand. Class 8 orders in the last six months annualize to 343,000, FTR says.
“The positive performance of Class 8 orders in May met our expectations with the volume right in line with our forecast,” said Don Ake, FTR’s vide president of commercial vehicles. ” The recent order activity confirms that the market has some real strength. We do expect Class 8 orders to slow down in the summer as generally is the case, but they will remain above last year’s levels.”
ACT Research also released its preliminary order data for May this week, pointing to a similar figure, 25,900 — also a 14 percent increase from May 2013.
They were also up 4 percent from April, ACT reports, and since October, Class 5-8 orders annualize to 547,200.
