All news wasn’t rosy last month, as August 2016 order activity was the weakest for that month since 2010 and fell 35 percent from August 2015.
“We expected orders to average around 12,000 per month in the July-August period and taken as a whole, they did,” says Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles at FTR. “There were less cancellations in August, making the month look a little better than July. July will be the lowest order month of the year, which is typical.”
Market conditions did not deteriorate nor improve in August, Ake says noting Class 8 orders for the last 12 months have totaled 206,000 units.
“Fleets are now busy evaluating their truck requirements for 2017 in an uncertain freight environment,” he says. “September orders should remain moderate, with October orders giving the first indication of expected market conditions for next year.”
Kenny Vieth, president & senior analyst for ACT Research, says while orders climbed from July, August demand failed to meet the year-ago order volume for an 18th consecutive month.
