December Class 8 Orders Jump as Sleeper Interest Increases
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North American Class 8 truck orders jumped in December compared with the same month a year earlier, according to ACT Research, for the first such increase since May.
Orders typically increase in the final quarter of the calendar year, with preliminary Class 8 net orders totaling 36,500 trucks, a jump of 39% year over year, the research and analysis firm said.
The final month of 2024 saw orders dip 2.1% compared with November.
“Strength continues to be the applicable descriptor of Class 8 order activity as the industry looks to 2025,” ACT President Kenny Vieth said. “While down from November, orders were up nearly 39% compared to last December’s performance.”
Vieth
FTR Transportation Intelligence, meantime, reported that preliminary Class 8 net orders in December totaled 31,900 units, up 23% year over year and down 7% month over month.
December’s total slightly outperformed seasonal expectations, surpassing the seven-year December average of 29,716 net orders, said FTR.
“While OEMs experienced an overall month-over-month decline in order activity for December, most OEMs performed above seasonal expectations as net orders maintained relatively high levels for what is typically a softer order month,” said Dan Moyer, FTR senior analyst for commercial vehicles. “There also wasn’t any notable difference in vocational segment month-over-month order movement performance versus how on-highway performed this month.”
Randall
“December’s order activity demonstrates the resilience of the commercial vehicle market as we closed out 2024. Challenges still exist in the freight market, but we’ve seen quote activity and orders increase in that segment while sustained strength remains in the vocational segment,” said Jonathan Randall, Mack Trucks North America president.
So far, the 2025 order season of September through December 2024 saw a 6% year-over-year increase, FTR said, signaling positive momentum as the new year begins, even while the freight environment remains weak. Class 8 orders for full-year 2024 totaled 279,872 units, up 11% year over year, slightly surpassing replacement demand levels at an average of 23,323 net orders per month, it added.
Koeck
“The final four months of 2024 were the strongest months for orders of the year in the Class 8 market and got the industry over 264,000 total units for the entire 2024,” said Magnus Koeck, vice president of strategy, marketing and brand management at Volvo Trucks North America. “It’s also clear that we now see a shift where the over-the-road — and especially the sleeper market — is coming back to normal levels. We still believe we’ll see an even stronger uptick in orders in Q3 and Q4 2025 due to the pre-buy ahead of 2027, but it’s good to see a positive momentum already in the December numbers.”
Looking forward, Moyer said: “We continue to watch the ongoing discussions and developments related to President-elect [Donald] Trump’s plans to impose immediate tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China as more than 40% of Class 8 trucks sold in the U.S. are built in Mexico.
Moyer
“Tariffs could significantly disrupt supply chains and raise production costs, compounding disruptions already anticipated due to [Environmental Protection Agency] 2027 NOx regulations. Fleets may adjust order and retail demand strategies in response.”
Meanwhile, orders of Classes 5 through 7 trucks fell year over year and month over month, according to ACT data.
Preliminary December Class 5-7 orders fell 40% year on year to 16,800 units and slid 1.9% compared with November’s total, the data show. December’s total was the third-weakest order tally of 2024, Vieth said.
“Medium-duty … orders continue their consistent, if slowly deflating, trajectory into still historically elevated truck and bus backlogs,” he added.
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