February Class 8 Orders Jump 30.2%
New Class 8 truck orders climbed 30.2% in February from a year ago, continuing the trend of strong order activity driven by tight freight capacity and growing confidence in the economy, ACT Research Co. said.
February’s preliminary net order total of 29,200 units was “well above expectations” and fell just short of hitting the 30,000 mark for a third consecutive month, ACT Vice President Steve Tam said.
Last month’s total was well above the 22,432 orders placed in February 2013 but down 15.5% from January’s tally of 34,558, which was the largest monthly figure since April 2011. Manufacturers received 31,697 orders in December.
The 95,455 orders booked in December through February represented the industry’s strongest three-month span for order intake since January to March in 2006, when fleets scrambled to order trucks for delivery before the implementation of the 2007 federal emissions standards.
