March Truck Sales Fall 21%

This story appears in the April 20 print edition of Transport Topics.

Heavy-duty truck sales rebounded in March from historic lows the previous two months but were still 21.1% below the results in the same month of 2008.

For the entire first quarter of the year, Class 8 U.S. retail volumes lagged behind 2008’s pace by 27.8%, according to the latest survey from WardsAuto.com.

Dealers reported a higher level of customer interest in their heavy-duty vehicles in March, as compared with medium-duty models, but the number of actual buyers remains negligible.

For the month, original equipment manufacturers sold 8,222 Class 8s, down from 10,419 in March 2008. The first-quarter total of 21,832 units was down from 30,248 a year ago, with all eight major brands posting volume losses for both the month and the quarter.

“We’re down 50% to 60% from January to March, year-over-year,” said Ben Bruckner, chairman of Bruckner Truck Sales, which has 10 locations in the Southwest. He said business took a sharp turn for the worse in November, but heavy-duty customers have at least returned to look, whereas there is hardly any shopping in the medium-duty sector.

“There’s no silver lining right now.There’s just not that much business. It’s sporadic with maybe a very slight increase in quoting for a week and then nothing,” said Paul Schlagenhauf, who operates Badger Truck Center in three southern Wisconsin locations.

Tractor sales increased modestly from June through December, but then fell dramatically during the year’s first two months. January sales of 7,374 were the worst since January 1992, and the February mark of 6,236 was the worst since February 1983.

March’s volume was similar to the first three months of 2003, when sales were in retreat after the October 2002 tightening of federal diesel engine emission standards.

Freightliner Trucks had the best monthly results in that volume fell only 0.7% to 2,517 units from 2,536 in March 2008, while first-quarter Class 8 sales are off by 14.1%. Chief Executive Officer Chris Patterson said in an interview at the Mid-America Trucking Show last month that it is difficult to analyze sales patterns now.

Patterson said sporadic purchases by large fleets tend to dominate Freightliner’s sales now, rather than a steady stream of small purchasers.

Navistar Inc., with its International brand, came in second place in March, selling 2,252 heavy trucks, a drop of 14.5% from the 2,635 it moved in March 2008. Its quarterly decline was 17%.

Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said flatly that “volumes are terrible,” and the only source of solace for the OEM is that “we continue to gain market share.” First-quarter share was up 3.6 points to 27.9% from 24.3% last year, according to Ward’s.

Kenworth Trucks took third place, selling 920 big trucks, a decline of 28.3% from the 1,283 it sold in March 2008. Kenworth’s quarterly volume decline was 36.1%.

Sister company Peterbilt Motors moved 857 Class 8 units last month, or 39.6% fewer than the 1,420 sold in March 2008. The company’s first-quarter volume decline was 33.9%.

Peterbilt reacted to the slump by temporarily closing its Madison, Tenn., plant. The Associated Press reported April 14 that the facility has been on a work stoppage because of union contract negotiations.

A company statement said the decision was due to the challenging economy, and that management “looks forward to reopening our facility when conditions improve.”

Larry Vessels, the Peterbilt-Madison plant manager, told AP the facility has not been producing trucks since June.

Mack Trucks had the worst monthly results, according to the Ward’s report, losing 55.6% of last March’s sales, falling to 436 units from 982. The company’s quarterly volume fell 47.4%.

Mack spokesman John Walsh said company sales have been hurt by two major factors: “Very low industrywide sales in one of our key market segments — conventional straight trucks — due to the dramatic decline in housing construction; and the fact that the majority of Class 8 sales in the first quarter were longhaul tractors, a segment of the market that is not core to Mack.”

Volvo Trucks North America sold 639 heavy-duty units, a decline of 24.1% from the 842 sold in March 2008. A sister company to Mack, Volvo’s quarterly falloff from last year’s pace was 49.4%.

Freightliner’s small sister company within Daimler Trucks, Western Star, also limited volume losses to single digits. It sold 78 units during the month, a 9.3% decline from a year ago when it moved 86 units. Western Star’s first-quarter falloff was 24.5%.

Sterling Trucks, which manufactured its last new vehicles in March, sold 521 units, or 13.7% fewer than the 604 it sold a year ago. First-quarter volume was down by 25.9%.