Truck Sales Plunge 58.8% in September
Total Year-to-Date Is 44% Behind ’06 Pace
By Jonathan S. Reiskin, Associate News Editor
This story appears in the Oct. 22 print edition of Transport Topics.
Heavy-duty U.S. retail truck sales continued this year’s collapse in September, falling 58.8% as Class 8 volume totaled less than half year-earlier sales for the fifth month in a row, according to the latest survey from Ward’s Communications.
Truck manufacturers and their dealers sold 9,677 Class 8 units, down from 23,499 in September 2006, making it the lowest monthly sales total this year and the smallest since 2003.
The total of 116,853 trucks sold through Sept. 30 was 44.3% below the 209,938 sold in the same period in 2006.
Truck makers have said they expect improvement next year, but have been hesitant to predict a precise turnaround point. Fleet managers also are uncertain about their buying plans.
“We pre-bought for at least a year,” said Terry Owen, chief executive officer of Trimac Transportation Services. “We’re going to make some purchases in ’08, but we’re going through our capital budgets for next year now.”
Based in Calgary, Alberta, Trimac is a large bulk hauler operating in the United States and Canada that ranks No. 48 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers.
Trimac’s timing is consistent with other carriers, said Roy Wiley, spokesman for International Truck and Engine Corp.
“October is typical for companies finishing budgets for next year’s buying plans, so we’ll know more about demand in 2008 in coming months,” said Wiley.
The 2007 North American sales bust has been the other side of the coin from last year’s pre-buy, when fleets bought extra-large volumes of trucks to avoid this year’s models with new federally mandated pollution controls on diesel engines.
Freightliner Trucks had the biggest monthly drop of any brand in September, although the market leader was the second most popular brand. Freightliner sold 1,835 big trucks in the month, down 70.4% from 6,202 last year.
Of the seven other major truck brands, Sterling and Western Star were the only ones to lose less than 50% from last year’s volumes. Sterling’s monthly sales declined by 47.9% to 743 units, and Western Star dropped 34.9% to 157 big trucks.
Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star all are nameplates of Daimler Trucks North America, formerly Freightliner LLC.
“Sterling and Western Star brands have remained focused on their key sectors, which continue to be relatively strong industrywide,” said company spokeswoman Kimberly Pupillo.
“Since the majority of Freightliner Trucks’ customers pre-bought trucks last year before EPA ’07 restrictions, we expected to see an impact this year on sales. However, we planned accordingly and were properly prepared for any impact as a result of EPA ’07,” Pupillo said.
Year-to-date through Sept. 30, Freightliner’s sales are down 48% relative to the same time in 2006. Sterling’s volumes are off 20.9% and Western Star is down 23.3%.
International sold the most trucks in September, with 2,030 Class 8s, but still 56.5% less than the 4,668 a year ago. Cumulatively, International is down 44.5%.
At Paccar Inc., Peterbilt Motors sales dropped 59.3% from a year ago and Kenworth Truck lost 53.3%; they held down third and fourth places, respectively.
Peterbilt sold 1,364 big trucks, down from 3,352, and Kenworth sold 1,309, down from 2,805.
Peterbilt’s sales are down 43.3% for the first nine months and Kenworth’s have fallen 37.7% at the three-quarter mark.
Volvo AB’s two OEMs reported similar results.
Volvo Trucks North America sold 1,199 Class 8s, down 52.7% from 2,536 a year ago. Sister company Mack Trucks moved an even 1,000 units, down 54.3% from 2,186 last September.
Volvo and Mack have lost the most for the year. Mack’s cumulative sales are down 53.4% for the first nine months and Volvo’s have fallen 49.7% relative to the three-quarter point in 2006.
If the nine-month sales trend holds for the last three months, manufacturers will have total U.S. sales of 155,800 for the year — a drop of about 45% from the 284,008 heavy trucks sold last year, which was a record. Most industry analysts and manufacturers had said they expected 2007 sales to drop 30% to 40%.
If U.S. Class 8 sales do total approximately 155,000 in 2007, it would be the lowest total since the 141,964 trucks sold in 2003. That drop was also a reaction to advance buying ahead of new federal exhaust emission standards.
This story appears in the Oct. 22 print edition of Transport Topics.
Heavy-duty U.S. retail truck sales continued this year’s collapse in September, falling 58.8% as Class 8 volume totaled less than half year-earlier sales for the fifth month in a row, according to the latest survey from Ward’s Communications.
Truck manufacturers and their dealers sold 9,677 Class 8 units, down from 23,499 in September 2006, making it the lowest monthly sales total this year and the smallest since 2003.
The total of 116,853 trucks sold through Sept. 30 was 44.3% below the 209,938 sold in the same period in 2006.
Truck makers have said they expect improvement next year, but have been hesitant to predict a precise turnaround point. Fleet managers also are uncertain about their buying plans.
“We pre-bought for at least a year,” said Terry Owen, chief executive officer of Trimac Transportation Services. “We’re going to make some purchases in ’08, but we’re going through our capital budgets for next year now.”
Based in Calgary, Alberta, Trimac is a large bulk hauler operating in the United States and Canada that ranks No. 48 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers.
Trimac’s timing is consistent with other carriers, said Roy Wiley, spokesman for International Truck and Engine Corp.
“October is typical for companies finishing budgets for next year’s buying plans, so we’ll know more about demand in 2008 in coming months,” said Wiley.
The 2007 North American sales bust has been the other side of the coin from last year’s pre-buy, when fleets bought extra-large volumes of trucks to avoid this year’s models with new federally mandated pollution controls on diesel engines.
Freightliner Trucks had the biggest monthly drop of any brand in September, although the market leader was the second most popular brand. Freightliner sold 1,835 big trucks in the month, down 70.4% from 6,202 last year.
Of the seven other major truck brands, Sterling and Western Star were the only ones to lose less than 50% from last year’s volumes. Sterling’s monthly sales declined by 47.9% to 743 units, and Western Star dropped 34.9% to 157 big trucks.
Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star all are nameplates of Daimler Trucks North America, formerly Freightliner LLC.
“Sterling and Western Star brands have remained focused on their key sectors, which continue to be relatively strong industrywide,” said company spokeswoman Kimberly Pupillo.
“Since the majority of Freightliner Trucks’ customers pre-bought trucks last year before EPA ’07 restrictions, we expected to see an impact this year on sales. However, we planned accordingly and were properly prepared for any impact as a result of EPA ’07,” Pupillo said.
Year-to-date through Sept. 30, Freightliner’s sales are down 48% relative to the same time in 2006. Sterling’s volumes are off 20.9% and Western Star is down 23.3%.
International sold the most trucks in September, with 2,030 Class 8s, but still 56.5% less than the 4,668 a year ago. Cumulatively, International is down 44.5%.
At Paccar Inc., Peterbilt Motors sales dropped 59.3% from a year ago and Kenworth Truck lost 53.3%; they held down third and fourth places, respectively.
Peterbilt sold 1,364 big trucks, down from 3,352, and Kenworth sold 1,309, down from 2,805.
Peterbilt’s sales are down 43.3% for the first nine months and Kenworth’s have fallen 37.7% at the three-quarter mark.
Volvo AB’s two OEMs reported similar results.
Volvo Trucks North America sold 1,199 Class 8s, down 52.7% from 2,536 a year ago. Sister company Mack Trucks moved an even 1,000 units, down 54.3% from 2,186 last September.
Volvo and Mack have lost the most for the year. Mack’s cumulative sales are down 53.4% for the first nine months and Volvo’s have fallen 49.7% relative to the three-quarter point in 2006.
If the nine-month sales trend holds for the last three months, manufacturers will have total U.S. sales of 155,800 for the year — a drop of about 45% from the 284,008 heavy trucks sold last year, which was a record. Most industry analysts and manufacturers had said they expected 2007 sales to drop 30% to 40%.
If U.S. Class 8 sales do total approximately 155,000 in 2007, it would be the lowest total since the 141,964 trucks sold in 2003. That drop was also a reaction to advance buying ahead of new federal exhaust emission standards.
