US Class 8 Fleet Expands to Largest Size on Record
The U.S. heavy-duty truck fleet grew to its largest size on record during the first quarter, expanding 3.2% from a year earlier, IHS Automotive reported.
The total number of registered Class 8 vehicles stood at 3.66 million at the end of the quarter, up from 3.55 million in the first quarter of 2013, according to the latest Polk quarterly commercial vehicle report from IHS.
The latest figure edged past the previous peak of 3.65 million heavy trucks in operation at the end of 2008, making it the largest in at least the past decade, said Gary Meteer, director of global commercial vehicle products at the firm. He added that there’s no reason to believe the U.S. Class 8 fleet ever would have been larger before then, given the growth of the new truck market.
See the June 2 issue of Transport Topics for further details from the report.
