August orders for new Class 8 trucks jumped 68% this year from a year earlier as dramatic increases  in sales and orders continued. Despite a 31.5% gain in registrations in the second quarter, however, the total fleet size remained below previous years.

Factory orders decreased 0.8% in June, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Durable goods orders rose 1.9% in May, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Orders for new Class 8 trucks in North America shot up dramatically in April to around 38,000, about 160% higher than the year-ago level, lengthening delivery schedules, according to industry officials.

Both orders and factory production of new commercial trailers more than doubled in March, compared with the same month of 2010 and leading to escalating prices and longer wait times, industry officials have said.

As the backlog of orders for heavy-duty trucks has grown to levels not seen since late 2006, at least three of the four major vehicle manufacturers have announced commodity surcharges, with the extra fees as much as $975 a truck.

Durable goods orders grew 2.5% in March, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Truck orders soared in March to the highest total in nearly five years, as carriers snapped up new equipment to renew their fleets in advance of the fall freight season, two market research reports said last week.

Building on a surge of replacement demand that began last year, trailer manufacturers received orders for 21,990 new units in February — a 105% year-over-year increase.

New Class 8 truck orders in North America jumped more than 200% in February to about 24,000 units, the fourth month in a row of 24,000 orders or more, market researchers ACT Research Co. and FTR Associates said in separate reports.