U.S. factory orders rose 1.3% in March, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

New orders for Class 8 trucks in March rose 28% from a year earlier, the second month in a row they have climbed, as buyers put requests for 11,285 new vehicles on the books, according to ACT Research Co. 

Orders for new Class 8 trucks in March jumped 21.1% over year-ago levels and surged 35.9% over February’s total as business levels continued to lap 2009’s anemic pace, said FTR Associates.