Reports: Class 8 Orders See July Decline

Orders for Class 8 trucks dropped precipitously in July, according to two trucking industry research firms. 

ACT Research reported 11,400 units sold during the month, while FTR Transportation Intelligence reported a slightly lower number: 10,600 units, which was a 33 percent drop from June. 

FTR said the numbers were the worst it had seen since November 2021, and the worst number for the month of July since 2019. 

In June, both firms showed a slight increase from May, but a drop from the June 2021 numbers. 

Eric Crawford, ACT vice president and senior analyst, blamed the weak numbers on ongoing supply chain issues, inflationary cost pressures and a backlog of orders. 

“In light of this confluence of factors, plus typically challenged seasonality in [the third quarter], we hesitate to extrapolate too much from a datapoint that could prove to be an outlier,” Crawford said. “To be sure, though, it is a datapoint that warrants increased vigilance going forward.” 

Similarly, Don Ake, FTR vice president of commercial vehicles, noted July is typically the weakest order month of the year, but he expects demand for new trucks to “remain robust” moving forward.