Class 8 orders flat in September: FTR

by Truck News

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Class 8 truck orders were unchanged in September, at 19,460 units, according to preliminary data from FTR.

September’s order activity met expectations, albeit with a higher than anticipated cancellation rate for the second month in a row, FTR reports. Orders were down 21% year-over-year. However, FTR points out the past 12 months continue to annualize at a sold 345,000 units.

“After the wild order activity that started last October, the market has fallen back to a remarkable level of consistency,” said Don Ake, FTR’s vice-president of commercial vehicles.

“To have five months of orders be this stable in a stronger market is likely unprecedented. Fleets loaded their orders into the backlog by March and OEMs have just been filling in the remaining slots since then. We don’t see the increased cancellation rate the past two months as being a cause for concern. The orders that were cancelled were placed seven months or more prior to this, to hold production slots. While the market is softening some with fleets now deciding they do not need these trucks, total backlogs remain strong.”


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