Class 8 truck production hits 18-month high: ACT

by Truck News

COLUMBUS, Ind. – North American Class 8 truck production hit an 18-month high in May, thanks to strong orders through the first quarter.

A rising build rate resulting from those orders drove up Class 8 orders.

“Annualized, May’s production rate equals a full-year production of 263,000 units,” said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at ACT Research.

Class 8 backlogs dropped nearly 7,000 units from April as production heated up.

“The second quarter of 2017 is effectively filled and of the units of production planned in Q3, only 18,200 build slots were empty,” said Vieth. “Q4 remains wide open, with nearly 70% of the quarter’s planned build slots remaining unfilled.”

ACT also noted retail sales accelerated in May, to 21,200 units, falling just shy of December’s volume, which marked the best sales month of the past year.


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