NASHVILLE, Ind. — Net orders of Class 8 trucks cooled in November, according to preliminary results from FTR Associates.

The industry forecaster said November marked the first year-over-year decline in preliminary net orders, down 22% from November 2010 and 27% from the previous month.

Preliminary orders totaled 20,400 units in November, while order activity for the months of August, September and October averaged 24,100 units, FTR reports.

“Class 8 orders were very disappointing for November and came in substantially below expectations,” said Eric Starks, president of FTR. “November is normally a very good order month as it lies during what is typically the strong order period of the year. What is most troubling about the November number is that it is back down to levels last seen during the summer when we normally see slow order activity. However, one month does not tell us much about the fundamentals in the market and this does not change our outlook for 2012. We will be monitoring the situation closely over the next several months as December and January are normally strong order months.”