COLUMBUS, Ind. – North American Class 8 orders totaled 40,271 units in February, marking the seventh best ever order month, ACT Research reports.

They slipped from January’s total, which was the second best month on record.
“The drivers of current order strength are broad-based, with supply side, demand side, and exogenous factors all contributing to the outsized level of U.S. and Canadian Class 8 order activity,” said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst.

U.S. and Canadian tractors remain the primary drivers of outsized order volumes, rising 107% and 112% year-over-year, respectively, in February. As in January, vocational truck orders were up 40% year-over-year.

“Orders well above the rate of production continue to propel backlog growth. Class 8 backlog rose nearly 17,000 units from January, to 177,451 units, a nearly three-year high,” Vieth said.

Medium-duty truck orders are also on the rise.

“The medium duty markets are experiencing their own high-side order breakouts,” said Vieth. “While unable to rise above January’s best-in-12-years volume, February orders, at 26,651 units, remained well above the prevailing trend.”