TORONTO, Ont. – Wards Auto reports that Canada recorded 3,189 Class 8 truck sales this April, with Daimler Trucks North America holding a tight grip on its leading market share with 1,177 of the deals.

International held the lead in Class 7 with 286 sales out of the total 769 units sold during the month. Freightliner accounted for the top spot in Class 6 with 57 of the 145 trucks sold overall. And Ford represented 391 of the 853 Class 5 units sold.

Year-to-date totals as of April accounted for 10,594 Class 8 retail sales, along with 2,592 in Class 7, the 573 in Class 6, and 2,311 in Class 5.

Sales were generally up across the board when compared to last year. Canadians had purchased 9,553 Class 8 trucks by April 2018, along with 1,897 Class 7 units, 476 Class 6 trucks, and 2,559 Class 5s.

But Class 8 truck orders actually hit a 31-month low this April as manufacturers continued to deal with large backlogs of orders already in the queue.

ACT Research reports the 14,800 North American orders were down 6.2% from March, and down 57% compared to levels seen a year earlier.

“There still is limited cancellation activity as fleets do not want to give up build slots they may need at a later date. They remember what happened last year when they needed trucks but could not get enough of them,” said Don Ake, FTR vice-president of commercial vehicles.

But that position could soften in the months to come.

“Contracting freight volumes, falling freight rates, and strong Class 8 capacity additions suggest that the supply-demand balance will become an issue later this year,” said ACT president and senior analyst Kenny Vieth.