COLUMBUS, Ind. — North America Class 8 commercial vehicle preliminary net orders for December were slightly higher than expected, according to a report from ACT Research Co. The final numbers, which will be released mid-January, will approach 30,100 units for heavy-duty Class 8 trucks and 13,300 for medium Classes 5-7 vehicles. The preliminary net order numbers are typically accurate to within 5% of actual, ACT officials said.

“This level of order intake was better than anticipated and was more than sufficient to support ACT’s 2012 forecast,” said Steve Tam, ACT’s vice-president of the commercial vehicle sector. “Even if orders don’t continue to increase sequentially, we have enough of a backlog cushion that our outlook remains solid. Conversely, if orders do continue to increase, it will put upward pressure on the forecast.”