There’s a welcome reason for optimism in the Class 8 truck market, says David Carson, senior vice president of sales and marketing with Daimler Truck North America.

Speaking to trucking press at the launch of the company’s Gen 6 Detroit Heavy-Duty Engine Platform in Detroit this week, Carson said there are signs that industry conditions are gradually improving.

“The on-highway marketplace has clearly been challenging,” he said. “This is the longest freight recession ever seen in the industry and it has been persistent, partly due to the business cycle and overall economics and partly due to capacity. That [capacity is] starting to come out. We are seeing total driver capacity dropping and also seeing the number of loads fleets decline increasing.”

The vocational truck market has been stronger in recent years, but growth there has slowed, Carson noted. Vocational truck demand was driven by large-scale construction projects that were already funded and underway. But new home starts have slowed as has industrial spending, dragging vocational truck demand down with it.

Carriers have been reticent to buy new trucks due to pressures on their capex budgets and weak equipment utilization.

“Fleets have been very discerning about what they buy and when,” Carson said. “They’ve held on to equipment longer.”

Class 8 order demand bounced at the end of 2025 and has remained stronger so far through this year.

“It’s not at a point where I’d say there’s been a complete recovery,” Carson cautioned. “There is still significant scrutiny from customers on how they utilize that cap-ex, what they buy, when they buy, and the orders of magnitude as to what they’re ordering.”

Still, Carson believes the timing is right to introduce a new engine. It’s necessary to comply with EPA27 ultra-low NOx emissions requirements – to 0.035 grams hp/hr from 2 grams hp/hr today – but also will bring benefits to fleets operating in a difficult environment.

“There’s tremendous amount of value in this product. It’s not just an emissions change,” Carson said. “It goes beyond that.”