NASHVILLE, Tenn. — North American Class 8 truck orders for all major OEM’s rose by 21.6 percent over the previous month and 38.8 percent better than September 2009.

According to FTR Associates the six-month period including September reached 163,100 units — 14,872 more than August.

Eric Starks, President of FTR said that while September orders are better than August, they "aren’t indicative of any significant shift in fleet buying plans that would result in strong growth next year."

"We’ll closely watch the next two months because they are typically the strongest in the seasonal cycle."

If orders don’t come in at close to 20,000 in October and higher in November, says Starks, "that will be evidence in our view that many fleets will continue to sit on the sidelines until they are more comfortable of a sustained economic recovery."